Yes. There was a New Yorker magazine cartoon several decades ago of a cereal company board of directors meeting. One member stands and says: "I have a great idea: let's make cereal addictive".
It wasn't far off. Kellogg (a vegetarian, Seventh Day Adventist) was a surgeon who ran a health spa and came up with a healthful cereal. His brother formed Kellogg's in 1906 to sell cereal. Kellogg and Post (formed by a patient of the surgeon) soon created sugary cereals and the race was on, eventually leading to cartoon characters pushing sugar on children. Of course later, in 1913, Joe Camel pushed cigarettes. In 1991, about one-third of Camels were sold illegally to children.
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