[Sca-cooks] what exactly is a yowie? Let me tell you...

[Robyn.Hodgkin at affa.gov.au]

Here are some sites explaining/showing what Yowies are:

http://www.cadbury.com.au/products/index.php?product_id=28&pack_id=4
http://www.gascp.com/Yowie/series1.htm
http://www.yowie.com/introduction.htm

Do you have Kinder surprise in the USA?  These are the Australian version; but with nicer chocolate and not quite as inventive toys.  However they do have an emphasis on environmental issues which is cool, and the toys are mostly Australian native animals.

In more detail:

The Yowie concept started when authors Geoff Pike and Bryce Courtenay approached Cadbury, a leading confectionery manufacturer, with the concept of a chocolate range based on a series of real and mythical animals with an environmental message. Cadbury immediately developed it further and created the Yowie Chocolate Series, a chocolate piece molded in the shape of a Yowie.

Inside each Yowie Chocolate was a Playmate, a plastic capsule containing a plastic animal figurine and a token. Every animal comes with a small paper with the assembly instruction, a picture and information about the animal. It was an instant success and now vast quantities of Yowie Playmates are produced and collected each week, a series of books has been written and a television series and animated film are being developed.

Kiriel