Hydrox, AKA The ‘Original Oreo’, Accuses Their Rival Of Hiding Their Cookies

Hydrox may not sound like the name of a cookie sandwich, but it’s been around since 1908, making it four years older than OREOs. Now, the “Original Oreo,” as Today has called them, is taking issues with some sketchy techniques the more popular brand may be using to drive their sales down.

In a lengthy Facebook post, Hydrox announced that they had filed a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that Mondelez, OREO’s parent company, was hiding their sandwich cookie products on store shelves to make it difficult for customers to find them. Several photos were offered up as evidence, showing the older brand’s packages hidden behind hanging products, moved away from its own label on shelves and replaced, or turned on its side to prevent the labeling from being shown.

This seems to have become a potential problem in recent years once Hydrox made its way back onto shelves. It had been replaced by Keebler back in 1999, but returned to stores in 2015 under a new owner, Leaf Brands, where it went after Mondelez with the tagline “The original sandwich cookie is back, don’t eat a knock off!”

Hydrox has noted that they have received several notifications from consumers about the shady tactics allegedly performed by Mondelez, and even offered up an anecdote from a major buyer that said that the OREO owner viewed their return as a “major threat” and that the snack giant would attempt to hide their product as an effort to drive down sales or force Hydrox to be discontinued.

Mondelez has rejected the accusations, telling Today in a statement that Hydrox’s claims had “no merit.”

The FTC has yet to start any formal investigation into the matter. Whether they choose to or not will be telling into whether there is sufficient evidence to say that Mondelez has in fact been hiding Hydrox’s products.