Penguin (biscuit)

Penguins are milk chocolate–covered biscuit bars filled with chocolate cream. They are produced by Pladis's manufacturing division McVitie's at their Stockport factory.

Penguin biscuits in various wrappers

History

In Glasgow William Macdonald had founded Macdonald Biscuits in 1928 and was inspired by some biscuits he had encountered from Antwerp to create a chocolate covered biscuit, containing a chocolate cream sandwich in the centre.[1]

They were first produced in 1932 by William McDonald, a biscuit manufacturer in Glasgow, and became a McVitie's brand when McDonald joined with McVitie's and Price, MacFarlane Lang & Co and Crawford to form United Biscuits in 1948. Each wrapper has a joke or "funny fact" printed on it and imaginative, often humorous designs featuring penguins that often pastiche famous works of art.

During the 1980s, the Penguin brand became known for their television advertising slogan "P...P...P...Pick up a penguin!”

In October 1996, Penguins were the subject of a court case between Asda and United Biscuits, who accused Asda of passing off their own brand "Puffin" biscuits as part of the Penguin brand. In March 1997, the court found in favour of United Biscuits regarding passing off, but found that Asda had not infringed the Penguin trademark.[2]

United Biscuits had been criticised for continuing to use trans fatty acids in the cream filling of Penguins.[3] By December 2007, United Biscuits began to advertise the absence of trans fats from Penguins, having removed the ingredient from this product line.[4]

The Tim Tam produced by Arnott's in Australia was based on the Penguin.[5] Occasional media references include tongue in cheek debates over which is the superior biscuit.[6][7]

Types

There are four variations of the biscuit:[8]

  • Chocolate
  • Orange
  • Mint
  • Toffee

Spin off brands

In June 2003, McVitie's produced several "sub brands" or variations of the Penguin biscuit: Penguin Chukkas, Wing Dings, Flipper Dipper, Splatz and Mini Splatz. These variations were accompanied by a £5 million promotional campaign.[9] In January 2008, McVitie's also produced Penguin triple chocolate wafers.[10]

Notes
  1. Made in Scotland, Carol Foreman
  2. Karen Fong (1997-05-01). "The problem with look-a-likes: Penguin v. Puffin". Rouse & Co. International. Archived from the original on March 26, 2006. Retrieved 5 October 2006.
  3. "United biscuits". tfX::the campaign against trans fats in food. Archived from the original on 27 September 2006. Retrieved 5 October 2006.
  4. "United Biscuits website". Archived from the original on 14 December 2007. Retrieved 14 February 2008.
  5. Kirsty Needham (2003-04-18). "Branding rivals will never take the biscuit, says Mr Tim Tam". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 10 October 2006.
  6. "Tim Tam vs Penguin". 2003-01-12. Retrieved 11 October 2006.
  7. Mike Adamson (2005-08-26). "Cricket -The Ashes 2005 - Fourth Test, second day — Over-by-over: afternoon session". London: Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 11 October 2006.
  8. "Penguin". McVities. Archived from the original on 11 February 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  9. McVities 'chukks' £5m behind Penguin brand, Food & Drink Europe, 3 June 2003. Retrieved 6 October 2006.
  10. "McVitie's to launch Penguin Triple Chocolate Wafer bar". www.talkingretail.com. 16 January 2008. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
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