Cracker Jack abandons a century of prizes for QR codes and mobile games

Gen Xers who remember scoring the coveted weather predictor, smearing on a temporary tattoo or throwing out yet another useless magnifying glass today saw another symbol of their childhood annihilated: Cracker Jack is replacing the toy with a QR code for some mobile games.

The Toy Surprise has been in every box of Cracker Jack for more than 100 years —€” going back to 1912. But it now gives way to QR codes for baseball themed games, which one accesses after downloading another app, called Blippar, on their iOS or Android mobile device.

Oh boy, kid, here's your prize. Yay.

The games are "baseball-inspired mobile digital experiences" as Cracker Jack doubles down on its nostalgic ties to the game thanks to a song. The four "experiences" range from a dance cam and a dot race that mimics the ones seen on jumbo screens at ballparks to a set of virtual baseball cards that star the user.

No prize though. Haston Lewis, the senior director of marketing for brand owner Frito-Lay called QR codes "the new Prize Inside" in a statement that also used the word "leveraging." More of that is here, if you really want to read it.

Cracker Jack appears to have included QR codes in its boxes back in 2013 so the news here is it is a straight-up replacement. No more joke books, lenticular cartoons or plastic figurines.