Juicy Fruit is an American brand of chewing gum made by the Wrigley Company, a U.S. company that since 2008 has been a subsidiary of the privately held Mars, Incorporated. It was introduced in 1893, and in the 21st century the brand name is recognized by 99 percent of Americans, with total sales in 2002 of 153 million units.[1]
Description
Flavor
Along with the standard flavor, they have also done collaborations with Starburst to release Fruit Punch, Cherry and Watermelon flavors.
Which fruit serves as the model for its flavor is kept vague in advertising, though in 2003, advertising agency BBDO characterized it as a combination of banana and pineapple,[1] and some people[2] say it resembles jackfruit. According to two books in the Imponderables series, peach is one crucial flavor among many others.[3][4]
It is likely that the chemical used for flavoring is isoamyl acetate (sometimes known as banana oil), a carboxylic ester, which is also found in jackfruit.[5][6]
Consumer demographics
The average age of the typical Juicy Fruit consumer is under 20, with three to eleven year olds making up the heart of the business; those twenty years old and over account for 40% of the purchases.[1]
Juicy Fruit gum consists mostly of sugar contained in a synthetic gum base. Other ingredients include corn syrup and dextrose as bulk agents and natural sweeteners, natural and artificial flavorings, glycerol and lecithin as softening agents, aspartame (NutraSweet) and acesulfame K as artificial sweeteners, Yellow Lake 5 as a coloring and BHT as a preservative.
When William Wrigley Jr. started his new business in Chicago, he began by selling his father's Scouring Soap, which he would entice customers to purchase by adding a free gift of baking powder. The baking powder offered ended up being far more popular than the Scouring Soap, so he switched to selling the baking powder instead. In 1892, Wrigley Jr. decided to give his baking powder customers a free gift, this time, attaching a few sticks of chewing gum to the box of baking powder.
The chewing gum was far more popular than the baking powder, so Wrigley Jr. again switched his business this time to chewing gum. In 1893, Wrigley Jr. introduced a new flavor of gum, Juicy Fruit, which helped the Wrigley Company to become the most popular and successful chewing gum company in the world.[8]
A Juicy Fruit wrapper from 1946, described on the package as a "fascinating artificial flavor".
When the brand first entered the market, it was packaged simply, with a plain wrapper and "JUICY FRUIT" in red, thin block letters. In 1914, Wrigley changed it to thin vertical white and green stripes with "Wrigley's Juicy Fruit Chewing Gum" centered in a stylized Maltese Crossemblem with a black background.[9]
Juicy Fruit was taken off of the civilian market temporarily during World War II because of ingredient shortages and the demand for the gum to be included in C-rations. When the gum was reintroduced to the general public after World War II ended, the striped packaging was replaced by one with a bright yellow background and "Juicy Fruit" bracketed between two stylized chevrons, the latter a motif meant to echo the "Wrigley arrow" element used for Wrigley's Spearmint since 1893.[9]
The bright yellow background remained into the 21st century, with variations since 2002 turning the arrowhead like chevrons into the corners of an elongated smile under the brand name.[9] Juicy Fruit is still widely popular today.[10]
It also features in the 1983 song "Juicy Fruit" by Mtume.[11] Separately, a Juicy Fruit jingle that ended with the lyrics—"the taste, the taste, the taste is gonna move ya!"—was widely recognizable in TV advertisements throughout the 1980s.[citation needed]
Alongside other famous flavors like Wrigley's Spearmint, Juicy Fruit was discontinued in Germany and Austria in 2022.[12]
^Pavia, Donald L.; Gary M. Lampman; George S. Kriz; Randall G. Engel (2007). Introduction to Organic Laboratory Techniques. Thomson Brooks/Cole. ISBN978-0-495-01630-4.
