譯文大賞

麥片市場的發展已經超乎麥片發明者的想像, 圖片來源：Nyana Stoica, Unsplash

Like any food trend, though, the marketers took over the purists’ work. Dr. Kellogg felt particularly bitter about the development: the two most successful cereal entrepreneurs were his brother, Will Keith Kellogg, and one of his former patients, C.W. Post, who Dr. Kellogg accused of stealing the corn flake recipe from his safe.

但就像是歷史上所有的食物浪潮一樣，商人主導了這波麥片食品的風氣。而當初研製麥片的家樂氏醫生相當苦命(編按：這樣的現象不只是食品，在很多歷史的發明也是如此，包括蒸汽機和縫紉機等等，教科書上聲稱的發明家並不是真的發明，而是把原有的東西改良而已)因為發展最成功的"麥片創業家”反而是他的哥哥威爾.基斯.家樂氏及他過去的一個病患-C.W.波斯，而家樂氏醫生也曾控訴後者從他的保險箱裡偷過他的麥片配方。

家樂氏醫生就像是歷史上開創食物浪潮或是新事物的人一樣，都不約而同地沉入了歷史的洪流，圖片來源：Keith Bremner, Unsplash

Each man created cereal companies, the Kellogg Company (which was headed by Will Kellogg and not Dr. Kellogg) and Postum Cereal Company (now Post Cereals). Both of them became wildly successful thanks to two key ingredients: sugar and advertising.

上述這兩人分別開創了自己的麥片事業，分別是家樂氏企業(公司負責人是威爾家樂氏而非家樂氏醫生)和波斯敦穀物企業(現為Post Cereals)。這兩間企業獲得巨大的成功得歸功於兩個關鍵的元素：糖分跟廣告行銷。(編按：糖簡直就是個毒品，當越想要吃糖的時候，就代表自己已經吃下太多的糖了)

By the 1940s, Post Cereals fully coated its cereals with sugar. The Kellogg brothers had long argued over adding sugar—Dr. Kellogg believed sugar was a vice in his pure creation, while Will Kellogg thought it was necessary to improve the taste of their “horse-food.” After some hand wringing, the Kellogg Company copied Post and coated corn flakes with sugar.

到了1940年代，Post這間麥片公司已經在出產的麥片上完全裹上了一層糖。另一方面，家樂氏兄弟倆正為麥片要不要加糖而爭吵不休。一邊認為加糖會破壞原有研製麥片的目的，而另一邊則認為加糖可以改善這種像馬一樣的食物的風味。在經過了兩人的爭辯後，家樂氏企業還是決定要跟進Post企業的腳步，在麥片上裹上糖粉。

諷刺的是，原本標榜健康的麥片，最後因為商業化的關係，加入了很多的糖分，圖片來源：Jeffrey Deng, Unsplash

Still, cereal kept its health food reputation thanks to a constant barrage of advertising. Cereal manufacturers like C.W. Post claimed that cereal cured everything up to malaria and appendicitis. The proclamations on today’s cereal boxes that they are “A good source of Vitamin D!” date back to Americans’ obsession with vitamins in the 1920s.

現在隨著大眾對於健康意識的改變，我們已了解到糖是一個對健康有害而無益的食物。然而在當時，這種加糖的麥片仍是代表性的健康食品。這得歸功於當時如病毒式的廣告行銷。像C.W.波斯等業主宣稱麥片是可以治療很多的疾病，像是瘧疾跟闌尾炎。而我們現在常在相關產品上看到"維生素D的一個很好的食物來源"，您可能會覺得這根本沒什麼。但回到1920年代，美國人對維生素相當地著迷。

雖然對於現在來說，補充維生素的觀念早已深植人心，稱得上一件稀鬆平常的事情，但在約莫100年前，美國人見到維生素就像是明星一樣地瘋狂呢。圖片來源：freestocks.org, Unsplash

To appeal to children, cereal companies pioneered the use of cartoon mascots. Characters like Tony the Tiger (Frosted Flakes) and Snap, Crackle, and Pop (Rice Krispies) first appeared in the 1930s.

有些麥片業者為了要吸引小朋友的注意，就運用了卡通吉祥物(cartoon mascots)來做產品行銷，像是現在在超市裡常見的東尼虎(Tony the Tiger)(玉米片)以及Snap, Crackle and Pop(西式米香的吉祥物)，都是早在1930年就推出的吉祥物。

東尼虎, 圖片來源：Daily Mail

Snap, Crackle and Pop, 圖片來源：家樂氏

Advertising was they key to the cereal business. Whether they involved cartoon characters or wacky health claims, the important thing was to establish a brand for each cereal.

廣告行銷的使用決定了麥片業主的成敗。無論是利用卡通人物或是推廣稀奇古怪健康概念的行銷手法，我們發現麥片業主如果要成功經營，最重要的，就是為每個麥片產品創立一個品牌。

“The sunshine that makes a business plant grow,” C.W. Post said, as he embarked on a career that would earn him a net worth (in 2016 dollars) of $800 million, “is advertizing.”

"讓麥片產業能不斷成長的關鍵在於廣告行銷"C.W.波斯，這位用2016年物價來推算，有著近8億美金淨收益的麥片業主如是說。

“The Most Important Meal of the Day”

"一天當中最重要的一餐"

為何現代人普遍認為早餐是一天當中最重要的一餐呢？圖片來源：
Jez Timms, Unsplash

Cereal and breakfast foods don’t have a monopoly on animated mascots and zany health claims. But there are a number of reasons why the battle over breakfast is particularly ferocious.

雖然截至目前為止，憑藉卡通吉祥物及健康概念的推廣，麥片及相關的早餐產品並沒有在食品市場上取得獨佔的地位。不過，人們對於早餐的重視程度會遠遠超過其他兩餐呢？關於這方面，我認為有以下幾個原因。

The first is that any company that convinces you to eat their cereal, pop tarts, or bagels absolutely owns your breakfast, because most people eat the same breakfast every day. Studies have found that consumers have strong brand loyalty to breakfast foods like cereal. Our breakfast choices are likely more habitual because of the strength of morning routines. Ads by the chicken lobby may convince people to eat a bit more chicken. But an avalanche of Tony the Tiger ads can get tens of thousands of children to eat Frosted Flakes every morning for years.

首先，只要任何業主說服消費者購買他們家的麥片、夾心餅或是貝果之類的產品，通常他們都不太會拒絕。這是因為放眼望去，大多數人每天都是吃這樣的早餐。研究也發現，消費者在購買像是麥片這樣的早餐產品時，有著極高的品牌忠誠度(brand loyalty)。而現代人的早餐其實跟宗教儀式沒什麼兩樣：每天吃早餐時會選的食物就像是一個周而復始的習慣。

在賣雞肉的廣告上少不了笑得很開心的雞，但是這些要被宰的雞真的開心嗎？圖片來源：
JOHN TOWNER, Unsplash

除了消費端，在業主的部分可以發現，像是賣雞肉的廣告很可能會用各種方法盡力說服人們多吃雞。不過像是東尼虎玉米片這項產品，業主不費吹灰之力就可以吸引上千上萬個小朋友來購買。

Another is that while some Americans cook breakfast, people’s desire for a fast, convenient meal means that many breakfast foods are packaged products that rely on advertising. You can glean this from the structure of the cereal industry: cereal is extremely easy to make—a fact that angered Dr. Kellogg, who patented his creation but failed to prevent others from copying it—yet just a few companies dominate the market.

再者，雖然有些美國人都會親自煮早餐。但是對於人們來說，都比較傾向快速簡便的備餐方式，於是乎許多的早餐產品都是已經預先烹調好的。從整個麥片產業結構就可以得到上述這樣的結論了：麥片是相當容易製作的，這的確是事實；但諷刺的是，這也是為何家樂氏醫生的發明很難防止他人抄襲的主要原因。不過很奇怪的是，現在只有少數幾間的麥片企業獨佔整個市場。

雖然麥片這項產品很容易被仿製，但是一般業主要進入消費者市場的難度極高。圖片來源：Pedro Ribeiro, Unsplash

As the Federal Trade Commission once complained in an antitrust lawsuit, competing with the cereal giants is difficult because they create dozens of cereal brands and promote “trademarks through intensive advertising [which] results in high barriers to entry into the cereal market.” The magic of Snap, Crackle, and Pop—and all the advertisements for cereals, pop tarts, yogurts, and breakfast bars—is high profits from an easily imitated product.

雖然美國的消保會曾在一個反托拉斯的訴訟中指出，一般業主要對抗麥片產業巨擘真的是相當地困難，這是因為它們有巨大的商業資源得以設立數十個麥片的品牌，而且有能力做病毒式的行銷，使得一般業主在進入市場的難度變得很高。這也造成在這樣容易模仿的食品產業中，這些商業巨擘有著相當高的收益。

原文出處：How Breakfast Became a Thing
原文作者：Alex Mayyasi
撰文日期：2016.5.9