That was the question I asked myself when the Cereal Killer Cafe (no relation) opened to great fanfare in London this week. Just because I think it is one of the stupidest commercial concepts I have ever seen does not mean Londoners won’t flock to send their blood sugar surging en route to a sedentary 9 hour cubicle session. But then again, with a general decline in the sales of cereals and a woeful crowdfunding campaign under their belt, it seems crazy that this project opened its doors at all.

Or does it?

The most remarkable aspect of this new cafe is not the vast selection of junkfood/cereal or the 12 varieties of milk on offer - it is the media coverage. Cafes and eateries open every day in London but I have yet to see one garner the media attention of this cute little cereal project.

In today’s world, top billing TV and newspaper coverage does not happen by chance - it is conducted and carefully orchestrated. So when I see article after article and national TV coverage of a little cafe in east London selling cereals, I smell one of those rodents that chose to eat the box instead of the Cereal Killer Cafe fare inside (in an infamous nutritional experiment).

There may or may not be a direct involvement with this venture by Kellogg’s et al, but there is a whiff of arm's length influence all over this. It is reminiscent of a certain “eggs will kill you” study published by an anonymous little university that somehow managed to gather instantaneous global media attention. At arm's length behind that particular curtain? The Big Pharma PR machine.

This type of behaviour is smart business by polished PR pros and it makes all kinds of sense that vested interests would assert some influence across their network when a story like this presents itself. The media likes to keep their big spenders sweet you know! The fact that these are clandestine strategies means we will never really know - even the Cereal Killer Cafe itself may not be aware of any such influence. Nonetheless, their little project has been thrust in to the limelight thanks to the billions of dollars, euros and pounds fighting proactively against real food.

Ironically, on the very day the Cereal Killer Cafe opened its doors, we made substantial progress in our own fight for real food. We have no PR assistance and a lot of folks standing firmly against us, but 403 early adopters said “yes” and we broke through the £20,000 goal we set for Cereal Killers 2 on kickstarter.

There is no commercial interest behind our curtain - if you pull it back you will see me sitting at a table with an Ironman Champion drinking salted water and Dr Peter Brukner enjoying a glass of red wine. Tim Noakes will be carving karoo lamb to one side and Steve Phinney will be serving his home made pemmican for starters (and his magnificent cacao ice cream for dessert!).

So, in the spirit of this “Cereal Killer(s)” contest for the hearts and minds of Londoners and the world, everyone who pledges £1 or more to Cereal Killers 2 (Click here to do that it - it only takes 2 minutes) in our last 35 hours is invited to join us at the table for a free viewing of Cereal Killers 1. You also get a free public viewing license which can be gifted to any school of your choice - we will send them a digital download copy of the movie. Don't worry, if you've already pledged you're included :)

All funds in excess of our goal will be committed to taking this movie, and our real food message, on the road.

Now, if someone could kindly go tell the Guardian, the Times, the Indepedent and Channel 4 that there’s a real Cereal Killer at large...

Are you going to do a Kickstarter project for the dinner you mentioned above? I'd fund that ;)
I've met the doctors, Brukner, Noakes and Phinney but I haven't met you! Maybe after I've run the 'Durban fun run' in May on fat I'll make it over to Cape Town.
Keep up the good work Donal. We show people CK1 and it's the secret sauce that brings them round.

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Donal

12/11/2014 05:19:10 pm

Thanks Matt! We may be screening CK2 with the Sharks again in Durban. They hosted a great event for CK1. Watch this space!

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Lincoln

12/11/2014 08:27:34 am

Loved the first one

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Donal

12/11/2014 05:20:07 pm

Thanks Lincoln - slightly different flavor to CK2 but the real food message is paramount!

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david walker

12/11/2014 10:31:48 am

I am sure your suspicions about the publicity are 100% correct.

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Donal

12/11/2014 05:21:03 pm

We will never know David! These are certainly interesting times.

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Andrew

12/11/2014 02:59:42 pm

I'ld like to get in contact with Donal personally. I have a proposal to put to him. Can you provide me with his tweeter address or face book address. would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Andrew from Down Under

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Donal

12/11/2014 05:22:03 pm

Hi Andrew - we are @cerealkillers13 on twitter and facebook.com/cerealkillersmovie

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Keegan

12/11/2014 07:05:55 pm

Hi Donal, just wanted to enquire on your thoughts about teens on a high fat diet, especially participating in a sport like Rowing?

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Donal

12/12/2014 04:18:10 am

If we can just get teens eating less refined foods, soft drinks and sports drinks they will excel Keegan. Fat adaptation works fantastically for older athletes in particular but rowers would require some carbs given the demands of the sport. Training on low carb/real food fuel and competing higher carb/real food (sweet potatoes etc) on race day could be a great habitual strategy for teens to adopt.

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Keegan Raves

12/19/2014 10:01:08 am

Thanks Doanl, loved the first movie and i cant wait for the second. Keep up the good work
Regards
Keegan

Marcelo Jimenez

12/11/2014 07:35:49 pm

Hi Donal,

Congratulations for the success of the kickstarter campaign. Looking forward to watch Cereal Killers II.

Regards,
Marcelo.

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Donal

12/12/2014 04:12:40 am

Thank you Marcelo!

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FJ

12/14/2014 01:07:39 am

Boom! CK2 let's go!

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Nicola

5/12/2015 09:44:32 pm

Just watched Cereal Killers 2, great movie and so glad I could be part of getting it off the ground. How does it work with the free viewing for the schools? I am in Australia