STORY BY KAGAN PITTMAN
A controversial cereal is hitting shelves worldwide, and it’s bringing a sexy twist to the breakfast table.
Earlier this year Peter Ehrlich, president and CEO of Big Life Living Inc., brought his new Sex Cereal to the hit TV show Dragons’ Den, where he found an investor in Jim Treliving, a Canadian businessman who’s been on the show since its first season. The cereal comes in two formulas, one for men and one for women, with each supposedly full of ingredients that promote sexual health.
The men’s cereal contains oats, goji berries, cacao nibs, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, maca, camu camu, wheat germ, black sesame and, believe it or not, bee pollen! The women’s cereal contains no pollen but shares some ingredients, and also includes cranberries, sunflower seeds, almonds, flax seeds, oat bran and ginger. The cereal has already garnered a lot of media attention, having been reported on by CNN, Kelly and Michael, Cosmopolitan and more.
In a recent Toronto Star story, Topher Ellis, a cereal historian and co-author of The Great American Cereal Book, said, “I’m flabbergasted this is going in the mainstream market,” and, “I can’t picture it in (U.S) grocery stores.” When asked about Ellis’ statement in a phone interview with the Sheridan Sun, Ehrlich said, “When Richard Branson named his company Virgin, I suppose a lot of people felt the same way… Sometimes you just have to take a chance.”
Consumers are of mixed opinions about taking a chance with Sex Cereal. “I don’t think people my age would buy it,” said Makeda Burnett, 19, a first-year Broadcast Journalism student. “I feel like we’re young, our sex drives are probably at their peak now, so I feel like that cereal brand would be targeted at another age group.”
Neither Ehrlich or the cereal’s website go into much detail about how its ingredients “support” testosterone or hormonal balance and this concerns some students.
“It’s saying it supports sexual health through ambiguous means,” said Jim Coyle, 22, a third-year Advertising and Marketing Communications student at Sheridan College. “Unless I know what’s in it, and what they mean by what they say, I don’t want anything to do with their product.”
The product recommends only three tablespoons to be eaten at a time, suggesting a mix with greek yogurt to get “Up to 27 grams of Protein!” With 190 calories and six grams of fat per serving, one should eat in moderation, or you can expect more weight gain than sex.
Big Life Living Inc. is still looking for major distribution but can now be found at a small list of stores, including Sobeys, London Drugs, Safeway and Whole Foods. For around 12 dollars a bag, the question of whether or not sex sells counts.
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