Starburst (confectionery)
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Starburst is the brand name of a chewy, square, fruit-flavored confectionery manufactured by Mars, Incorporated. Several variants of the confectionery exist, such as Starburst jellybeans (known as Joosters), lollipops, gummies, hard candy, candy canes, and lip gloss (the latter in a partnership with Lip Smackers).
Starburst were introduced by Mars UK in 1960[1] as Opal Fruits, the four original flavours (arranged in yellow packaging) being strawberry, lemon, orange, and lime. When Opal Fruits were introduced in the United States in 1976[1] as Starburst, they had the same flavours; however, Cherry replaced Lime in the early 1980s. In Europe, blackcurrant replaced lime as one of the original flavours in 2002 while lemon became "lemon and lime".
Starburst is now available in various editions, with the original assortments now branded "Original Fruits". The new assortments in the U.S are Limited Edition Icy Burst, Tropical, Baja California, Sour, Strawberry Mix, and Fruit & Creme. These contain additional flavors including kiwi/banana, plum/passion fruit, raspberry, strawberry-banana, mango, melon, tropical punch, green apple, blue raspberry, watermelon, mixed berries & creme, peaches & creme, orange creme, strawberry & creme, and others. Europe also has the "Sour" assortment, comprised of apple, cherry, pineapple and raspberry, as well as Strawberry Mix.
The American version is not vegetarian friendly like the European, as it contains gelatin[citation needed].
[edit] Trivia
- Starburst was known as Opal Fruits in the UK and Ireland until 1998, and marketed with the slogan "Made to Make Your Mouth Water". The name change was undertaken to standardise the product in a globalised marketplace. However, aficionados (including Eats, Shoots & Leaves author Lynne Truss) greatly resented the change and loss of brand identity.
- In the mid 80s a variant of Opal Fruits was released. It was packaged in a largely red packet with yellow text (the opposite of the main brand) and was initially called "Sunshine Flavours". It was later repackaged as "Tropical Opal Fruits".
- A sister product called Opal Mints was available until the early 1970s in the UK, when they were renamed Pacers. This shared the same size, wrapping and chewiness of the fruit sweet, but was spearmint flavoured. Both fruits and mints were sold in paper wrappings similar to Spangles. Pacers were discontinued altogether in the 1980s.
- In the UK and Ireland, the separate lemon and lime flavors were eventually combined into a single flavor, enabling the incorporation of blackcurrant into the pack.
- In 2001, following the result of a public vote, Mars decided not to supplant the traditional flavor lemon with green apple in the Original packaging. Lemon won by a significant margin.
- Starburst is sometimes marketed in partnership alongside Skittles, another chewy fruit confection owned by Mars.
- Starburst's current slogan is "Isn't Life Fun?". In Australia it is "Beware of the burst"
- The fictional character Adrian Mole had a large daily consumption of Opal Fruits in the book The Cappuccino Years.
- To celebrate the Caribbean adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest film, Starburst added new flavors to their tropical flavored chews. Pina Colada and Royal Berry Bunch have replaced Kiwi Banana and Tropical Punch.
- The original Sour Starburst mix contained Watermelon, Green Apple, Cherry, and Blue Raspberry. The new mix contains Strawberry, Orange, Green Apple, and Blue Raspberry.
- In 2002 Mars Confectionary in Australia released a song by a fictional group "Starburst" called "Get Your Juices Going". The song was the basis of a national advertising campaign and was harshly reviewed by many listeners. 2DayFM in Sydney, Australia refused to play the song as it was considered a 4 minute ad.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Confectionery products of Mars, Incorporated |
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| 3 Musketeers • Balisto • Bounty • Celebrations • Dove/Galaxy bar • Flyte • Kudos • Lockets • Maltesers • Mars Bar • M-Azing • M&M's • Milky Way • Revels • Snickers • Skittles • Starburst • Topic • Tracker • Twix Discontinued: Marathon • Opal Mints • Spangles |
