The Classic Cookie Gets a New Look IT’S A NEW ERA FOR ANIMAL CRACKERS
For many of us, Barnum’s Animals Crackers were a childhood staple. The animal-shaped crackers have been around since the late 1800s and can still be found today on store shelves and in home pantries.
Last year, the Barnum & Bailey Circus, the namesake of the crackers, said their 146-year-old circus was coming to an end. Circuses aren’t as popular as they once were and more people have spoken out on animal rights. For the company, it only made sense to update the look of the box and bring further attention to animal rights. In the past, Barnum’s Animals Crackers have been used to bring awareness to animal and environmental issues. As the Associated Press notes, “In 1995, [the company] offered an endangered species collection that raised money for the World Wildlife Fund. In 1997, it offered a zoo collection that raised money for the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. And in 2010, it worked with designer Lilly Pulitzer on a pastel-colored box that raised money for tiger conservation.” This is a big step forward for the endearing animal cracker, which, with updated sensibilities, will likely remain a childhood staple for many more years to come.
Since those early days, the crackers’ packaging has maintained its iconic circus-wagon look, featuring a series of animals waiting in cages for their turn for a big-top performance.
However, with real-life circuses relying less and less on animal performances in the face
of backlash against the treatment of performing animals, Nabisco, the maker of Barnum’s Animals Crackers, decided it was time for a change. Gone are the bars and gone is the circus theme. Instead, the new Barnum’s Animals Crackers box will feature the animals — a zebra, elephant, lion, giraffe and gorilla — in an open grassland setting. A spokesperson with Mondelez International, Nabisco’s parent company, said, “We felt this was the right time for the next evolution in our design, now showing the animals in a natural habitat.”
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