Nutri Grain this week celebrates 40 years since its IronMan ads made household names out Grant Kenny, Dean and Darren Mercer, and many others.
To commemorate the anniversary, IronMen Darren Mercer and Trevor Hendy are passing on the baton their children Jordan Mercer and TJ Hendy who are also athletes.
Darren Mercer and Trevor Hendy have raised their children to be just as determined and strong. In 2020, Jordan and TJ have been contenders for the Australian IronMan and IronWoman titles that first attracted Nutri-Grain’s involvement to the sport 40 years ago.
Initially featuring Grant Kenny, after he won both the open and junior Australian IronMan titles in 1980, the Nutri-Grain brand went on to celebrate the achievements of a host of IronMen on its packaging and TV commercials.
“It was the early '80s, the first Coolangatta Gold had been run and Nutri-Grain was all about Ironman,” says Mercer.
“These guys were unstoppable. When my brother Dean and I were kids we both grew up wanting to live the healthy lifestyle, determined to train hard and eat right.”
Enrolments in Surf Life Saving Australia’s Nipper program saw a 28% increase over the first five years of Nutri Grain’s involvement with the association and sport.
Darren first appeared in a Nutri-Grain ad in 1987 as a promising surf cadet. The voiceover: “Watch the boy become a man - an IronMan…Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain with wheat, oats and corn, for ironman energy…”.
“There is no higher accolade for an Ironman or woman than a win at the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships (The Aussies),” says Trevor Hendy.
“Darren and I are fortunate to have taken out the title many times before, and now it’s exciting to see what our kids can achieve. Both TJ and Jordan are at the top of their game and have overcome career obstacles that embody the Nutri Grain philosophy - with courage, strength and determination, anyone can become unstoppable.”
Jordan Mercer: “I was born into the Nutri-Grain culture. Years of watching my dad and uncle from the sidelines inspired my own IronWoman dreams. Seeing a cereal box featuring my heroes Dad and Dean, kick started my love for Nutri-Grain. It’s been my favourite for as long as I can remember."
Nutri-Grain packs featuring TJ Hendy and Jordan Mercer’s Unstoppable Stories will debut on Australian supermarket shelves from late April.
Here's Grant kenny in 1980:
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