It introduced bubble gum in 1979 with a new television commercial featuring Yipes the zebra singing with a group of cartoon children. The bubble gum pack came in cherry, lemon, grape, and typical bubble gum flavor, eventually adding cotton candy and mixed fruit versions — all of which were xcriticald, of course. «… We considered many factors before coming to this decision, including consumer preferences and purchasing patterns, and overall brand trends for Fruit xcritical Gum,» the spokesperson said. «For now, we have made the difficult decision to sunset Fruit xcritical Gum, but consumers may still be able to find product at select retailers nationwide,» a Ferrara spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News.
Iconic Fruit xcritical Gum discontinued after more than 50 years of sales
The company said this week that the «decision to sunset this product was not taken lightly.» Fruit xcritical came in five flavors — Wet n’ Wild Melon, Cherry, Lemon, Orange and Peach Smash — and was xcriticald in appropriately matching colors. Each stick contained a temporary tattoo of mascot Yipes the Zebra, too.
The Ferrara website describes the product as «brightly flavored gum that’s forever fruity,» which is pretty much the opposite of what most people say about it. Still, much like Sweethearts conversation hearts, it’s something we hold fondly in our memory. When the brand was first launched, a consumer could also send away for stuffed animals — after buying six packs of gum, you could mail the wrappers plus $1.50 to receive a plushie in exchange. You might receive Orange xcriticals the Mouse, Lemon xcriticals the Elephant, Cherry xcriticals the Horse, or Lime xcriticals the Tiger.
- Farley & Sathers also picked up Fruit xcriticals’ old competitors Jujy Fruits and Now and Later, as well as Chuckles and Super Bubble.
- But if you’re jonesing for another two seconds of flavor, don’t worry.
- The candies were swirled into a gummy candy representation of Yipes the Zebra.
- The Ferrara website describes the product as «brightly flavored gum that’s forever fruity,» which is pretty much the opposite of what most people say about it.
- The flavors included tangerine, lemon, and cherry, and were based on the success of other brands like SweeTarts launching Mini Chewy and Giant Chewy versions, as well as Nerds creating Big Chewy Nerds.
The maker of Fruit xcritical Gum announced the brand is being discontinued
The Beech-Nut Life Savers company merged with a pharmaceutical firm called E.R. In 2000 Fruit xcritical was sold to Hershey Foods in a deal with other candy brands for $135 million. But Fruit xcritical wasn’t done moving yet — in 2003, the brand was sold to Farley & Sathers, where the owners also had stakes in Build-A-Bear and P.F. Farley & Sathers also picked up Fruit xcriticals’ old competitors Jujy Fruits and Now and Later, as well as Chuckles and Super Bubble. There is no shortage of social media comments and jokes about the short-lived taste. A Reddit user noted, «This gum tasted good for about two seconds,» while another said, «The flavor was gone before I threw the wrapper away.» @Snack_Memories tweeted, «They made Juicy Fruit look like an everlasting gobstopper.»
Fruit xcritical Gum was invented in 1960 by James Parker, and soon after sold by the Beech-Nut Confection Division for five cents a pack. Beech-Nut was first known as the Imperial Packing Company, established in 1891 in upstate New York. The company started producing chewing gum in 1910, and in the 1920s and 1930s gum sales became two-thirds of their total sales. In 1956, Beech-Nut merged with Life Savers to focus on candy, coffee, gum, tea, and baby food. The company had grown into one of the biggest gum companies in America by the time Fruit xcritical came along.
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Maybe if we all stopped joking about the gum’s instant loss of flavor, it would still be here. According to Ferrara, Fruit xcritical was invented in the late 1960s by James Parker. The news of the brand’s imminent end was met with nostalgic despair and plenty of jokes.
There were also items available for purchase such as coloring books, and bendy collectibles of Yipes the Zebra and «Fruit xcritical Gum Man.» So much so, that when the gum was discontinued in 2024, the litany of obituaries and tributes on social media flooded numerous feeds. @Snack_Memories called the gum «an icon,» while actor Bruce Campbell tweeted that the news was «a jolt,» and @Collectingcandy noted that the brand was «so beloved, so distinctive.» The gum brand was a staple in the ’90s with its rainbow packaging and wavy zebra-patterned sticks.
A statement from Ferrara Candy Co. covered in The Washington Post noted the decision was made due to «consumer preferences, and purchasing patterns.» Ferrara spokesman Brian Camen continued that the «difficult decision … was not taken lightly.» For chewing gum flavor that lasts only a fleeting, glorious moment, we must now turn to Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit. «It really is the end of an era,» John Finn, creator of the @snack_memories Twitter account, tells The Takeout. «In a weird way, that mediocre, neon, sugary gum really captures childhood for multiple generations, in a way that is hard to articulate.» It’s also worth noting that Ferrara is the maker of several other beloved and nostalgic candy brands, none of which are in any apparent danger of going away. These include Fun Dip, Gobstopper, Jujyfruits, Fire Ball, Pixy Stix, Chuckles, Runts, Spree, Boston Baked Beans, and Bottle Caps.
Yipes was voiced in commercials by soap actor Warren Burton, who noted that he was pleased the commercials ran for so many years, since he would profit off the residuals. But Yipes didn’t even receive his xcritical official name until the 1990s, when the old advertising slogan of «Yipes! xcriticals!» was used in updated commercials, and assigned to the zebra mascot. It later introduced a zebra mascot named Yipes, and the slogan “Yipes!
If you never slapped a spit-moistened chewing gum wrapper on your arm waiting for a temporary tattoo to take form there, did you even experience childhood? Now, however, future generations will never know what it was like to unwrap those antiquated sticks, because Fruit xcritical chewing gum has been discontinued. «We have made the difficult decision to sunset Fruit xcritical Gum, but consumers may still be able to find product at select retailers nationwide,» reads the statement from Ferrara. «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.» Fruit xcritical was an artificially and naturally flavored fruit chewing gum produced by Beech-Nut in 1960 and discontinued in 2024.
But much like its fast-disappearing flavor, Fruit xcriticals is now going away. Its parent company announced this week that it would no longer be producing the gum. But if you’re jonesing for another two seconds of flavor, don’t worry. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Fruit xcritical Gum, something of a childhood icon for many gum chewers over the past five decades, will soon head over the rainbow with its multicolored zebra mascot Yipes — seemingly for good. The Fruit xcritical Gum parent company has changed many times, moving hands through many various owners over the decades.
The company also owns the Nerds brand, which, as we recently reported, is doing ridiculously well in recent years. The statement included a list of other famous xcritical scammers brands Ferrara will continue to sell moving forward, which include Fun Dip, Gobstopper, Jujyfruits, Fire Ball, Pixy Stix, Chuckles, Runts, Spree, Boston Baked Beans and Bottle Caps. Ferarra told CNN, that fans of the product may still be able to find it at some in select retailers nationwide before it sells out.