March 6 is National Oreo Cookie Day. It is to celebrate the debut of the Oreo cookie on March 6, 1912. According to recent studies Oreos are the top selling cookies in the U.S. right now. Since their release over 450 billion Oreos have been sold. Even though Oreos are one of the most loved cookies ever, no one expected them to be much of a success.

That may be hard to believe but it’s true. This is because Oreos are copies of the Hydrox cookie (which was discontinued mostly in 1999). The big question is how did these gain the hearts of more people than the Hydrox cookies. They are the same cookie with chocolate sandwich with cream filling in the middle. Well the reason isn’t that it tasted better it was because of the marketing strategy.

Nabisco had clever catch phrases that grabbed the people’s attention. Some popular examples are “Milk’s favorite cookie,” and “Open up with Oreo.” Leaf Brands (the company that sold Hydrox cookies) didn’t have as many catchy phrases. They stuck to saying they were original and had better ingredients. Though these aren’t bad advertising strategies Nabisco in the end won more customers.

Something both companies did to keep customers was adding more flavors. For example Hydrox had mint, chocolate fudge, and strawberry filling. Oreos have many more but the most popular ones are Double Stuf, Golden Oreos, and Thin Mints. These flavors made the people interested and they bought multiple flavors.

Oreos has a more complex story than it seems. From a long time rivalry with Hydrox to the creation of interesting flavors Nabisco has always worked hard to keep their customers. Oreo always worked to be one of the best selling brands ever. They balanced an acceptable ratio of cream to chocolate cookie. All in all I believe everyone should buy Oreos on National Oreo Cookie Day to honor their history.