PHILADELPHIA, March 8 (UPI) -- Children ages 4-6 said they enjoyed a cereal more when a popular cartoon character like Shrek was on the box, U.S. researchers found.
Doctoral students Matthew Lapierre and Sarah Vaala with assistant professor Deborah L. Linebarger of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia were showed boxes of cereal labeled either Healthy Bits or Sugar Bits, with some boxes featuring media (cartoon) characters and some without to 80 children, average age 5.6 years.