Cracker Jack replaces plastic toys with QR codes, ‘mobile experience’

It’s the seventh inning, Take Me Out to the Ballgame just echoed through the park and you’ve decided, because you’re hungry or maybe just a sucker for good marketing, that nothing goes better with a stretch than a box of American tradition.

You flag down the vendor, who is also likely selling “cold beer!”, and ask for some Cracker Jack. You forget that you’re hungry and, like many people who buy Cracker Jack, forgo the popcorn and peanuts and dig down for the real reason this candied concoction is so beloved: the chintzy prize found inside.

Instead, you find a QR code and realize not even Cracker Jack could escape those millennials.

This is the new Cracker Jack experience, just in time for another season of America’s favorite pastime, PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay division announced recently.

The nearly 125-year-old product has opted to replace its Prize Inside with a surprise more worthy of the 21st century. From now on, Cracker Jack consumers with find a QR code inside the small prize that links to four mobile, baseball-themed games.

As always, some on the Internet are not pleased. One tweet:

“Today is one of the darkest days in our nation’s history. Cracker Jack is removing physical prizes from their boxes.”

Another tweeted, “It’s not a prize ... it’s click bait to more advertising. As an antique collector, I specialized in vintage Cracker Jack toys for a while. Great and clever stuff.”

On the Cracker Jack Facebook page, fans of the product aired frustrations on the change.

It’s clear the company was aiming for a less apocalyptic reaction.

“The Cracker Jack Prize Inside has been as much a part of the nostalgia and love for the brand as the unforgettable combination of caramel-coated popcorn and peanuts,” said Haston Lewis, senior director of marketing at Frito-Lay. “The new Prize Inside allows families to enjoy their favorite baseball moments through a new one-of-a-kind mobile experience, leveraging digital technology to bring the iconic Prize Inside to life.”

The “mobile experiences” are games called “Dot Dash,” “Dance Cam,” “Get Carded” and “Baseball Star.” They allow users to boogie on a simulated jumbotron, participate in their own dot race (a sixth inning tradition of the Texas Rangers) and create their own baseball cards and autographed photos to trade with friends and family.

But first, prize holders must download the Blippar app to their smartphone or tablet.

This story was originally published May 1, 2016 at 11:54 AM with the headline "Cracker Jack replaces plastic toys with QR codes, ‘mobile experience’."