Corn Nuts is an American snack brand known for its toasted, crunchy corn kernels. The brand traces its origins to Oakland, California, where Albert Holloway purchased an existing toasted corn business in 1936 and renamed the product Cornnuts, selling it as a snack for schoolchildren at five cents a bag.[1]
Design and History
The Corn Nuts brand has changed ownership several times, and its visual identity has evolved alongside those transitions. Nabisco purchased the brand in 1997 and changed the spelling to its present two-word form, “Corn Nuts.”[1] Kraft Heinz took control after its merger with Nabisco in 2015, and Hormel Foods acquired the brand in 2021.[1]
An early Cornnuts trademark was registered in 1952, with first use in commerce dated June 1, 1935.[2] A separate trademark filing for “CORNNUTS” was abandoned in 2006, with first use noted as 1989.[3] The current registered trademark for “CORN NUTS” is owned by Hormel Foods, LLC.[4]
In 1982, the company then operating the brand sued over the use of Pac-Man images on various snack foods, arguing the imagery was confusingly similar to its trademarked 1965 logo. The parties eventually agreed to stop using the contested imagery, and the lawsuit was dropped.[5]
Meaning and Symbolism
The brand name itself is descriptive, referring to the product’s core ingredient and form: toasted corn kernels. The name “Cornnuts” was adopted by Albert Holloway in 1936 after he bought Olin Huntington’s business, which had sold the snack under the name “Olin’s Brown Jug Toasted Corn.”[1]
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