In May 2013, S&S began a Cheerios campaign about love. It used an adorable little girl and her average white mother. The little girl covers her dad’s chest with Cheerios while he is sleeping because he had told her that Cheerios are good for hearts. That’s love.

But Dad was black. Middle America did not feel love about that.

General Mills (Cheerios) and S&S stood their ground. Good for them. And for tolerance. A follow up ad went to air during the Super Bowl. Same little girl, same mum, same dad. Little girl is being told that she’s about to get a baby brother. Adorable little moppet (who is now called, Gracie) trades acceptance of the sibling for a new puppy. Smart little moppets have been ignoring racial differences since Shirley Temple was a precocious six year old.

Meanwhile in July 2013, a second Cheerios heart-wrencher between a (white) mum and a (white) son had brought Nana into the story cluster.

And in June this year, a dad took himself on a long night road trip to make sure that his daughter had a proper (Cheerios) breakfast to start the first day at her first job.

Now Saatchi & Saatchi has brought back the ingredient that was meant to make the first ad stay in its audience’s mind – a family scene with a little quirk. The interracial quirk turned out to be too big for many to swallow. A dad busting his bum doing the worst shift work, that’s a just right biteful. Little boy gets up in the middle of the night to have brekky with his dad is perfect for Cheerios. So is launching the ad around Father’s Day.