In a first, Special K features pregnant woman on cereal box

Years ago, Special K marketed to women by promising that they could lose weight by replacing two meals a day with bowls of cereal. These days, it’s trying a different approach.

The cereal brand has partnered with Molly Baz, a cookbook author who was recently the star of a buzzy ad for lactation cookies, on a limited edition cereal box. It’s the first cereal box featuring a pregnant woman, according to the brand.

The box, which shows Baz with an exposed pregnant belly, is available for purchase on the Kellogg website. It’s part of the brand’s “Special for a Reason” marketing campaign, which features “inspiring individuals.”

Partnering with popular figures could be a way for a brand to try to jumpstart interest in a stale category. WK Kellogg, which owns Special K, Corn Flakes, Kashi and other cereal stalwarts, reported that net sales fell 1.9% year-over-year in the quarter ending on March 30.

Baz sparked a conversation around the depiction of pregnant bodies thanks to a recent ad campaign for Swehl, a company that sells accessories for breastfeeding parents and offers a cookie recipe developed with the writer.

The ad features a pregnant, bikini-topped Baz — holding the cookies over her breasts — next to the words “Just Add Milk.” It was reportedly pulled from a rotation of digital billboards in New York City’s Times Square.

“Extremely disappointed and yet not at all surprised that our cheeky little breastfeeding empowerment campaign was deemed “innapropriate” by @clearchanneloutdoor and our billboard removed after just 3 days,” Baz wrote in a May 10 Instagram post. (Since then, she said in subsequent posts, others have put up the ad on other billboards).

In an Instagram post about the Special K collaboration, Baz wrote that “the last month has been a literal blur, but it is without a doubt one of the greatest joys of my career to date to be the first preggo woman ever on a CEREAL BOX !!!”

Baz added that the campaign was shot while she was 39 weeks pregnant.