Cookie Bear (New Zealand)

Toy of the New Zealand Cookie Bear

Cookie Bear, otherwise known as CB, is a familiar character in New Zealand originally associated with Hudsons and now Griffins biscuits. Cookie Bear's popularity grew with New Zealand children through the Cookie Bear Club, their shared love of Chocolate Chippies and his famous catchphrase Dum-de-doo.

Early years

The New Zealand biscuit company Hudson was bought by Cadbury in the 1930s. In the early 1970s Don Donovan, a director of advertising agency Carlton-Carruthers du Chateau Ltd., suggested developing the Cookie Bear character for a couple of television advertisements. The black and white advertisements featured Cookie Bear (a man dressed in a bear suit) as a lover of biscuits who thought Hudson's brand was the best.^[1]

The Cookie Bear Brand

Cookie Bear's immediate popularity resulted in an increase in his use as a mascot for Hudson's biscuits, with eventual heavy use of his image in advertisements, on packaging and on a growing number of promotional items.^[2] Cookie Bear became particularly associated with Chocolate Chippies, a hard round biscuit with chocolate chips.^[3] At the height of Cookie Bear's popularity in 1975, John Berry wrote and published an illustrated children's book called The Adventures of Cookie Bear.

When Hudsons was incorporated into Griffin's Foods (Hudson's main market rivals) in 1989^[4], the copyright for Cookie Bear was also transferred; however, while Griffins continues to use the Cookie Bear Brand on some of its products and in a few advertisements, Cookie Bear is now a less familiar New Zealand cultural icon.^[1]

The Cookie Bear Club

Cookie Bear's fame and popularity escalated through the Cookie Bear Club, which had a regular monthly page in the New Zealand Woman's Weekly magazine. Children throughout New Zealand joined the club, reaching a peak of 180,000 children, or 1 in 4 New Zealand children under the age of 12.^[1] Members of the club received postcards on their birthday.^[2] Today's Cookie Bear Club has moved online to the official Cookie Bear Club website.^[5]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Don Donovan creates Cookie Bear". Don Donovan's World: I Admit It, I Am Cookie Bear’s Father. http://don-donovan.blogspot.com/2009/08/i-admit-it-i-am-cookie-bears-father.html. Retrieved 2009-08-29. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "The Cookie Bear Brand". It's So Last Century: Cookie Bear. http://www.itssolastcentury.co.uk/truck/Cookie_Bear. Retrieved 2011-02-13. 
3. ^ "Chocolate Chippies are biscuit of the week". Biscuit of the Week. http://www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com/biscuits/previous.php3?item=43. Retrieved 2008-02-22. 
4. ^ "Hudsons incorporated into Griffins". Griffins Foods Limited. http://www.griffins.co.nz/about-griffins/the-griffins-story/1970s. Retrieved 2008-02-22. 
5. ^ "The Cookie Bear Club". Griffin's Cookie Bear Club House. http://www.cookiebear.co.nz/. Retrieved 2008-02-22.