Cookie Bear (New Zealand) facts for kids
Cookie Bear, also known as CB, is a well-known character from New Zealand. He was first linked to Hudson's biscuits and is now connected with Griffins biscuits. Cookie Bear became very popular with children in New Zealand. This was thanks to the Cookie Bear Club, a shared love for Chocolate Chippies biscuits, and his famous saying, Dum-de-doo.
How Cookie Bear Began
The New Zealand biscuit company called Hudson was bought by Cadbury in the 1930s. In the early 1970s, a person named Don Donovan worked for an advertising company. He suggested creating the Cookie Bear character for some TV commercials. These first ads were in black and white. They showed Cookie Bear, who was actually a person in a bear costume. He loved biscuits and thought Hudson's brand was the best.
Cookie Bear's Popularity
Cookie Bear became popular very quickly. Because of this, he was used more and more as a mascot for Hudson's biscuits. You could see his picture everywhere: in ads, on biscuit packets, and on many special items. Cookie Bear became especially famous for Chocolate Chippies. These were hard, round biscuits with yummy chocolate chips.
In 1975, when Cookie Bear was super popular, a writer named John Berry created a children's book. It was called The Adventures of Cookie Bear and had fun pictures. Later, in 1989, Hudson's company joined with Griffin's Foods. Griffin's was Hudson's main competitor. When this happened, Griffin's also got the rights to use Cookie Bear. Griffin's still uses Cookie Bear on some products and in a few ads. However, Cookie Bear is not as famous in New Zealand culture today as he once was.
The Cookie Bear Club
Cookie Bear's fame grew even more because of the Cookie Bear Club. This club had its own page every month in the New Zealand Woman's Weekly magazine. Kids all over New Zealand joined the club. At its most popular, about 180,000 children were members. This meant that one out of every four New Zealand children under 12 belonged to the club! Club members even received postcards on their birthdays. Today, the Cookie Bear Club has moved online. You can find it on the official Cookie Bear Club website.
