Chips Ahoy!

Chips Ahoy! is an American cookie brand. This is one of the best-known cookies that you can get at stores all around the US. They are usually offered to customers at places like gas stations as well. There are various versions of the cookie as well for those who want reduced fat or chunky chocolate bits in their treat.

This cookie actually has a very unique history and has been around since the early 60s. This is one of the cookie brands that almost everyone knows about, but most people don’t realize how long the brand has been around. If you love chocolate chip cookies, you need to be sure to try out Chip Ahoy! cookies.

History

Chocolate chip cookies are so popular in the US and the UK that it might seem like this has always been a popular cookie recipe. What many people do not realize is that cookie products stem from biscuits, which were often used to feed small children or as a “digestive” if you were not feeling well. These were usually plain items that were rather boring and which were almost treated like they were medicinal in nature.

After the Great Depression, food that could be fun began to hit the market. Sweets and cookies started to include more fun flavors and ingredients, and they were also sold to everyone, not just the wealthy. Later, during WWII, many of the products that were sent to the troops were made to be enticing and delicious with whatever ingredients were on offer. This meant that chocolate products were commonly sent to the troops, and chocolate flavoring became more common as well. Chocolate Chip cookies were largely an outcrop of the effort to include nutritional and comforting foods in food rations sent to the troops overseas during this period.

While Ruth Graves Wakefield is often credited with creating the chocolate chip cookie, there were many cookies of this type made in other parts of the world during this period as well. However, her Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie recipe is essentially the basis for all the mass-produced cookies that are sold today. Wakefield was begged to release her recipe so that everyone could make it in their homes following WWII. The UK got ahold of this recipe in 1956, and the chocolate chip cookie became vastly popular in the UK as well shortly thereafter. 

The wide array of chocolate chip cookie types and styles that are offered these days is a natural progression of the well-established popularity of the chocolate chip cookie of the 40s. You can buy ready-bake dough of this type, as well as premade cookies of all kinds and styles in many places all around the world these days. 

However, one of the original pioneers in the premade cookie space has always been Nabisco. Chips Ahoy! has been one of their flagship products for years, and for a good reason. There are few cookies that are so satisfying and delightful to eat. Today, you can enjoy Chips Ahoy! in premade form as well as being able to get Chips Ahoy! flavored ice cream.

Chips Ahoy! has been around since 1963. Nabisco has always made this product and continues to manufacture it today as well. The name of the cookies is supposed to be because of the nautical term “Ship Ahoy!”. The phrase actually comes from a Dickens novel about a man named Chips who was made fun of using the phrase “Chips ahoy!”. While this might not be the most logical reason for naming a cookie, there are many equally odd reasons that other snack brands have ended up with their unique names.

Chips Ahoy! is sold in the US, Latin America, South Africa, Canada, India, Spain, Portugal, China, Indonesia, Taiwan, Mauritius, and the UK. In some markets, it has a different name. For example, in Latin America, the product is called Choco Chips. In other markets, Chips Ahoy! are sold as Chips More! There are also different packaging options in some markets than in the US. The larger packaging that is offered in some markets is absent in other markets. If you are traveling and see Chips Ahoy products on the shelves of the stores, they will likely be sold in smaller packaging or only in “mini” size.

Chips Ahoy! was originally sold with the help of a mascot. In the 60s, this mascot was “Cookie Man” who was actually included in his own comic strips as well as being present on wrappers and product boxes. This character was intended to be a superhero, and he fought off cookie-eating creatures like Fruit Fly and Big Wig. Rather like Superman, Cookie Man was actually Mort Meek, who would slip into a phone booth or a locker room and emerge as Cookie Man to rescue the day.

When TV ads became more common for cookie and cereal brands, these comic strips were brought into the TV ads that Nabisco used to advertise Chips Ahoy! as well. In the 90s, a switch was made to using the slogan, “1,000 Chips Delicious!” The new ads during this time were also done with a variety of old-fashioned songs like “Sing, Sing, Sing” which dated back to the 1930s.

Musical ads have continued to be a big part of the advertising of this brand, but after 2010, a new focus on the concept of joy and happiness was introduced into the ads for Chips Ahoy! Most of the ads leaned on the concept that anyone would be overjoyed to open a bag of Chips Ahoy! to share with friends and family. Some of the more recent ads indicate the happiness that you will feel when you are enjoying Chips Ahoy! will make you have “happy feet” and break into spontaneous dancing.

Chips More! Products continue to be advertised with the help of Cookie Man to this day. These kinds of ads are always more successful in this kind of market, and lots of other treat brands use this style of ad as well despite replacing their US and UK ads with other ad styles. This is one of the things that many people notice right away when they are shopping for Chips Ahoy! and other candy and treat products in Latin America. Cartoon mascots are really common in this market, and you can often see comic strip mascots that have long been discontinued in other markets.

Today, the Chips Ahoy! recipe has been copied by various recipe makers, and you can attempt to make your own Chips Ahoy! cookies at home if you want. However, these kinds of homemade cookies are never the same as the original Chips Ahoy! and most people will agree that their homemade cookies are not as delicious as the real thing. Since there are so many different kinds of Chips Ahoy! products to choose from, you will be sure to find a new favorite cookie type once you do a little shopping around for the perfect cookie for you.

Logo

Ingredients:

From the HEB entry for Original Chips Ahoy!

• Unbleached Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate {Vitamin B1}
• Riboflavin {Vitamin B2}, Folic Acid)
• Semisweet Chocolate Chips (Sugar, Chocolate, Cocoa Butter, Dextrose, Milk, Soy Lecithin)
• Sugar
• Canola Oil
• Palm Oil
• High Fructose Corn Syrup
• Leavening (Baking Soda, Ammonium Phosphate)
• Salt
• Artificial Flavor
• Caramel Color
• Natural Flavor

The company warns that there is wheat, milk, and soy in these cookies.

Nutrition

Serving Size:	1 pack (40g)	% Daily Value*
Amount Per Serving
Calories	190
Calories from Fat	80
Total Fat	9g	14%
Saturated Fat	3g	15%
Trans Fat	0g
Polyunsaturated Fat	3g
Monounsaturated Fat	2g
Cholesterol	0mg	0%
Sodium	120mg	5%
Total Carbohydrates	27g	9%
Dietary Fiber	0.5g	2%
Sugars	13g
Protein	2g
Vitamin A		0%
Vitamin C		0%
Calcium		0%
Iron		8%

• Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000-calorie diet.

Varieties:

• Original
• Reduced Fat
• Chunky
• Chewy
• Candy-Blasts
• Mini Chips Ahoy!
• Haunted Chips Ahoy!
• Milka Chips Ahoy!
• Chips Ahoy! Lunchables
• Hot Cocoa Chips Ahoy!
• Cinnamon Donut Chewy Chips Ahoy!
• Chips Ahoy! Thins Original
• Chips Ahoy! Oatmeal
• Chips Ahoy! Soft Baked Real Chocolate Chunk Cookies
• Chips Ahoy! Sticks
• Chips Ahoy! Thins Cinnamon Sugar
• Chips Ahoy! Thins Oatmeal
• Red Velvet Chips Ahoy!
• S’mores Chips Ahoy!
• Chips Ahoy! Sour Patch Kids
• Chips Ahoy! American Summer
• Chewy Chips Ahoy! Brownie Filled King Size!
• Chips Ahoy! Chunky
• Chips Ahoy! made with Reese’s Mini Pieces
• Chewy Chips Ahoy! Ice Cream Creations Mint Chocolate Chip
• Chew Chips Ahoy! Ice Cream Creations Root Beer Float
• Chewy Chips Ahoy! made with Reese’s
• Chew Chips Ahoy! Oreo Crème Filled
• Chips Ahoy! Chewy Granola Bars 100 Calorie Packs
• Chips Ahoy Thins Double Chocolate
• Chips Ahoy! Chewy Gooey Caramel
• Chips Ahoy! Chocolate Banana
• Chips Ahoy! Soft Baked Real Chocolate Chunk Cookies
• Popcorn Candy Chip
• Crispy Choco Caramel

All of the various varieties are color-coded, and the packaging is unique to each. The combined product packaging that includes other candies usually splits the bags in half and shows the Chip Ahoy! product branding on one side of the package and the candy product branding on the other.

Not all of these items are on offer in every market. Additionally, the seasonal products are typically only offered for a couple of months surrounding the holiday they are targeted at. Major city areas will usually have these unique seasonal products on offer. You might have to order these cookies if you are not located in markets that are given access to these Chips Ahoy! varieties.

Pictures

Ads:

A more recent ad:

A compilation of ads:

A “cringe” campaign ad:

FAQ