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December 31, 2004 Issue (Feature Story)

Chewing-Gum Ads Sport New Flavor
Candy Makers' Sales Climb As Conservative Pitches Get Stuck Under the Desk

Chew on this: Gum advertising, once as flavorless and bland as a piece that had been gnawed on for hours, is fast taking on a new spice. And the heat of the ads is transferring to gum sales. A new ad for Cadbury Schweppes' Dentyne Fire gum that hit the airwaves this week showed just how edgy gum advertising is becoming. Crafted by Interpublic Group's McCann Erickson, the ad shows a young woman being overcome with passion after popping a square of the cinnamon-flavored gum into her mouth. After introducing her boyfriend to her parents, she starts kissing him enthusiastically as her father is speaking. With a twinkle in her eye, the mother then takes a piece of the Cadbury Schweppes gum in the hopes of stoking a similar fire.

Ads for chewing gum once were aimed at family audiences or young children watching Saturday morning cartoons. But a host of gum products introduced in the past couple of years has broadened perceptions of when gum-chewing is appropriate. As a result, manufacturers such as Cadbury Schweppes and Wm. Wrigley Jr. are courting hipsters with more in-your-face ads.

"We grew up on 'How big can your bubble be?' and 'Who had the wildest flavor?'", says David Morrison, president of TWENTYSOMETHING Inc., a Philadelphia, Pa., young-adult marketing consultancy. Gum now is "very much a catalyst and a step toward adulthood on a lot of different levels," he adds. young people use gum to freshen breath before a date or at a club, or to rid themselves of the taste of smoke, booze or coffee before entering a social dalliance.

This year, Cadbury gave its bite-size Chiclets an image makeover. In ads from Interpublic's Deutsch, teens heard about "5 Words That Sound Dirty, But Aren't." Among the selections: "masticate". Even Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum, a staple of candy counters for decades, has changed with the times. Ads in comic books direct people to check out lambzilla.com. Once there, Web surfers can learn about Juicy Fruit flavors such as "grapermelon" or "stappleberry". The site even shows an ad in which a dummy comes to life, steals Juicy Fruit gum and loses some limbs as a teen chases him. In the past, staid ads for such chewable standbys such as Wrigley's Doublemint gum featured wholesome-looking sets of twins. Spots for Wrigley's Big Red once urged consumers to "kiss a little longer". Years ago, a cowboy had a bubble-blowing showdown in ads for Hubba Bubba. He always won because the gum wouldn't stick to his face.

Gum sales have been cracking, rising 6.2% to about $1.06 billion in the 52 weeks ended November 27, compared with sales growth of just 0.4% in the previous 52-week period. Food makers like gum because it is less susceptible to discount pressures that drive other categories. Gum is also an impulse purchase. The Dentyne ad is aimed at consumers between the ages of 18 and 24, who are considered more likely to respond to unconventional marketing methods.

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