Cookie Bear axing from Griffins biscuits leaves customers ‘heartbroken’

Griffins' iconic Cookie Bear will no longer feature on the brand's packaging.

Sad, strange and “seriously not cool”. Those are some of the words customers have used to describe news that biscuit brand Griffin’s have dropped Cookie Bear from biscuit packs after nearly six decades.

Hundreds of posters have taken to social media lamenting the demise of the favourite mascot’s disappearance from packs of Chockie Chippies.

Amber Beazley said Cookie Bear’s disappearance was “lazy and heartbreaking”.

“The true test of a creative, inspiring marketing team is how they can blend the tradition of a brands identity with fresh, fun and modern changes; throwing out the old for something new is just lazy, and heartbreaking. Who signed off on this? Dum-de-do better, Griffins.”

Kortness Leigh Greenstreet implored the company to reconsider posting: “Do better Griffins. .. Cookie Bear is iconic. He needs to STAY.”

On Griffins’ Instagram account, user realbryceygambo was at a loss for words.

“Guys, the cookie bear?! Honestly.”

Griffin's Biscuits have removed their Cookie Bear mascot from packaging after 57 years.

In addition to comments about how much the longstanding character would be missed for nostalgic reasons, others highlighted practical implications the packaging changes would pose for some.

“I probably won’t buy now as a mother with kids with autism,” Aroha Otene wrote.

“Visual pictures of the food they eat is important to them and they are very much ‘stuck’ on only eating the food they do that have the EXACT packaging on it that they are used to.”

With his signature catchphrase “dum-de-doo”, the Cookie Bear mascot was a pop culture phenomenon for generations of Kiwi kids.

Yesterday Griffins, who produce the chocolate chip biscuits, told the Herald it was “refreshing” the packaging “to make it clearer and easier to find your favourite biscuits”.

“The new pack design focuses on the Griffin’s brand and the biscuits themselves and appeals to a wider range of Kiwi biscuit lovers,” the company said. Some commenters disagreed with this justification, arguing removing the mascot would make it harder to differentiate on shelves.

Posted Bridget Hobden: “Wow ... it’s iconic and well-loved. They’ll probably look like everything else and become hard to locate on the shelf.”

However, there is some good news, with Griffins confirming Cookie Bear, who first appeared on packs in 1968, will still feature on its Cookie Bear Mini Bears biscuit snack packs.