Yowie (chocolate)

Yowie is a confectionery and publishing brand originating in Australia. It was one of the top selling chocolates in Australia in the late 1990s and early 2000s, selling over a million units a week. After a break of nearly a decade, Yowie relaunched in 2014 for US markets.

Yowie began as the brainchild of English-born advertising man, illustrator and author Geoff Pike. After serving in the navy, Pike jumped ship in Australia, finding work as a jackaroo on remote cattle stations. He became enchanted by Australia’s outback and its unique wildlife, and devoted his free time to nursing injured and orphaned animals back to health.

Many decades later, after a successful career in advertising, Pike drew on these early bush experiences and his love of wild places to create the Yowie Kingdom, a fictional magical realm free of the destructive influence of humanity, where threatened wildlife finds a safe haven.

Inspired by Australian folklore, Pike borrowed the legendary human-like creature the Yowie, reputed to roam the Australian bush. To watch over the fictional Yowie Kingdom and its animals and plants, Pike created six Yowie characters, each related to a well-known Australian animal, and each one guardian of key wild habitats:

Additional characters included animal companions for each of the six Yowie and Balthizar the Bunyip, ruler of the Yowie Kingdom. To represent the threats facing the world’s natural habitats and threatened species, Pike created the Grumkin, careless creatures constantly seeking to destroy the harmony of the Yowie Kingdom. The Grumkins were: Munch (careless building, enemy of Rumble), Blob (pollution, enemy of Crag), Ooz (also pollution, enemy of Squish), Spark (careless firelighting, enemy of Nap), Slob (littering, enemy of Ditty) and Chomp the Tiger Toothed Tree Chomper (deforestation, enemy of Boof).

Continuing with the development of the Yowie concept and characters, Pike enlisted the aid of long-time friend, fellow advertising man and best-selling author Bryce Courtenay. They hit upon the idea of a confectionery product as a vehicle for Yowie, and in 1994 pitched the concept to confectionery giant Cadbury.

After three years developing the characters and the manufacturing process, in 1997 Cadbury launched Yowie as a foil-wrapped character-shaped milk chocolate shell containing a plastic capsule. Within the capsule was a multi-part collectable model of a native Australian or New Zealand animal, together with a leaflet featuring information, a photo of the animal and assembly instructions for the collectable. The first series featured 50 animals, plus figurines of each of the six Yowie characters.

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Wikipedia