Wine gum

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An assortment of Bassett's wine gums.

Wine gums (or winegums) are chewy, firm sweets similar to gumdrops, except they are not sugar-coated. They are manufactured from animal gelatin, mixed with sweeteners, flavourings and colourings. They are extremely popular in Ireland and the United Kingdom, as well as in Commonwealth nations such as Canada, New Zealand, Malta and South Africa, and other northern and middle European countries. Popular brands include Bassett's (or Maynards in Canada, the UK and Ireland).

1 History
- 1.1 Advertising
2 Flavour
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

Wine gums were invented in 1909 in Libya^{[citation needed]} by Charles Gordon Maynard, whose father, Charles Riley Maynard ran a sweet shop. Charles Riley Maynard almost fired his son immediately upon learning about these "wine gums", as he was an observant Methodist and teetotaller. Charles Gordon, however, convinced his father that the recipe contained no wine. ^[1]

In 1990, Maynards was acquired by Trebor Bassett. For the year 2002, Maynards wine gum sales reached £40 million. Throughout the early 90s, Wine Gums were advertised with the famous advert involving a Scottish man sharing his Wine Gums to a various objects such as bagpipes and a moose's head, making them come alive, and dance to music. The advert was famous for the lines "The joose is loose aboot this hoose" said in a strong Scottish accent. The advert was incredibly popular, and as of 2008, it is starting to be shown again.

Wine gums were the favourite sweets of Roald Dahl, author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He kept a jar of the sweets next to his bed so he could savour them each night before he went to sleep.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Advertising

Maynards launched a very popular commercial in the UK and ran through the early 90s. It starred a Scotsman who dances to the tune of Hoots Mon whilst he shares his Wine Gums to various objects, like his bagpipes and a moose's head that's hung on the wall, which results in him energetically dancing with almost everything in the room, before proclaiming the famous words "Hoots mon there's joose, loose, aboot this hoose" in a strong Scottish accent. The advert has become so popular, that it has been recomissioned in 2008.

Maynards utilised viral video website You Tube to urge users of the website to purchase Wine Gums. The partnered user "charlieissocoollike" posted a video entitled "Wine Gum Experiment" and Charlie Mcdonnell is claimed to of been paid in excess of £11,000 for the four minute video. Charlie Mcdonnell refused to comment relative to being paid for the video - but, did state "I am a fan of Maynards so was quite prepared to release them back into the eye of the public - worldwide..."

Maynards has verbally maintains and supports that Charlie Mcdonnell will be posting prospective videos with reference to Wine Gums and/or Maynard products. The user "nerimon" on the website was not paid, nor involved with Maynards despite posting a similar video prior to the submission of the viral video "Wine Gum Experiment". The video has been viewed at present [11th of June 2008] 251,000 times. Maynards claims that they hope Mr Mcdonnels next video will be just as popular and state that any inclusion in the video is his creativity - he is paid based on viewing figures per video click.

[edit] Flavour

Wine gums contain no wine. The name comes from the lingering, subtle fruit flavours that make it "similar to the experience of savouring a fine wine". In reference to this, the sweets have the names of alcoholic drinks on them, for example port, sherry, champagne, claret and Burgundy. Also appearing on the gums are "M" and Maynards. For those in the United States of America, they most closely resemble Jujyfruits in colours, texture, and sweetness, though with different flavours. According to Cadbury Schweppes^[2], red and black are the most popular colours. Red is traditionally tart cherry-flavored whereas the black is licorice (anise).