Willy Wonka, please take note of this. It is all very well to invent a gum that simulates a three-course meal – lthough one would prefer not to pay for the meal by transforming into a giant blueberry. However, Wonka seems to have neglected the possibilities of the cocktail hour – unlike the purveyors of toothpaste, for example.
So into the marketing gap comes Warrens with this mystifying gum. Can chewing gum function as a cocktail? Oh, probably not, they did put “Cocktail” in quotation marks. Just in case we got confused.
Personally, I prefer, say, a whiskey sour or a vodka and tonic that is drinkable. Comes in a glass. Because holding onto a glass – as Margie very well knows! – looks fun and also just gives you something to hang onto. And holding onto a pack of gum just isn’t the same.
However, chewing this gum will turn you into a popular singer, it would seem. Although how you are going to belt out a few numbers while chomping on a wad of Mint Cocktail goodness is anyone’s guess.
The copy suggests that you will also become a great social success. And that the chomped-upon gum remains full of – and I quote – “zest and zing,” even after you’ve been chewing away like Violet Beauregarde. Oh, and also that everyone is talking about this gum.
If you hold the package up, instead of a drink, when you are out at a holiday party, they won’t just be discussing the gum. They’ll be talking about you, too. Guaranteed.
Many thanks to Wishbook for this wonderful 1945 advertisement, link here.
I think I’d rather have that whiskey sour in a glass too please. Gum chewing always interferes with my drinking.
It seems to me, if you chewed very much of this, you’d start to smell like a wino in some back alley somewhere. Not sure how that would make you a social success. But maybe that’s just me.
A cocktail blend of mint flavors? That is one great tagline. Much more sophisticated than double your pleasure
I feel like it should be called “Mint Effeminate Gum” since chewing it will apparently turn you into a androgynous wussy cartoon.
I wonder if one would be able to obtain a license to sell this gum in Utah. Or the dry counties of Texas?
oooh what if you turn into Violet Beauregard when you chew this cocktail concoction? I’m picturing a round blue person being rolled across the room…
Melanie – It is best to do them at different times, yes.Tori – Maybe they measured social success differently back then (I think this is a mid-50s ad)…Da Old Man – They were probably aiming for the Rat Pack wannabes. Although I can’t see Dean et al chewing this stuff, can you?Daughter – It does sort of look like you turn into a Hanna Barbera joke if you chew it…Paula – Interesting question. And certainly not during Prohibition (except in speakeasies – or cheweasies).Amy – Yeah, that would not make you so popular at the party, would it?
I really don’t get this product. I hope Warren had a paper route, or something else to fall back on to keep a roof over his head.Nice packaging, though.
That’s hilarious. It’s also so very odd, because chewing gum in public is such a no-no when it comes to etiquette. I mean, it’s just so uncouth. And you’d still probably have a headache the next day–from all the chewing!
Ew. I don’t even chew gum. Just pour mine in a shot glass and stand back.
Gum and liquor never go together. I want my Long Island Tea in a glass also please.
Bill – Poor Warren. Maybe he was the one singing in the ad.Frogs in my Formula – That’s a good point, chewing gum endlessly is not a well-known social grace.Carol and ettarose – I’m with you! We can go over by the bar, away from the karaoke-crazed cocktail-gum chewers…
There is a brand out today that has a mojito flavor. Tastes good to me!
Reese – That does sound good!