Kellogg's Turned Our Café into a Corn-er Shop to Launch Chocolate Corn Flakes

For two days in January 2024, 88 Oldham Street stopped being a dessert café and became a 1930s corner shop. Kellogg's was launching Chocolate Flavour Corn Flakes, its first new take on the original in years, and wanted somewhere in Manchester, the city where it opened its first British factory in 1938, to let people taste it.

W Communications built the Corn-er Shop inside BLACK MILK over two days, opened it to ticket holders from Thursday 25 January, and served 750 bowls of cereal before the strike.

The idea was nostalgia. Corn Flakes reached the UK in 1924, and the Corn-er Shop told that story from the shelves out, with the new chocolate version as the reason to visit. Entry was free, booked by the slot on Eventbrite, and the shop opened from midday to 7pm.

Load-in started on the Monday evening, with the café cleared and the set built across two days. The BLACK MILK team worked the shop alongside the agency, on a rota set out in the W Communications staff brief.

A recreated traditional corner shop, with the history of Corn Flakes told along the walls. Visitors moved through it in order:

• Tasting zone: a first bowl of Chocolate Corn Flakes.
• Pick'n'milk stand: toppings and a choice of milks to build your own bowl.
• Bowl booth: a bowl-shaped seat to eat in after checking out.
• Cornelius: the Kellogg's cockerel met visitors in the shop.

Every visitor left with a box of the new cereal to take home. Chocolate Flavour Corn Flakes went into Tesco the same week.

• Portions: 750 bowls of cereal served across two days.
• Build: two days of set build inside the café, with the kitchen and counter still in use.
• Press: previewed by Secret Manchester before opening, covered by the Manchester Evening News and Manchester World on the day, and syndicated across Reach's regional titles.
• Creators: food creators filmed inside the shop, including the TikTok below.