Whatever happened to BN biscuits?

Smile!

If you were alive in the late 90s, over the age of five and not living under a rock it's impossible that you won't remember BN biscuits. Aside from the fact that they were really quite tasty, the UK adverts with their o-so-memorable jingle, 'BN BN, do doo do do do. BN BN, do do do do...' was enough to etch BN biscuits into your brain, never to be forgotten.

For what seemed like ages but was actually a limited time in the late 90s and early 00s, BN biscuits which are originally from France were hot stuff. It seemed their playful smiley face revealing the rich chocolate filling sandwiched between the two biscuit layers was a winning combination. They were cleverly marketed at kids with the smiley face and catchy theme tune and all, which was no doubt recited around the nations playgrounds at lunchtime (don't you just love it when greedy marketers con kids into eating junk food), not to mention adults alike who probably recited the theme tune in offices around the nation. All this made people remember to pick some up from the supermarket and put them in theirs and their kids lunchboxes for the next day. Result.

The good thing about them is that they did actually taste really nice, so we'll forgive them all the hype.

              BN packaging looking all cute

              and happy and buyable.

Whilst I loved them at the time, I'll be honest, they hadn't crossed my mind until recently. Then to my great disappointment I found out they're no longer stocked in the UK. That's right, NOWHERE in the UK. They haven't been since sometime in the early 00s when they disappeared COMPLETELY. And it's a bit of a mystery why.

There's a couple of theories, one being the interesting although strange urban legend claiming they were banned because one batch of biscuits contained cocaine. (Ha, don't you just love stupid urban legends?) A more likely theory is that they probably just didn't sell enough. This seems odd considering how popular they were though, so I guess the discontinuation of the BN biscuit will have to go down as one of the mysteries of the universe.

The good news is they're still sold in some parts of Europe, particularly in their homeland France where they're super popular. They can also be bought over the internet and shipped over. So if you're desperate there are ways. Expensive ways, but still ways.

In fact, people ARE desperate enough that many campaigns have been launched to bring them back to the UK. None of which have worked, but then again Wispa was bought back after all those years so you never know... 

I'll leave you with a clip from The Office (that amazing early 00s TV show featuring Ricky Gervais), in which Gareth, David Brent and some other bloke sing 'Mah Na Mah Na', the original song inspiration for the BN biscuit advert theme. It's good.

To find out what happened to another 90s snack time classic check out my Sunny Delight post.