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Fruit Stripe Gum‘s parent company Ferrara Candy Company announced the gum has been discontinued after spending nearly 55 years on shelves.
The iconic gum was best known for its short-lived bursts of flavor and a temporary tattoo on each stick of gum’s wrapper that featured Fruit Strip’s mascot, Yipes the Zebra. The gum, which came in flavors Wet n’ Wild Melon, Cherry, Lemon, Orange, and Peach Smash, was first introduced in 1969 and was beloved by millions who grew up with the temporary tattoos.
TODAY.com confirmed with Ferrara Candy Company, Fruit Stripe Gum’s parent company, that it was discontinuing one of the most iconic chewing gum brands of all-time. This led to almost immediate backlash on social media by people who likely haven’t chewed Fruit Stripe in decades but were still sad to see it go.
CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla squared a quote from Quartz that sums up many people’s feelings on Fruit Stripe. The quote reads “.. For many of us, Fruit Stripe gum was a fixture of our youth, the brand whose bright colors, zebra mascot, wrappers printed with temporary tattoos, and (unfulfilled) promise of five fruity flavors kept us coming back again and again ..”
Someone on X astutely pointed out that Liza Minnelli has outlived Fruit Stripe gum, an apparent measure of longevity:
Tributes went out alongside the Fruit Stripe jokes and memes:
Jason Liebig of ‘CollectingCandy’ fame on X has a great thread about Fruit Stripe’s history and legacy. It was not the only ‘stripe’ gum but it was certainly the most iconic.
It does appear, however, that some people on X were reporting the news of Fruit Stripe Gum’s demise as early as January 4th:
There are still thousands of stores with Fruit Stripe on the shelves. A quick look at eBay shows that the forthcoming buying frenzy hasn’t been triggered yet. The eBay prices on Fruit Stripe are still quite fair. Unlike when the Choco Taco was discontinued.
Here’s how Meta’s Imagine AI envisions the Fruit Stripe Gum zebra mascot, by the way:
Imagine AI by Meta
I will forever remember Fruit Stripe for two reasons: the short-lasting flavor and the temporary tattoos. I couldn’t actually describe what it tasted like because it’s been so long since I las had Fruit Stripe Gum but I could tell you that it was delicious, albeit for like 15 seconds before the flavor disappeared.