Molly Baz Follows Her Billboard Controversy With a Special K Deal

Molly Baz, the cookbook author whose recent billboard for breastfeeding brand Swehl was deemed too spicy for Times Square, is following up that controversy with a new sponsorship.

Baz, in a timely alliance with Kellogg’s, will become the first pregnant woman to appear on a cereal box, specifically Special K. The partnership allows the breakfast staple to drift off the intense publicity around Baz for its ongoing campaign, “Special for a Reason,” with a goal of spotlighting “various inspiring individuals and sharing their stories,” per a news release from the company.

At the heart of the work, from agency Leo Burnett Chicago, is the image of Baz on Special K boxes for a limited time. The popular cook, recipe developer and content creator is wearing a bright red tracksuit with her name sewn on the front and a giant K on the back. A crop top sweater shows off her pregnant belly as she digs into a bowl of cereal.

Athletes to everyday people

Like its competitor, Wheaties from General Mills, Special K may be better known for featuring high-profile athletes on its packaging, ranging from figure skater Nathan Chen and Paralympic snowboarder Mike Schultz to Simone Biles and her gold medal-winning gymnastics teammates from the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

But the foray into everyday—albeit newly internet famous—folks is a shift for Special K’s prized real estate, with a brand statement saying that the campaign with Baz aims to “serve as a role model for the empowerment of expectant mothers nationwide.”

Baz says she’s a longtime fan of the brand, “a diehard Special K girlie,” according to the news release.

“If you know me, you know I am a freak for cereal,” per Baz’s statement. “Cereal got me through pregnancy in a very real way.”

Baz designed the packaging with her husband, saying she’s “thrilled to use this moment as a billboard and platform where we can celebrate the mind-blowing miracle of pregnancy and motherhood that is happening around us all.”

Moms past, present and future

On the back of the cereal boxes, a written statement from Baz says pregnancy “and the journey it entails should be celebrated for all that is it: exciting, scary, messy, uncomfortable, unpredictable, beautiful and transformative. So does Special K. But this isn’t about me—this is about all mothers: past, present and future. This box celebrates all of us.”

And in copy that subtly references the recent hubbub, either intentionally or not, Baz suggests that women “get those big, beautiful preggo bellies out in the open for the world to see ‘em!”

Special K previously featured a pregnant woman in its marketing, which ran afoul of the Advertising Standards Authority in the U.K. The 2019 TV spot from Leo Burnett implied that its folic acid content could help prevent birth defects in fetuses, per the ASA, which banned the ad for exaggerating health claims.

Kellogg’s execs said at the time that Special K, if consumed daily, could be an important way for women of childbearing age to maintain folic acid levels.

As part of “Special for a Reason,” Kellogg’s will donate $25,000 to nonprofit group United Way. The money is earmarked for the organization’s Women United program that supports women and girls.