Economic Tradeoff Analysis Of Cracker Jack Essay

Economic Trade-off Analysis Of Cracker Jack Essay, Research Paper

When I was little, Cracker Jack came in cardboard boxes, and

the prize inside was often pretty cool: a whistle or a ring,

or some similar gadget. This was also in the days when Oscar

Mayer gave away tiny hot-dog-shaped whistles as promotional

items. In those days, whistles were pretty popular. Slide

whistles were a very common favor at birthday parties.

I remember an older cousin came back from the army once, and

he had a really cool whistle that played several different

notes. It had come out of a box of cracker jacks.

My supplier in those days was my grandfather, who conveniently

owned a liquor store. My brother and sister played with

my cousins in canyons and caves made out of the corrugated

cardboard crates in the storeroom of beer and cigarettes. Of all

the goods in the store, the interesting ones were the freezer

(ice cream), the candy rack, and the magazines (Archie, Richie

Rich, The Avengers, Fantastic Four…). The comics must have

come from a Marvel distributor rather than DC, because Batman

and Superman were rarities; Spiderman was ubiquitous.

Cracker Jack was advertised as America’s favorite snack. There

were some drawbacks that were well-known to 10-year olds back

then. First, the pour spout was a fraud. “Push here to open” was

a lie. The box was not perforated there, and it was difficult if

not impossible for small fingers to puncture the cardboard. Far

more effective was to peel away the outer wrapper and slip open

the box at a seam. The other well-known bug was that all the

peanuts were always at the bottom. The problem with the peanuts

didn’t bother me, however, since I didn’t care much for them.

I was in the store the other day, and ran into America’s

favorite snack again. The product hung in four-ounce bags