Cookie sales have increased more than 3 percent in each of the last three years. Last year, 214 million boxes were sold, for a total of $787 million, up from 207 million boxes and $760 million the year before.“It’s a better vehicle to tell the story that we are the best leadership program for girls in the world,” said Anna Maria Chávez, the organization’s chief executive, who was appointed as head of the 2.2-million-member organization last year. Together with the first cookie box overhaul since 1999, the Girl Scouts will begin the multimedia “This Is What a Girl Can Do” campaign with public service announcements on radio and television, print ads and new and refreshed Web sites.
Girls decide how they will spend part of the proceeds, which can be for troop projects, activities or trips. The new box lists the five skills that girls learn from the Girl Scout cookie program: goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics.
“It’s more than handing over a box,” said Mirna Hernandez, the cookie program’s brand manager. “The message is that she’s created a plan, interacting with customers and working as part of a team.”