Dive Brief:
- ConAgra is cutting more than a third of the jobs at its Lincoln Snacks unit in Lincoln, Neb., which churns out boxed popcorn brands such as Fiddle Faddle and Crunch n' Munch.
- ConAgra said demand for the brands—popcorn with various flavor coatings—has fallen.
- The move comes just five years after ConAgra bought Lincoln Snacks, its brands and its manufacturing facility.
Dive Insight:
For food-marketing geeks, this is a sad, sad day. Because cutbacks at Lincoln Snacks almost certainly mean that ConAgra will not revive the gone-but-not-forgotten brand of boxed popcorn that changed packaging forever: Screaming Yellow Zonkers.
Those little treats were killed off by Ubiquity Brands, the former owners of Lincoln Snacks. But when ConAgra bought the company in 2007, there was hope among copywriters and package designers across the land that the Screaming Yellow Zonkers woud return.
Alas, our hopes have been dashed. The black box with the "Yellow Submarine" inspired lettering is gone forever. And never again will a box of food contain such a perfect explanation of how to know if you're opening it correctly: “Open the top, and turn the box upside down. If the Zonkers fall out, this is the bottom. If they fall up, this is the top. If nothing happens, this box is empty.”