Mondelez clears up confusion over missing cookies

Mondelez just got a reminder about the importance of having informed customer service representatives dealing with angry customers—especially angry cookie customers.

Both CTV and CBC ran stories online this week about the disappearance of Dad’s Chocolate Chip cookies from store shelves and the disappointed brand fans who couldn’t find them.

Mondelez Canada spokesperson Stephanie Cass told CTV News the company had in fact stopped making Dad’s Chocolate Chip cookies late last year because it was the “poorest performer” among the brand’s different options. “They were discontinued simply because they were not a good seller,” said Cass. Mondelez still makes Dad’s Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies as well as Chips Ahoy.

So what could have been a simple case of a relatively unpopular discontinued product seems to have snowballed into a larger story after customers were told they could still get the cookie. And, as is so often the case today, the confused customers rallied together on Facebook to express their frustration.

While both CTV and CBC said Mondelez stopped making the cookies “late last year” one Facebook thread about the scarcity of the cookies was started last summer by a Dad’s Chocolate Chip fan who could no longer find the cookie. She suspected Mondelez had killed the product. “Multi-nationals who take over our local companies then ruin them should take a hike,” she wrote.

However, a Mondelez consumer engagement employee responded that Dad’s Chocolate Chip cookies were still available and to use the online product locator to find a store that carried them. The thread continued through the fall and into the new year. As recently as April 25 a Mondelez employee told customers they could still get Dad’s Cookies (though the employee didn’t say chocolate chip).

Cass told CBC Mondelez’s customer relations team didn’t have all of the information about Dad’s Chocolate Chip no longer being available.

"Since this was brought to our attention, we have been working to get information updated as quickly as possible," said Cass.