My prize for buying? Disappointment!

As a youth my brother hung a poster in his room. The image: a box of Cracker Jack with popcorn, peanuts, and an Alfa Romeo key spilled out, all under the headline: “Now THAT’s lucky!”

With Cracker Jack it was ALL about the prize. Sure, the candy-coated popcorn and peanuts were fun, but it was the search for great prizes that made you return again and again.

There were charms. Whistles. Clickers. All KINDS of fun stuff.

Eventually metal items were replaced by plastic, then games and tiny books. Mini baseball cards, cartoons, and trivia games.

Trying to extricate myself from lockdown depression, I recently bought several boxes of youthful memories, ignoring potential damage my fillings might suffer.

I munched my way through the contents, looking for something fun, silly or distracting. In my mind, Carly Simon was singing “ANTICIPATION.”

Only these prizes have now gone digital. Where once I’d have discovered a whistle, today I found a 2”x2” square of paper promising “Prize Inside Arcade.”

And while I’d predicted distractions from the day’s headlines, I instead encountered a sticker and instructions for playing on their website.

Now committed to the process, I visited crackerjack.com to play their customized video games.

Only they didn’t work!

I downloaded this, I pushed that and got…nothing.

And suddenly I found myself unable to justify buying Cracker Jack again. Apparently, I’m not the only one, based on a 2016 article in sfgate.com that started: “Oh sure, just ruin one of the joys of childhood, Cracker Jack.”

At the time this transition was made, the company’s senior director of marketing observed: "We are a brand that authentically reminds people of simpler times, childhood memories and family experiences."

So why mess with a proven formula for success? Parent company Frito-Lay was cutting corners to boost profits.

Only…if you’re promising an online reward, you’d better come through. This was, in my daughter’s words, a massive fail.

True, your business is also looking for corners worth cutting. But before you mess with whatever formula you’ve got that works, consider things from the customer’s perspective and ask if you’re killing the golden goose.

Then honestly calculate how much more you must market to get customers to return after you make your changes.

That change may not be worth it after all.

With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.

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