Fruit Stripe

Fruit Stripe was an artificially and naturally flavored fruit chewing gum produced by Beech-Nut in 1960 and discontinued in 2024. The individual pieces of gum were striped and were packaged in zebra-striped wrappers, which also acted as temporary tattoos.

History

The "Five Flavor Gum" was invented by James Parker and first sold in 1960 by the Beech-Nut company.^[1] In 1981 Nabisco acquired Fruit Stripe through its purchase of the Beech-Nut Life Savers's candy line from E.R Squibb. Farley's & Sathers Candy Company acquired the Fruit Stripe brand name in 2003 from The Hershey Company. Farley's & Sathers merged with Ferrara Pan during 2012, forming the Ferrara Candy Company, which became a wholly owned subsidiary of Ferrero during 2017.^{[citation needed]}

A new variety was introduced, Fruit Stripe Gummy Candy, in 2022.^{[citation needed]} In January 2024, Ferrero announced that it would cease further production of Fruit Stripe gum.^[2]

Flavors

Two types of five-flavor packs of Fruit Stripe were produced:^[3]

Chewing gum: wet 'n wild melon, cherry, lemon, orange, and peach smash
Bubble gum: cherry, grape, mixed fruit, lemon, and cotton candy

Mascots

A character known as the Fruit Stripe Gum Man was used to promote the product; he was an anthropomorphic gum pack with limbs and a face.^[4] The Stripe Family Animals, which included a zebra, tiger, elephant, and mouse, were also used for advertising and featured in a coloring book and plush toys.^[5]

However, the zebra later named Yipes outlasted the other characters to become Fruit Stripe's sole mascot.^[6] Yipes was shown prominently on Fruit Stripe gum packaging. The advertising slogan "Yipes! Stripes!" has often been used with this character.^[7] Wrappers contain temporary tattoos of Yipes inline skating, skateboarding, playing baseball, hang gliding, playing basketball, bicycling, snowboarding, surfing, playing soccer, playing tennis, and eating grass.^[8] In 1988, Yipes was made into a promotional bendy figure.

Promotions

In 1996, Fruit Stripe gave five cents from the sale of each Jumbo Pack and Variety Multipack to the World Wildlife Fund, totaling about $100,000, for the preservation of endangered animals and their habitats.^[9]

References

^ "US trademark 72133756". First use Sept. 22, 1960; in commerce Sept. 22, 1960.
^ "Fruit Stripe Gum discontinued by Ferrera". The Takeout. January 8, 2024. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
^ Fruit Stripe website Archived 2016-12-20 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved on 2016-08-30
^ Fruit Stripe Gum Man with motorcycle, AdvertisingIconMuseum.org. Retrieved on 2-25-09.
^ Food Character Premiums, TheImaginaryWorld.com. Retrieved on 2-25-09.
^ "Fruit Stripe". Retroland. Archived from the original on February 6, 2015.
^ Appelbaum, Cara (May 27, 1991). "Planters gives a yipe for fruit stripe". Adweek's Marketing Week. Vol. 32, no. 22. Gale A10845193.
^ "Now and later, fruit stripe, super bubble extended". Professional Candy Buyer. Vol. 16, no. 4. July 2008. Gale A182976165.
^ Who We Are Archived 2010-12-17 at the Wayback Machine, FarleysandSathers.com