Do All Froot Loops Taste the Same?

Madison Dodger Online has conducted an experiment here at Madison High School in an attempt to answer the question: do all Froot Loops cereal taste the same? Writers Natalie Azzolini and Loryn Camp randomly selected ten students and put them to the test. It was hypothesized that the because Fruit Loops come in different colors, people believe that they are all different flavors.

First, the contestants were blindfolded and then given a blue froot loop to eat. Next, they were given another blue froot loop and asked them if they tasted the same or different. This procedure was done a second time, but the second froot loop was a different color and the contestants were asked if it tasted the same or different. If they said it tasted different they were asked what color they thought it was. Here are the results:

In 2014, the Froot Loop brand officially stated that yes, all Froot Loops actually taste the same. The word “Froot” supposedly comes from a “blend of fruit flavors”, instead of each individual color representing a specific flavor. The real question is, why does anyone assume in the first place that color is linked to flavor? There are other foods that play the same kind of tricks on consumers, like M&Ms and Smarties. A theory that has been backed up is that the public will associate color with the ripeness, sweetness, calorie count, or a long lasting stereotypical matching flavor, like cherry for red. Color is also extremely subjective to the type of food that it is paired with. If a piece of chicken is died blue but has no impact on the taste of the food, it is still hard to swallow.

Color is one of the biggest marketing plays that there is. Using multiple colors instead of one coerces the mind into eating more. You would much rather eat a bowl full of colorful cereal, just like Froot Loops, instead of a bowl of a single color, let’s say just yellow Froot Loops. Candy brands use this trick consistently,and it’s part of why it’s so hard to stop eating. In our experiment we took to the halls of Madison High School to see if people would fall for this color trick, or if they were able to tell that they were eating the same thing.

As you can see above, more than half of the subjects fell for this trick claiming that the Froot Loops they were eating were different flavors. While this may seem like a mean trick to play by big companies just trying to get consumers to spend a few extra bucks, it’s difficult to deny that even though they’re all the same flavor, Froot Loops are pretty good.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/mar/12/how-taste-different-colours