TRIVIA BITS

It was bound to happen. The trivia craze is just too popular a phenomenon not to spur some ingenious games and gimmicks. So now it’s here: the first snack cracker with a trivia question inside. The newly invented “Trivia Bits” not only tickle your taste buds but also test your wits.

The tasty cheese cracker with a hint of cayenne pepper is the invention of former Exxon marketing executives J. Mi-cheal Meadow and W.W. “Bill” Pierce. Meadow says that he and his partner came up with the idea while eating fortune cookies at The New Big Wong restaurant. It sounded tike a simple idea, but the baking process was very difficult, he says.

The American Institute of Baking assisted in developing the process so that the cracker stayed crisp and the paper didn’t stick to the dough. After the baking process was perfected. Meadow and Pierce researched all the trivia questions and answers. There are more than 5,000 questions, and each is numbered for trivia collectors.

The partners have been marketing the crackers as a bar snack to airlines, hotels, restaurants and bars. American Airlines is tentatively scheduled to include them as in-flight snacks. Trivia Bits are now being sold to the public in various quantities, including large decorated cans for $14.35. They’re available at the Trivia Bits outlet in the Quadrangle.