Bubble Yum Maze

What's the ad for?

Bubble Yum
Year
1982

Spotted in

The scoop

Another maze and another contest from Bubble Yum. You could win some cool prizes like a Panasonic Reggie Vision with video cassette recorder and sound camera. I'm not even sure what that is. Looks like a VCR to me.

Comics form the 70's and 80's always had advertisements for gum. I don't recall seeing many ads for gum in comics today. Maybe I'm just not reading the right comics.

Bubble Yum Dream Fun Room

What's the ad for?

Bubble Yum
Year
1979

Spotted in
Conan the Barbarian # 106, Marvel Comics
The scoop

Bubble Yum held this contest entitled "Number Yum" in 1979. You could win a jukebox and a pinball machine. Pretty cool. To enter you had to count the number of times "Number Yum" was said in either the TV or radio commercial. I actually wrote Hershey's to see if I could find out who won the contest. Unfortunately no one was able to help me. I couldn't find the "Number Yum" commercial but this one is interesting.

Gumfighting Do's and Don'ts

What's the ad for?
Hubba Bubba
Year
1980

Spotted in

 The Scoop

I used to chew this stuff until my jaw was sore. And who among you hasn't fallen asleep with a juicy piece of Hubba Bubba in their mouth only to wake up with it in their hair? I know I have. Most of the time I would remove it before turning in for the night, placing it on my dresser until its return to my mouth come morning. Yes, kids are gross, but I have this practice to thank for my unusually strong immune system.

This campaign was very successful and ran for many years. There was even a Gumfighters Kit that you could get in exchange for 6 Hubba Bubba counterbands. It included a game, membership card, a Gumfighters challenge board, a club sign, a gum holster (cool!) and even a bubblemeter for measuring those bubbles. I cannot for the life of me find any photos of these cool items other than this scan of a page from a Wrigley's corporate magazine.

I always loved the dude with the gum head. Gumfighting...make bubbles not war.

Fantastic Four chewing gum

The past six months or so I've been reading X-men staring from #94. I've been reading the issues in the form of the Essential X-men series.  The Essential series are black and white reprints of famous Marvel titles. They collect over 20 issues at an affordable price. They of course have no ads. In my opinion that's a good thing and a bad thing. These fantastic stories are timeless (at least when Dazzler or Storm as a punk) so it`s the advertisements in the issues that can tie them to their respective era. Plus they`re fun! As I`m reading issues 170 +, I've left the Essential volumes behind in favor of the single issues I have in my collection. The above ad is from Uncanny X-men 170, 1983. Fantastic Four chewing gum? It`s Bubble Blowin' Time!?? Really?

Sure, comics have been from the start a way to drive newspaper sales and used to sell products. (remember all those Superheroes hawking Twinkies?). It`s still pretty funny to me.