Eggo Waffles weren’t always called Eggo Waffles. In the 1950s, in the boom that followed World War II, Americans began a love affair with frozen foods. Frank Dorsa and his three brothers in San Jose California had been running a highly popular mayonnaise business and had expanded into powdered waffle mix, but demand for their mix had started to evaporate. The problem was that making waffles was a lot of work.
Frank was a bit of an inventor, so he created a giant waffle-making machine using a merry-go-round engine and a number of electric waffle irons. Thousands of waffles were frozen and shipped every day. But the name, the “Froffle,” was a flop. Instead, customers called the waffles as “Eggos,” referring back to the distinctive egg taste of the Dorsa brother’s mayonnaise. The name, like the waffles, stuck around.
The Kellog’s Company bought the Eggo waffles line in 1968, and four years later they introduced the slogan “L’Eggo My Eggo.” The marketing campaign would be one of the most successful of all time, continuously running for 36 years. The commercials depicted kids and parents in an escalating struggle to maintain possession of their precious frozen waffles. The message was clear: the waffles were so good, if you weren’t careful, someone might steal them from you. Continue reading Culture Eats Cybersecurity For Breakfast