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Wheaties isn't the best-selling cereal in the world (that honor goes to Cheerios), but it's certainly among the most famous. The cereal's success is likely due to its reputation as a healthy way to start the day. Of course, its tradition of placing athletes on bright orange boxes probably hasn't hurt brand awareness. According to the official Wheaties site, Lou Gehrig was the first. The Yankee slugger graced the Wheaties box in 1934. Since then, many world-class athletes, including Roy Campanella, Mary Lou Retton, and Michael Jordan, have followed in Gehrig's sizable footsteps. Although Gehrig was the first "real athlete" to appear on the box, he wasn't the cereal's first spokesman. A fictional character named Jack Armstrong, who starred in a serial radio adventure sponsored by Wheaties, was technically first on the box. Breakfast cereal, believe it or not, has an interesting history. According to about.com, the food was created by members of
the American Seventh Day Adventist Church. In the many years since, it has become a multibillion dollar industry that manufactures everything from healthy grains to sugar-coated cavity bombs with many a prize inside.
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