The History of Fruit Stripe Gum
Yipes! Stripes!
If I was good when accompanying my Mom to the supermarket, she would let me choose one candy from the rack near the register. While chocolate was always tempting, there was a brand of gum I couldn’t resist, Fruit Stripe. With its vibrant, colorful packaging and zebra mascot, how could any kid resist? Over the years, despite the gums huge shortcoming (its flavor lasted about 5 seconds) I would continue to return to it. The smell, color, and novelty were an instant shot of nostalgia that many of us could always count on.
Let there be Stripes!
Fruit Stripe was introduced in the United States in 1961 by the Beech-Nut company. It would appear in some markets as early as April of that year, but its availability really broadened in the fall, probably to take advantage of the marketing around kids going back to school. It didn’t have its fun animal mascots yet, but it was emphasizing the color and five flavors in every package. A package that year would cost about between 3 and 5 cents. That would be the equivalent of 30 and 50 cents today.
The five original flavors of Fruit Stripe gum in 1961 included cherry, grape, lemon, orange, and mixed fruit. Over the years the gum would add other flavors, but the basic concept would remain. In this initial marketing push, it was clear, this gum was all about its bright, multicolored appearance and burst of fruit flavor. But Beach-Nut would introduce a new component to Fruit Stripe Gum that would elevate the brand even more, mascots.
Yipes! The Zebra and the Rest
In 1963 Fruit Stripe introduced a series of stuffed animal mascots as as part of a promotional offer. You would buy 6 packs of gum, send the packages in along with $1.50 cents, and they would send you one of four fruit themed stuffed animals. Each one representing a flavor in the pack. They had:
Orange Stripes the Mouse
Lemon Stripes the Elephant
Cherry Stripes the horse
Lime Stripes the Tiger
You will notice two things here. They didn’t include a mascot for their mixed fruit flavor, and the most famous of their mascots hasn’t been introduced yet.
They also had a bendy toy that was a walking pack of fruit stripe gum of this era. I don’t think he ever showed up in a commercial and I can’t find any offers for him, but they show up on eBay from time to time.
One of my favorite commercials from this era was stop-motion, and it not only walks us through the flavors of Fruit Stripe, but also introduces us to the other Stripe gums that Beach-Nut was selling. Did you know they made a Mint Stripe gum?
The four different mascots were cute, but they really didn’t come across as a cohesive team like Rice Krispies’ Snap, Crackle, and Pop. Instead, they were just striped animals with very little personality of their own. What Fruit Stripe needed was a true mascot, one that embodies the attitude and look of the gum. It would take a few years, but in 1971, the Fruit Stripe Zebra began appearing in advertising.
This voice of this delightful zebra was provided by Warren Burton. Burton has done work in film, television, and video games. In a 1975 interview with the San Francisco Examiner, Burton said of the gig, “That funny quirk in my voice stood me in good stead later because I got a job doing TV commercials as the voiceover for the zebra on the Beach-Nut Fruit Stripe gum ads. They’ve been running for four years now and the residuals are very reassuring for an actor who is sometimes unemployed.”
The very year he made his premier, they tried to do a similar promotion to the one they had run in 1963. They made this one even more challenging this time around. You needed to send in two dollars and TEN wrappers, and they would send you this handsome looking stuffed Zebra.
They would continue this offer for multiple years. Unfortunately, these didn’t seem to be a big hit. I found this letter that was sent in 1974. In it, a kid was complaining to their local newspaper’s consumer advocate, that they had sent their money, but never got the zebra. The letter got them a zebra and also a quote from the group product manage for gums, Robert Denny, who said, “I wish I had more people who wanted zebras.”
As the Seventies came to a close, bubble gum became very popular and Fruit Stripe tried to jump on the trend that would dominate kids gum in the 80s, and they introduced their very own bubble gum.
They even ran ads in comics featuring games and contests. These advertisements were colorful and eye-catching.
The thing is, this Zebra still didn’t have a name. That wouldn’t come until the 1990s. When a revival for the gum was planned. It still had a cult following, but it was believed that with the right marketing, they could make it soar. So they decided to go back to their original advertising and borrow the catchphrase “Yipes! Stripes!” but apply it as the name of their Zebra mascot. They also gave him a slightly more 90s look.
Fruit Stripe Gum Tattoos
One of the smarter things that Fruit Stripe did was take some of the gum wrappers in each pack and make them temporary tattoos. That’s right, not only could you get some super fruit gum, but a lingering inky reminder that you had chewed it. The tattoos were simple and cheap, and more often than not, very smudged. But whenever my Mom bought me a pack, I would use each one on my arm and thought I looked cool as all get out.
It is unclear to me what year they added tattoos to the packaging. I would guess the 1970s, but cannot find evidence online. If you have a specific memory of seeing it earlier, please let me know.
Beech-Nut and Gums and Candy
Beech-Nut, originally established as an American chewing gum and packaged food company, has a long history intertwined with the candy and gum industry. Founded in 1891 in Canajoharie, New York, Beech-Nut initially gained confection prominence through its success with peppermint gum, which paved the way for its expansion into a variety of food products. Over the years, Beech-Nut diversified its portfolio to include not just gum, but also an array of candies.
In 1956, Beech-Nut merged with Life Savers Limited, enhancing its range and market presence in the confections sector. Despite shifting its focus towards baby food products later in the century, Beech-Nut’s legacy in the gum and candy sector remains significant, highlighting its role in shaping American tastes and preferences in sugary treats.
Over the years, Fruit Stripe Gum underwent several ownership changes. After Beech-Nut, the brand was acquired by The Hershey Company in the late 1980s. Hershey continued to market Fruit Stripe alongside its other products, but eventually sold it to the Farley's & Sathers Candy Company, which later became part of the Ferrara Candy Company.
Discontinuation
In 2023, Ferrara Candy Company announced the discontinuation of Fruit Stripe Gum. The decision marked the end of an era for a product that had been a staple in American culture for over six decades. The company cited shifting consumer preferences and the challenging economics of producing a niche product as key reasons for the decision. Of course, it probably made business sense and I can’t say I have bought more than a pack a year in the last ten years, but it still makes me sad. It was impossibly colorful, wonderfully fruity sweet, and the flavor was fleeting, but the world was just a bit more magic with Fruit Stripe Gum in it.
I'm sad to hear that Fruit Stripe Gum was discontinued, though, admittedly, I was part of the problem, not buying this colorful product in ages. My most committed period of purchasing of Fruit Stripe is when I was in college, dating a fellow that got me hooked on the tattoos. I loved those cruddy tattoos, or maybe it was just the fellow.
Thanks for sharing the rich history of the gum and of Beech-Nut, which I knew little about. The ads and commercials you included are great, made me nostalgic for an old familiar chew that I can no longer have.
To Robert Denny, I would also like a zebra, please!
The first time I tried Fruit Stripe gum near adulthood, I was probably 17. I spent years pining after it as a child, and I'm sure I had it a few times during that time, but it was hardly a regular occurrence. (This, honestly, was probably a good thing. Like another commenter here, it was probably about the sugar.) I thought the taste was a nice blast of (artificial) fruit flavor, but I was sorely disappointed several minutes later when the flavor was completely gone.
Anyway, I probably swallowed that gum, so maybe there's still some Fruit Stripe left in me after all. (Just kidding, that's a myth. I hope.)