BrainStuff Classics: Why Is Bacon Considered a Breakfast Food?

Bacon and eggs are a traditional breakfast -- but that tradition only goes back about a century. Learn how Sigmund Freud's nephew invented public relations and changed the way we eat breakfast in this classic episode of BrainStuff.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey
brain Stuff, I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and I've got a classic
episode for you from our erstwhile host, Christian Sagar. Bacon
may have seen its peak internet fame a couple of
years ago, but it still has a home on many
humans plates, especially at breakfast. But this wasn't always the case.

(00:22):
Here's why, Hey brain Stuff, it's me Christian Sagar. Every day,
before I head into the studio, I have a healthy,
hearty breakfast of eggs, coffee, and of course bacon. Well
I'm vegetarian, so in my case it's veggie bacon who
has their life together enough to eat breakfast every day? Anyways, Right,

(00:43):
that's crazy talk. But the point is this. If you
are in the United States, then you already know that
bacon is one of the most popular breakfast foods in civilization,
right up there with eggs. But this wasn't always the case.
For much of American history, breakfast would be something simple
like a slice of buttered toast with coffee and orange juice.

(01:03):
And believe it or not, there's one man responsible for
changing the way America eats breakfast. His name Edward Burne's.
I know, I know you're probably wondering, how could just
one guy sway the minds of millions. Wasn't bacon already around? Yeah? Sure,
bacon or cured pork has been around in European cuisine
for hundreds and hundreds of years, but it wasn't thought

(01:25):
of as a breakfast food. So in and Out Foot
named the Beechnut Packing Company hired Edward Burnet's to boost
their bacon sales. Most ad guys at the time would
have high tailed it to a pitch room brainstorming catchy
slogans like Macon bacon, for example, or that bacon pancake
song from Adventure Time, But Berne's didn't go straight for ads. Instead,

(01:50):
he commissioned a study. In a quote scientific poll Berne
Has had, a physician asked five thousand doctors the same
loaded question, is a quote hearty breakfast better than a
light breakfast to replace energy lost by the body at night.
Because of the way the poll was phrased, most doctors
agreed that a hearty breakfast was superior. Burns reported these

(02:13):
quote scientific results to other doctors across the United States.
He also embarked upon a broadcast in print campaign reporting
these results along with advertisements for bacon. This campaign exhibited
some brilliant, if not exactly ethical strategies. First, it used
the appearance of objective scientific evidence. Second, this evidence came

(02:37):
from trusted authority figures, and third it sounded like nutritional
advice rather than an add Whether you like bacon or not,
you can't argue with the results. Beach nut profits sword
and today, bacon is a major breakfast heavyweight. Each year,
people consume more than one point seven billion pounds of

(02:58):
this stuff in the United States alone own and that's
just counting statistics from the food service industry. A little
more than half of all U S homes keep bacon
on hand at all times. So there you have it,
the story of how one man fundamentally changed the way
America eats every morning. That's not the only thing he

(03:18):
successfully sold either. He popularized soap, cigarettes, and even one war.
Today's episode was written by Ben Bolan and produced by
Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production of I Heart
Radio's How Stuff Works. For more on Edward Burns impact

(03:39):
on our world, check out Ben's show Stuff They Don't
Want You To Know, And of course, for more on
this unless of other savory topics, visit our home planet,
how stuff Works dot com. Plus for more podcasts. For
my heart Radio, you can visit the I heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

(04:01):
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