{"id":2926,"date":"2026-02-20T01:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T01:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/thehockenblog\/?p=2926"},"modified":"2026-02-20T07:04:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T07:04:45","slug":"cookie-bear-is-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/thehockenblog\/cookie-bear-is-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Dum-de-do! Cookie Bear’s story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Post researched and written by David Murray, Archivist<\/em><\/p>\n

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Cookie Bear with children on train float at the Oval, Dunedin. MS-5414\/003\/001. CC-BY-NC.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cookie Bear is back! Many were disappointed when, in April last year, Griffin\u2019s announced he would no longer feature on Chockie Chippie and Hundreds & Thousands biscuit wrappers. Last week the company posted on social media: \u2018We heard you, New Zealand. Thank you for sharing your stories, memories and love for Cookie Bear – it\u2019s clear he\u2019s been missed.\u2019 In coming weeks he will once again be seen on full-size biscuit packets.<\/p>\n

Cookie Bear started out with the Hudsons brand, owned by Cadbury Fry Hudson Ltd. At Hocken, we recently catalogued papers from the Dunedin Cadbury factory, so we thought we would share some of what we have learned about Cookie Bear’s story.<\/p>\n

In the 1970s, Hudsons and Griffin\u2019s were the biggest players in the New Zealand biscuit industry. Griffin\u2019s (then owned by Nabisco) had the largest share of the overall biscuit market, but Hudsons had the biggest share for chocolate biscuits. Hudsons made more than 50 different biscuit varieties, \u00a0with the most popular including Chocolate Chippies (introduced in 1955), and the jam-filled Shrewsbury (introduced in 1959).\u00a0 The company was always looking to improve its advertising campaigns in a highly competitive market.<\/p>\n

Some recent media reports have dated the origin of Cookie Bear 1968, but he in fact made his first appearance in 1971. He was included in television advertisements recorded late that year and broadcast on television by January 1972. Early commercials included the catchphrase \u2018Dum de do\u2019, which at first was also followed by \u2018dum de day\u2019.<\/p>\n

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The cover of the Chocolate Soldier, in-house magazine of Cadbury Fry Hudson, for November-December 1971. It shows Cookie Bear as he appeared in his first television commercials.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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