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04/05/2007: Big Red Gum’s Big Red Lie.

You know what used to really tick me off? Big Red gum.

Now, I’ve come to adore Big Red. Big Red helps keep secret smoke breaks secret. But, as a child, I wanted to kill the people responsible for Big Red, who tricked me over and over and over and over again with this one eensy little unforgettable image seen in practically every one of the gum’s television commercials throughout the ’80s:

Big Red is, was and always has been slices of all-red gum of the most basic kind. But the commercials always included the fancy image of the red-and-white striped, sent-from-God stick of gum seen above, and time and time again, I’d buy packs of Big Red expecting what was inside to finally reflect the holy image from the ads. It never happened.

I’ve spent my entire life wondering what I was missing. Was it supposed to represent the wrapper? Well, of course not, because you can see the wrapper in the very same image. Why was Wrigley’s obsessed with perpetuating the idea that Big Red had a big, nice, shiny white stripe when in fact it never had such a stripe? Most importantly, how did I fall for this so many times?

Don’t mean to make a mountain of minutiae, but I was a kid, and for every time I went for a pack of Big Red on the false promises of a fun stripe, I passed up a much tastier pack of Bubblicious. Sometimes even Paradise Punch Bubblicious. That’s plain wrong.

Click here to watch the lousy lying stupid commercial.

UPDATE: Apparently my brain hasn’t been functioning properly for the past few decades. As readers have pointed out, the heavenly red & white striped gum is meant to represent Big Red’s puny competitor. I don’t know how this flew by me. I’m ashamed. But I think we can at least all admit that their representation of the competition is far cooler than what they were trying to peddle. It looks like plastic!

Posted by Matt. E-mail me!

Discussion Thread: 97 comments

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I detest Big Red and most other cinnamon-based flavored food products. Too much cinnamon scent gives me migraines and too much cinnamon makes my tongue swell. So whoever asked, yes, I do believe it’s an allergic reaction.

I was a Big League Chew kinda gal myself. That and GatorGum, the Gum by Gatorade.

Ghosted by LemurCat @ 04/05/2007 1:18 PM EDT

Somehow I remember that commercial, but I was born in ‘87, so I’m not exactly sure how. O_o

Here’s a fun new activity that I’ve started doing recently: Watch a commercial and purposely misinterpret it. For example, in this commercial, a couple each chews a piece of Big Red, and then they kiss all night into the morning. But do they actually kiss? Oh no, they died. Big Red killed them and caused a fast-acting rigor mortis. Big Red also causes you to miss the bus to your big life-changing football game. Etc.

This wasn’t the greatest example, but you get the idea.

Oh yeah, this is my best example and what started my game: That Capital One card (I think) commercial where people buying stuff is like a big, fast-acting machine. But then, one guy pays with cash. Then, everything is thrown off. Chaos ensues, and everybody there turns on him. So what does Capital One do? Using their cards turn you into an elitist jerk, forcing you to prey upon those who prefer the stability of using cash.

Ghosted by Ben @ 04/05/2007 1:21 PM EDT

Cinnaburst AND Mintaburst or whatever the name was had edible wrappers. But they make the gum taste terrible.

Ghosted by kb @ 04/05/2007 1:53 PM EDT

In Matt’s defense, the competition DOES look a lot cooler.

Ghosted by RageTreb @ 04/05/2007 2:02 PM EDT

To those who wondered about small cinnamon gums, yes, Trident did have a cinnamon gum, but the sticks were actually shorter than the one in the picture, and the wrapper was not red, it was white with the word “TRIDENT” written multiple times on the wrapper in red print.

On another note, does anyone else wonder why all cinnamon-flavored products such as gum and candy are red, when natural cinnamon, and cinnamon sticks, are brown, and do not taste anything like the gum and candy products? I mean, can you imagine sprinkling something like Red Hots(TM) candies on your French toast on Saturday morning? I’m sure some of you can, but I sure can’t!

Ghosted by Old Jim @ 04/05/2007 2:34 PM EDT

Well cheetos don’t exactly taste like cheese, either. Besides could you imagine if cinnamon products tasted like real cinnamon.

Alright, I’m just looking for an excuse to share the exploits of this lovely chap

Ghosted by K- @ 04/05/2007 3:09 PM EDT

I think it’s supposed to be dentyne.

Ghosted by ColoPam @ 04/05/2007 3:16 PM EDT

I also remember thinking that Big Red was supposed to be striped when I was little. Apparently, the whole comparison went over my head. I’ve never liked cinnamon flavored things. The only exception is Fireballs. I love me some Fireballs.

Does Big Red Soda taste at all cinnamon-y? I’m curious. When I was living in Idaho, they had something called Red Cream Soda…which I had never seen before. It tasted only slightly different than normal Cream Soda, though I could never put my finger on it. Does Red No.5 have flavor?

Ghosted by MissJess @ 04/05/2007 3:17 PM EDT

I’m more of an Orbit guy myself.

Any one else ever try Jolt Gum? You can find it at Spencers or Eckerd (it’s cheaper there) and it actually has caffeine in it…and it works.

Ghosted by Invader Norbert @ 04/05/2007 3:19 PM EDT

Didn’t Shel Silverstein write a poem about a girl who always chewed gum, and one night, while she was asleep, her jaw started chomping out of reflex, and she chewed her own head off?

Ghosted by kingklash @ 04/05/2007 3:21 PM EDT

I answered my own question using the ever-reliable wiki. Big Red soda is “the original red cream soda”. And it is created by adding orange and lemon oils to the traditional vanilla flavor. Now I know. And now, I am going to get lost on wikipedia researching random stuff for a few hours.

Ghosted by MissJess @ 04/05/2007 3:41 PM EDT

Holy crap….
I had forgotten about the little red/white piece until your article. I was in the same boat you are as far as wondering how they got that little red/white piece out of that Big Red wrapper.
If it makes you feel any better, I have a doctorate degree and was apparently equally oblivious to the “This is the competition” motif.

Ghosted by Mowntandew @ 04/05/2007 3:45 PM EDT

If you’ve never had Big Red soda, it would definitely be worth it to buy a case online or something and get it shipped.

Ghosted by Tommy @ 04/05/2007 4:15 PM EDT

Don’t worry Matt. I also didn’t know the same thing about the striped. Probably because this is the only gum commercial I remember that actively did a comparison to its competition. Even, today, all they say “We last longer than other brands.” There is no gum company feud. We’re not talking Coke vs. Pepsi or McD’s vs. BK here.

Ghosted by JLAJRC @ 04/05/2007 4:22 PM EDT

Didn’t Shel Silverstein write a poem about a girl who always chewed gum, and one night, while she was asleep, her jaw started chomping out of reflex, and she chewed her own head off? I really hope so.

Has anyone here tried the new Dentyne Tango-Passion Berry? I think its shit- like Juicy Fruit, but…not.

Ghosted by Tutsuro @ 04/05/2007 4:27 PM EDT

Thanks to whoever mentioned the edible Trident wrappers, you just made me google “edible gum wrappers”.

I know I remember eating the wrappers of some type of gum on purpose at some point in my life. I just don’t remember when/where/WHY?? Now I can’t rest until I find out!

Ghosted by bravissima82 @ 04/05/2007 5:05 PM EDT

Alright, folks, mystery solved. I am pretty sure that we used to chew up the wrappers of Fruit Stripe gum (Yikes! Stripes!) While trying to remember what kind of gum it was, I kept thinking of zebras, so I googled “zebra gum” and came up with Fruit Stripe. This is the gum that had the tattoos and stuff on the wrappers too. I might be getting my gum memories mixed up, but I really think this is the one.

Also, anybody remember Ouch gum? It came in a tin case like Band-Aids. What marketing genius came up with that???

Ghosted by bravissima82 @ 04/05/2007 5:14 PM EDT

Also, anybody remember Ouch gum? It came in a tin case like Band-Aids. Who are the ad wizards who came up with this one???

Fix’d!
And me. I does

Ghosted by K- @ 04/05/2007 5:34 PM EDT

I’ve had gum from a tin case like Band-Aids but I don’t remember it being called Ouch gum.

I miss when you could buy candy cigarettes that came in little Marlboro and Kool (or was it Kent) packs. Those made kids look so fucking cool. Then someone had to go and tell the government that kids shouldn’t be pretending to smoke as it sets a bad example.

Also, I used to eat my candy tarts in the shape of fish bones and other garbage in little garbage tin containers. Yes, I was quite the gimmick whore as a child.

No more candy memories.

Ghosted by dohopoki @ 04/05/2007 5:35 PM EDT

No wait, I had gum that came in a gameboy shaped container and has sweet trading cards for gameboy games. Okay, now I’m positive I don’t have anymore memories of anything.

Ghosted by dohopoki @ 04/05/2007 5:50 PM EDT

I had the Game Boy one AND the Game Gear one. Booyaka, Booyaka!!

Ghosted by K- @ 04/05/2007 5:52 PM EDT

Wow, this all brings me back.

I think I had ouch gum, it was in a tin case like Band-Aids. And then I filled the tin with marker filters when I stayed up til 2 am, back in first grade.

Trash can candy? I still have a few of the cans. Never much cared for the candy though.

I really wanna say that I remember that Game Boy gum-thing, I really do.

And, I thought they still made cigarette candy? I’m remembering this guy I knew chewing a candy cigar, but that was about 8 years ago. Wow.

Ghosted by Tutsuro @ 04/05/2007 6:01 PM EDT

Wow, Ouch gum.

Ghosted by Tommy @ 04/05/2007 6:06 PM EDT

Hey this is a little off topic but I had to share.
Monster in my Pocket is coming back! http://monster.inmypocket.com/
You can see all the new toys there. It looks like it is going to be pretty cool!

Ghosted by SuperRecoome @ 04/05/2007 8:23 PM EDT

Ohhh man, that image of the big red compared to the other gum will forever be etched in my head…its that big red commercial and the bubble tape commercials “six feet of bubble gum, for YOU not them”, that dictated my chewing habits back then.

Ghosted by Boat @ 04/05/2007 8:48 PM EDT

The real kicker with the Escaflowne box was the fact it was super hyped at the time, and I too didn’t particularly enjoy the movie either. Not until I had seen the entire series and then watched it afterwards. The movie is a reimagining of the series in a shortened form. The thing that irked me even more was when Bandai rereleased the series in a box package set that INCLUDED the movie for the same price I paid for JUST the movie. I bought it though, loved the series and had a new appreciation for the movie afterwards but man, it wasnt worth that initial ridiculous investment for a DVD of extras I never watched and a soundtrack I never cared to listen to. Blegh.

The Fox version was HEAVILY edited. I have no idea why they chose that for Saturday morning fodder, it seems too inappropriate and would need massive editing. Thats probably why they abandoned it, that and low ratings.

Oh and to stay on topic, I absolutely hate gum. Its so gross.

Ghosted by kittygirl @ 04/05/2007 9:07 PM EDT

They still have candy cigarettes down here, but the packages no longer attempt to mimic real cig packs, and they’re called “candy stix” instead. Got pictures of the Statue of Liberty and fighter jets and things on the boxes. Worst of all, they no longer dye the ends red to make it look like the coal of a burning cigarette. Kids who wish to look cool have no idea which ends to stick in their mouths. They still taste a bit like solidified Pepto Bismol, though, so I still pick them up every now and again.

On a related note, “Stranger Than Fiction” made me want to start smoking just so I could someday use the line “No, see, I don’t need nicotine patches. I smoke cigarettes.”

Ghosted by Jedoc @ 04/05/2007 9:11 PM EDT

At the store today, I see that Shrek Cheetos are back–you know, the ones that turn your tongue green.

Ghosted by Luap @ 04/05/2007 11:07 PM EDT

Shrek is starting to make his way into all foods again. Even Push Up Pops.

Ghosted by Mystie @ 04/05/2007 11:17 PM EDT

They still make Ouch Gum and everything. It’s usually relegated to the novelty candy section at the grocery store.

Ghosted by JLAJRC @ 04/05/2007 11:23 PM EDT

Don’t be ashamed, actually, I always thought the same thing! And I’d be disappointed when the real gum didn’t have the cool stripe. It’s odd, when I was younger, I used to chew gum all the time, but now I think I hate it… I bought some at the airport last week and have only chewed 3 pieces since, and even then I only chewed them for about 4 minutes.

Ghosted by Ariel @ 04/05/2007 11:51 PM EDT

IN MY POCKET…MONSTER IN MY POCKET. Worst. Theme. Ever.

Ghosted by Tommy @ 04/05/2007 11:54 PM EDT

Trix Pops make me wanna scream IT’S SHOW TIME!

Ghosted by Sting @ 04/06/2007 1:42 AM EDT

The competitor is Dentyne. It used to come in a foil pack with those small pieces lined up. They may have looked smaller but they were as thick as 2 or 3 pieces of Big Red.

Dentyne comes in individually foil & bubble packed chicklet type pieces now. For all of you that always wanted to try the ‘competitor’

Ghosted by Marty @ 04/06/2007 5:38 PM EDT

As I was reading the story I knew it was the other guys gum. I knew that when I was 6 years old. Try getting your facts straight sir….. BTW I like BIG RED better then the stupid white stripe.

Ghosted by Bobbysox @ 04/06/2007 6:21 PM EDT

These new cinnamon flavored gums are chewed to freshen a person’s breath.

Ghosted by Ric Romero @ 04/06/2007 8:06 PM EDT

Now that I’m looking at the “competitors” gum (and like everyone else I agree that they are referencing trident) , I think its made to look like what a pack of trident looks like (well, what it looked like back in the 80’s and early 90’s), white in the center with the color of the flavor on the top and bottom.

Ghosted by Anita @ 04/06/2007 9:34 PM EDT

Cinnaburst AND Mintaburst or whatever the name was had edible wrappers.

Hmm…I used to be fond of Mintaburst as a kid (loved the little minty spots in it), and I don’t remember the wrappers being edible. Was that a limited time thing, or maybe something they came out with later?

And while we’re on the subject, do they still make the stuff today? I never see it promoted the way it used to be.

Ghosted by Nyssa @ 04/07/2007 2:02 PM EDT

I know Botan rice candy has a rice edible wrapper on them that melts away in your mouth, from what I’ve heard. But that aint gum but close. I know I have heard of people thinking that the wrapper is edible and it’s not, if you like the nasty taste of paper then be my guest. I guess when I finally get chocodiles I’ll try to get big red soda all in one swoop.

Ghosted by Goob @ 04/07/2007 5:16 PM EDT

I miss Cinna*Burst.

Ghosted by Matt @ 04/08/2007 3:40 AM EDT

It’s ok, I always thought it was Big Red too. I thought they were lying jerks too.

Ghosted by Bree @ 04/11/2007 2:21 AM EDT

Yeah, I thought it was supposed to be Big Red. They really should’ve pointed that out, because I knew a guy who painted his truck red with a white stripe down the middle. The name on the truck? “Big Red.”

Similarly, a long time ago Golden Grahams featured marshmallows mixed in with the cereal on their boxes. Boy was I pissed when I poured a bowl of Golden Grahams and no marshmallows came out.

Ghosted by Draca @ 04/12/2007 4:02 AM EDT

You are not alone my friend. Today is the first day of my life that I now know the striped gum is not Big Red. WTF!? I never bought the stuff but assumed they changed the way it looked recently because I’ve had friends give it to me. The striped gum always looked better which is why I assumed it was Big Red.

Ghosted by iwanttofitin @ 04/12/2007 12:03 PM EDT

Hi, long time listener, first-time caller –

Seeing that pic brings back memories. I fondly remember the narration of the commercial now, or at least the beginning of it, “No little cinnamon gum [small piece is displayed] freshens breath longer than Big Red.[BIGGER Big Red piece is thrust into view]” .

“Big Red ” the soda, is, well, RED flavored. ‘Nuff said. Always make sure to pick up some when I see it.

Oh, and Draco, you might be thinking of “S’mores Crunch” or “S’mores Grahms” , 2 different graham-based incarnations of the same cereal that i first remember in the 80’s. (Matt? Write-up possibility?) MUCH MUCH better than the toxic puffy smores cereal that’s out there now.

Ghosted by Adam M @ 04/22/2007 12:46 PM EDT

It is, in fact, Dentyne Red. Label here.

Ghosted by Annie @ 04/28/2007 3:50 PM EDT

i f’n LOVE big red…how depressing is that?? i feel your pain homie!

Ghosted by Flaily ! @ 03/10/2009 3:36 PM EST

So I just got into a HUGE argument at work around this, and then was SHOCKED when I read the update, since the last time I read the article there was no update.

Who the hell puts the competitor’s gum in YOUR commercial. I thought big red came with the stripe, and I was 8 so who the hell listens to the commercial guy during the commercial at that age anyway.

Regardless thank you for the post because I thought just like you, but this asshole at work turned out to be right about the comparison.

Stupid ass big red.

Ghosted by Will @ 04/03/2009 2:00 PM EST

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