Juicy Fruit

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Juicy Fruit is a brand of chewing gum made by Wrigley's. Introduced in the United States in 1893, Juicy Fruit almost immediately became one of the best-selling brands in the country, and remains so today. It has had seven different packaging designs as of 2004; many older packages are considered collectors items in a niche market.

Assorted Juicy Fruit packaging
Assorted Juicy Fruit packaging

Juicy Fruit was taken off the civilian market temporarily during World War II because of shortages in the necessary ingredients to make it; additionally, demand for gum to be included in C-rations made sufficient production impossible. The gum was re-introduced to the general public in 1946.

Each three-gram stick contains ten calories (42 kilojoules).

People often report that the (Southeast Asian) jack fruit tastes nearly identical to Juicy Fruit, but just which "fruit" serves as its flavor has been deliberately made vague by Wrigley's. Recently the company has capitalized on this in a campaign selling gum with flavors named "Strappleberry" and "Grapermelon" under the Juicy Fruit brand. Wrigley's apparently told Imponderables that banana is one crucial flavor among many others. It is likely, however, that the chemical used for flavoring is isopentenyl acetate, a carboxylic ester.[1]

In the early 2000s, a pellet gum version was introduced, and contains no sugar, unlike the stick version. However, the green version contains sugar, and was introduced in 2006.

Contents

[edit] Canadian Flavours In Pellet Form

  • Juicy Fruit Original
  • Juicy Fruit Red
  • Juicy Fruit Blue
  • Juicy Fruit Pink
  • Juicy Fruit Green
  • Juicy Fruit Purple
  • Juicy Fruit Apricot Berry (Orange)

[edit] Juicy Fruit in the media

The Juicy Fruit brand has been represented in the media in the following ways:

[edit] In film

  • In the 2006 film "Inside Man", Dalton Russel (Clive Owen's character) offers Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) a piece of gum, which happens to be Juicy Fruit. He leaves the unfinished pack and some wrappers in the unmarked safety deposit box.
  • In the first Godzilla movie, the foreign scientists were chewing Juicy Fruit in order to "Make them look more American".

[edit] In music

  • Two people can be seen chewing Juicy Fruit before kissing in the music video for "Here in Your Arms" by Hellogoodbye.

[edit] On TV

  • In a second series episode of UK sitcom Spaced, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is referenced throughout, including the character of Daisy offering a Chief look-a-like a piece of Juicy Fruit
  • In the 2006-7 British TV series Life on Mars, the characters are frequently seen chewing Juicy Fruit. During the first series DCI Gene Hunt lays out two packets of Juicy Fruit on the interview table. In a series two episode, an exchange between DC Chris Skelton and a schoolgirl goes:
  • Juicy Fruit is also referenced in American Dad, when Stan explains what being popular feels like by comparing it with the taste of Juicy Fruit.
  • There was a Juicy Fruit Commercial that was banned, that shows a woman beating up a Giant Orange Whale, who stole her Juicy Fruit.
  • Juicy Fruit featured a "banned" or alternative commercial on their Canadian website, in which a snowboarder hits the singing guitar player over the head with his snowboard, thus killing him.
  • In the television series The Shield, Lt. Jon Kavanaugh constantly chews Juicy Fruit throughout Season 5. He also explains how he used chewing gum as an interrogation technique; when he offers it to people and they refuse, he offers it to them a second time. If they accept the gum the second time, he knows that they will crack under interrogation.
  • Juicy Fruit is the name of a prostitute on the show South Park.
  • The 41 car in NASCAR is sponsored by Juicy Fruit.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Pavia, "Organic Laboratory Techniques" pp.99-100

[edit] References

  • Pavia, Donald L.; Lampman, Kriz, Engel (2007). Introduction to Organic Laboratory Techniques. Thomson Brooks/Cole. ISBN 978-0-495-01630-4. 


[edit] External links


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