Sales of gum fell by 14% last year. Yet putting synthetic rubber and plastic in our mouths had been in decline even before covid struck. 1843mag explains why
or decades, chewing gum was a symbol of rebellion, synonymous with youthful angst, bestowing the chewer with an aura of boldness, bravado and sex appeal. Rockstars masticated on stage. Characters in teen movies chewed with attitude: high-schoolers in “The Breakfast Club” popped gum with defiance; in “Grease” Frenchy blows big pink balloons .A daily email with the best of our journalismNow the bubble has burst.
Chewing for chewing’s sake has a long history. Ancient Greeks munched bark. For centuries the Mayans and Aztecs chewed chicle, a resin from the Mexican sapodilla tree that arrived in New York in the 19th century. It was the Americans who found a way to sell the sticky stuff. Local gum entrepreneurs began to add different flavours, using chicle as a base. In the 1950s manufacturers swapped chicle for synthetic rubber and plastic, which were cheaper. They also introduced sugar-free gum.
The answer was to make gum whatever you wanted it to be. The selling point of Kis-Me gum was obvious ; Vassar, an early Wrigley’s brand named after an elite women’s college, was aimed at the female market. When gum joined the war effort via ration packs in the second world war, it became patriotic too.But the real success of gum was when chewing it became a challenge to authority. Stigma was part of the appeal.
By the 1940s Hollywood stars were making gum hip the world over. Youths in wartime Britain copied the chewing of Americans, hoping to emulate their swagger and carefree attitude. Pop culture, including on-screen stars of the 1970s, consolidated that image. Celebrities chewed with pride. In 2004 a piece of gum spat out by Britney Spears was auctioned on eBay for $14,000.hings got sticky after the millennium.
Cultural representations of gum grew less prominent too: the trashy, uncynical pop culture of the 1990s, embodied by rebellious chewers, gave way to a trend for healthy eating and organic foods. In an age when veganism was on the rise and sustainability became a selling point, gum seemed anachronistic and retro. Chewing on plastic, or popping it all over your face, simply doesn’t appeal to youngsters who scrutinise product labels for artificial ingredients. It used to be cool not to care.
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