Blog: Not such a smart move for Smarties

Catherine Sleep | 18 February 2005

Nestlé Rowntree has announced it is revamping the packaging of its perennial favourite, Smarties. Whatever next?

Smarties have long been sold in cardboard tubes, with different-coloured plastic lids. As a kid it was always very important to make sure you picked your favourite colour lid (green in my case) and then the really exciting part was taking off the lid to find out which letter was imprinted on the inside. Finding the first letter of your own name could really make my day (or even week – mine was an unexciting childhood, you really had to conjure up your own thrills in 1970s Devon).

Now it appears that Smarties will be sold in a hexagonal pack, with NO PLASTIC LID. Will the kids notice, or care? Maybe not, but a lot of nostalgic adults are up in arms (scroll down the linked page for their outraged comments).

Right, I’m off to buy a few packs now, for old times’ sake.