Doublemint
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Doublemint is a flavour of chewing gum made by the Wrigley Company. It was launched in the United States in 1914, and has had variable market share since that time.
One of the most notable aspects of this brand is Wrigleys advertising campaign, begun in 1956, which utilized twins as spokespersons for the gum, as a play on the word "double" in the name. The original "Doublemint Twins" were Jayne and Joan Boyd of Hammond, Indiana, who appeared in advertisements for Doublemint until Joan became pregnant in 1963. The company however continued sporadically to promote the campaign; later "Doublemint Twins" included Patricia and Cyb Barnstable, Cynthia and Brittany Daniel, Heidi and Alissa Kramer, and Jean (née Barbara) and Elizabeth Sagal (daughters of TV Director Boris Sagal, and sisters of Married... with Children's Katey Sagal). The Sagal twins enjoyed a brief run as the stars of a sitcom in 1984, entitled Double Trouble. Later twins projected more sex appeal in keeping with trends in American advertising; the Barnstable twins were later asked to pose for Playboy magazine due to their popularity as spokeswomen for the gum.
The original jingle was as follows:
Double your pleasure, double your fun,
With Doublemint, Doublemint, chewing gum!
The second line has been changed in recent times to "It's the statement of the great mint in Doublemint gum!"
Another jingle in the early 1990s (1990-1993) had these lyrics:
Double double your refreshment,
Double double your enjoyment,
No single gum double freshens your mouth like
Doublemint, Doublemint Gum.
Double double your refreshment,
Double double your delightment,
No single gum double freshens your mouth like,
Double fresh, double good,
Come on and double it,
Doublemint, Doublemint...Gum!
Ending with the slogan:
There's no single gum like it!
In 2004 the European Union Court of Justice ultimately denied Wrigley's request for trademark status on the name "Doublemint"; The Court found that the mark DOUBLEMINT was "descriptive" of the product and in violation of trademark law.
The actual flavorings used in Doublemint gum are evidently a trade secret, but the company does say that the main flavor ingredient is peppermint.
Ironically enough, while Doublemint is in the chewing-gum business, the original Doublemint Twins were not permitted to be seen chewing gum in public, on direct orders from Wrigley himself. Reasons for this order are unclear.
Despite it not being a sugarless gum, in 2003 Wrigley's replaced some of the sugar with aspartame and Ace K, both artificial sweeteners.
Wrigley began running Doublemint Twin commercials again in 2005 with a new set of twins, Natalie Garza & Nicole Garza dressed in old-fashioned clothes. They ride a tandem bike through various modern day situations, singing about the complexity of modern life and touting the joy of the simple pleasure of Doublemint gum. Wrigley also began an open casting call for people to be in their ad campaigns. The call goes out to not only actual twins but anyone and their dog—literally. Many twins have applied but so have people and their friends, their pets, even inanimate objects. They can be seen at the official Doublemint Gum website. Since then, they have run various commercials with some of the new twins as well as Natalie & Nicole from the 2005 campaign.
[edit] External links
- Official Doublemint Gum website
- Doublemint Gum Twin Application
- Wrigley Corporate Site
- An academic article discussing the Doublemint trademark case in Europe
| Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company | |
|---|---|
| William Perez, CEO & president • William Wrigley, Jr. II, chairman | |
| Past CEOs and presidents: William Wrigley Jr. • Philip K. Wrigley • William Wrigley III • William Wrigley, Jr. II | |
| Chewing gum | |
| Airwaves • Big Red • Doublemint • Eclipse • Excel • Extra • Freedent • Juicy Fruit • Orbit • Spearmint • Surpass • Winterfresh | |
| Bubble gum and candy | |
| Alpine • Altoids • Big League Chew • Bubble Tape • Hubba Bubba • Life Savers • Creme Savers | |
| See also | |
| Wrigley Building • Wrigley Field (Chicago) • Wrigley Field (Los Angeles) • Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies • Wrigley Square | |
Annual revenue: $517 million USD (FY 2005) | Employees: 14300 | Stock symbol: NYSE: WWY | Website: www.wrigley.com/ |
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