After a year away from supermarket shelves, Griffin’s has announced that Cookie Bear will return to its biscuit packaging, reinstating a character that has been part of Kiwi households for almost six decades.
From mid-Feb, shoppers will once again see Cookie Bear on four of Griffin’s original biscuit lines: Chockie Chippies, Hundreds & Thousands, Stripes and Shrewsbury. The move follows the character’s removal from packets in April last year, a decision that prompted a strong public reaction across New Zealand.
While Griffin’s was aware of the character’s popularity, the response to his absence highlighted the depth of attachment many New Zealanders felt. Thousands of comments were shared online, with people describing Cookie Bear as a fixture of childhood, a familiar presence in kitchen cupboards and a small but enduring part of family life across generations.
Support for his return extended beyond social media, with one backer launching a Change.org petition calling for Griffin’s to reinstate the character. The volume and consistency of feedback ultimately led the company to reverse course and bring him back to packaging.
First introduced in the late 1960s, Cookie Bear has been a longstanding feature of Griffin’s branding. Recognisable for his polka-dot bowtie and “dum-dee-doo” catchphrase, he also served as the mascot of the Cookie Bear Club during the 1970s and 1980s, when membership peaked at more than 160,000.
Beyond packaging, Cookie Bear has appeared in advertising campaigns, merchandise and promotional material, becoming one of the most recognisable characters in New Zealand supermarkets.
In addition to returning to the four core biscuit lines, Cookie Bear will remain the face of Cookie Bear Mini Snack Packs and Mini Bears.
Griffin’s says the decision reflects customer feedback and signals that the character’s place on packets, and in Kiwi homes, has been reaffirmed.
