What Happened to Cookie Break?

1970–2000 Food/CPG • United States

ℹ️ Fate: Discontinued (low sales)

Nabisco vanilla sandwich cookies that faded from shelves when there “weren’t enough consumers” buying them.

Cookie Break was a Nabisco cookie line sold in the United States and remembered by shoppers as a straightforward vanilla cookie that the company no longer makes. In consumer Q&A, it is often cited when people ask what Nabisco vanilla cookies were called before they disappeared from shelves.

According to the U.S. trademark record, *COOKIE BREAK* was first used in commerce in 1970, filed as a mark in September 1974, and registered in 1975 in the "Staple Food Products" category. The mark was later allowed to expire and is listed as dead/expired by the mid-2000s.

People who actually bought the product recall it simply as Nabisco Cookie Break vanilla cookies, not as a heavily engineered or gimmick format. Descriptions that portray Cookie Break as a generic "rectangular, glossy cookie designed to be broken apart" appear to be AI-generated filler and do not match first-hand memories.

When customers later contacted Nabisco about why Cookie Break was discontinued, the company’s explanation was that there were *"not enough consumers buying the products to support its continued production."* In other words, the line was dropped for demand and portfolio reasons rather than a safety issue or public scandal.

For many shoppers, Cookie Break now shows up mainly in nostalgia threads and trademark lookups: a discontinued, everyday Nabisco vanilla cookie that quietly left the aisle once it no longer drew enough repeat buyers.

Timeline

  • 1970

    COOKIE BREAK mark first used in commerce in the United States, according to Nabisco’s trademark filing.

  • 1974

    Nabisco files the COOKIE BREAK trademark (serial no. 73031545) in the Staple Food Products category.

  • 1975

    COOKIE BREAK trademark is registered (reg. no. 1020647) to Nabisco, Inc.

  • 1980

    Cookie Break vanilla cookies are recalled by shoppers as a regular Nabisco item in U.S. supermarkets and pantries through the 1980s and 1990s.

  • 2000

    In response to consumer inquiries, Nabisco explains that Cookie Break was discontinued because there were not enough consumers buying the product to support continued production.

  • 2006

    COOKIE BREAK trademark is listed as dead/expired in U.S. trademark records, reflecting the brand’s retirement.

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