Simone Biles, who has taken gold medals in this year’s individual all-around, vault and floor competitions, and the gold medal-winning US women's gymnastics team she is part of, will feature on the double-sided packs of Special K red Berries.
They will be available in limited quantities free of charge, for a short time only, on KelloggsFamilyRewards.com.
Kellogg Company is an official sponsor of the US Olympic and Paralympic teams, and first sponsored the US team in 1976. The business also sponsors UK Olympic squad Team GB.
"We couldn't be prouder of Simone and the women's team after all of their incredible achievements here in Rio representing Team USA," said Noel Geoffroy, senior vice president for marketing & innovation for Kellogg's US Morning Foods.
"We're excited to continue the time-honored tradition of showcasing America's champions on Kellogg's cereal boxes following their remarkable success at the 2016 Olympic Games.”
Special K sales decline
The new Special K packs have been launched following a US brand performance that has been less than gold medal standard, with Special K cereal sales down 3% by value last year in an overall cold cereals category down 1% [IRI 12m/e 27 December 2015].
Earlier this month, Kellogg chairman and chief executive officer John Bryant said “pretty much” all the sales loss in the company over the past few years had been from Special K.
The company also reported that Special K had dragged down the performance of its US snacks segment in the last quarter, and that it would be making a “more aggressive” portfolio change to the Special K brand in 2017.
Net sales of Kellogg’s US snacks segment were down 4% year on year in Q2 to $803m, while sales in its Morning Goods segment, which includes breakfast cereals, dropped 2% year on year to $727m.
(This article was edited on August 17 2016 to reflect Simone Biles winning her fourth gold medal)