Even Wrigley's "Big Red" was new-fangled for me.
This ad was 25 years before I was born...
Posted on 01/11/2024 8:52:56 PM PST by nickcarraway
RIP Yipes.
If you call yourself an older millennial, then you definitely grew up with Fruit Stripe gum, its wildly erratic zebra mascot, and the brightly colored sticks of gum with bold fruit flavors that lasted almost as long as it took you to read this sentence. Almost.
However, according to Fruit Stripe’s manufacturer, Ferrara Candy, the gum is being discontinued. (That’s big news to anyone who didn’t think it was discontinued about the time “Hannah Montana” went off the air.) “We have made the difficult decision to sunset Fruit Stripe Gum, but consumers may still be able to find the product at select retailers nationwide,” a Ferrara Candy representative said in a statement.
“The decision to sunset this product was not taken lightly, and we considered many factors before coming to this decision, including consumer preferences, and purchasing patterns.”
The 25 Most Influential American Candy Bars of All Time Some Fruit Stripe enthusiasts had noticed that the gum was becoming harder to find in stores lately. “When I go to the store, I’ll look for the gum to no avail, the only place I can find [it] is online,” one person wrote on the r/Candy subreddit. “RIP Fruit Stripe gum.”
The first official news of its imminent disappearance was posted by OldTimeCandy.com. “We are sad to announce that Fruit Stripe Gum has been discontinued by the manufacturer,” the site wrote. “We are disappointed too.” (One disbelieving Redditor even spoke with a Ferrara customer service representative to confirm that the brand was being disconti…er, “sunsetted,” before learning that, yes, it’s gone for good.)
According to Ferrara, Fruit Stripe was invented in the late 1960s by James Parker. It was originally manufactured and sold by the Beech-Nut Confection Division, before being passed off in various mergers and acquisitions to Nabisco, Hershey, and Farley’s & Sathers Candy Company, which joined forces with Ferrara Pan Candy to create the Ferrara Candy Company.
In late 2021, Greg Guidotti, the General Manager of the Sugar Portfolio at Ferrara Candy Company, told Food Business News that sales of Fruit Stripe gum had increased 4.5% over the previous year. The company was then launching Fruit Stripe gummy candies, which also seem to have been discontinued.
It later introduced a zebra mascot named Yipes, and the slogan “Yipes! Stripes!,” which are both familiar to anyone whose childhood also included a steady diet of Saturday morning cartoons. In 2016, Yipes was even name-dropped in a Jeopardy! question, which asked the contestants what kind of animal he was.
I’m choosing to hold out hope that Yipes is now living happily in some kind of retirement home for discontinued spokes-cartoons, and that he hasn’t been “sunsetted” too.
Nooooooo!!!
I could find it in Cracker Barrel...as well as Clove Gum.
I haven’t thought about Fruit Stripe gum in ages.
I used to chew it, back when I was a kid. In the 1970s. I haven’t chewed it since.
If I wouldn’t have seen this article, I would not miss it.
I used to get Beech-Nut Fruit Stripe Gum. The problem was you had to get the assortment. Cherry and Orange were fine, but Lemon and Lime were yucky.
“Fruit Stripe was invented in the late 1960s”
Not the “late” 60s. I remember it from the early 60s, probably 1964 or before. Wikipedia says 1960.
They don’t make gum the same anymore anyways.
Most of the brands we grew up with as kids aren’t made with sugar anymore. Can’t get Bubble Yum or Hubba Bubba the way it was made in the late 70s and 80s because of this, when it was made the best way.
Agreed. Early 60s. I never liked it because it lost its flavor so quickly.
My grandmother kept Cloves gum in her purse.I can still recall the smell. I liked Beeman’s which came back briefly in the 80’s. Probably because of the movie the Right Stuff.
Instead, they should have fixed the flavor-loss issue. It was great gum for 10 seconds.
The flavor lasted about a minute, then bland city. I moved on to Sweettarts and Lemonheads’ assorted fruit. I still enjoy both in my 50’s. I go through a box a day or more since I quit smoking.
But does it lose its' flavor on the bedpost overnight?
I have looked in vain for Sugar Free Juicy Fruit Gum. I’d buy a case!!
yup, Beemans, Black Jack and Clove...
Yipes stripes, Beech Nut’s got ‘em
Yipes stripes, it’s Fruit Stripe gum
Yipes stripes, five different flavors
Get Beech Nut Fruit Stripe gum
Fruit Stripe Gum is probably OUT because of LBQXFUDGE69 protest?
Fruit Stripe Gum is gone!? Now we know that Aramemnon is nigh and the world is about to END! Go out and Party Party Party while you still can!
smiles
Wrigleys Juicy Fruit gum was my go to gum as a kid, along with Dubble Bubble, and occasionally Bazooka.
I bought some Juicy Fruit a while back and it doesn’t taste anything like it did when I was a kid...............
I got two eight packs from my kids at Thanksgiving. It was a childhood favorite along with rootbeer barrels and banana flavored BB Bats.
Even Wrigley's "Big Red" was new-fangled for me.
This ad was 25 years before I was born...
“It’s fun to tickle your tongue with Fruit Stripe Gum!”
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