This Is Why You Love Bacon and Eggs So Much

Have you ever wondered why the pairing of bacon and eggs makes such an iconic meal? Or why the duo screams “breakfast” and not “lunch?” Well, there’s a long history behind these favorite breakfast foods. And surprisingly, a lot of it has to do with advertising.

What Even Is Breakfast?

Morning meals around the world have always depended on social norms and culture, as well as what foods are even available. Breakfast wasn’t even a common occurrence in Medieval Europe, as the Catholic Church viewed eating before morning mass as “gluttonous.”

Breakfast in Europe wouldn’t become commonplace until the 16th century and the rise of employment; rather than working for themselves, more and more people were now beholden to the schedules of others and had to work for long periods without interruption. A morning meal helped people get through the day without getting hangry.

Even then, breakfast was usually a simple affair of a hot drink (coffee or tea, usually), rolls, or leftovers. So how did bacon, eggs, and orange juice come to be the beloved morning classics?

Enter the Ad Man

Without advertising, breakfast as you know it wouldn’t exist.

Orange juice as part of a morning meal came about during a surplus of oranges in 1916. Looking to unload oranges on the American populace, a new marketing campaign pushed orange juice as a healthy way to start the day. The campaign’s push to associate oranges with good health would pay dividends in just a few years when the 1918 flu epidemic made consumers concerned about boosting their immune systems.

Just a few years later, in the 1920s, packaging company Beech-Nut had just diversified into food production and wanted Americans to eat more bacon and eggs. They called on Edward Bernays, considered a pioneer in public relations and marketing and nephew to Sigmund Freud, to change the American diet.

Bernays commissioned a “study” featuring 5,000 doctors which purported that heavy breakfasts were healthier than lighter breakfasts and promoted bacon and eggs as great breakfast options. This was published in newspapers around the country, and it was, as you can guess, wildly successful.

Marketing and Speed Make a Meal

Marketing’s influence over breakfast goes even further. Years after Dr. John Harvey Kellogg invented cereal, it was marketed as a speedy, simple meal perfect for breakfast in a hurry. Cereal was especially marketed to working mothers as cereal and milk was something kids could easily make for themselves without risk. Heather Arndt Anderson, the author of “Breakfast: A History” even claims “advertising was practically invented to sell cereal.”

In other cases, what mattered more than marketing when it came to the first meal of the day was speed. For example, pancakes have been around since prehistoric times, but they became a morning food because they were something that could be cooked up quickly, perfect for making before heading off to work. The same could be said for oatmeal.

Advertising from over 100 years ago has had a huge influence on what we think of as ordinary. It makes you wonder what else marketing has made us think is normal!

References: The History of Bacon and Eggs | The History of American Breakfast | THE SURPRISING ORIGINS OF AMERICA’S FAVORITE BREAKFASTS | The Secret History Of Breakfast