Doublemint
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Doublemint is a flavor of chewing gum made by the Wrigley Company. It was launched in the United States in 1914, and has had variable market share since that time.
One of the most notable aspects of this brand is the advertising campaign, begun in 1956, which utilized twins as spokespersons for the gum, as a play on the word "double" in the name. The original "Doublemint Twins" were Jayne and Joan Boyd of Hammond, Indiana, who appeared in advertisements for Doublemint until Joan became pregnant in 1963. The company however continued sporadically to promote the campaign; later "Doublemint Twins" included June and Patricia Mackrell through the 1970's (who had also been the Toni Twins for Toni hairdye, ie 'Which Twin Is The Toni Twin'), Patricia and Cybil Barnstable, Cynthia and Brittany Daniel, Tia and Tamera Mowry (future co-star of The Game). Heidi and Alissa Kramer, and Jean (née Barbara) and Elizabeth Sagal (daughters of TV director Boris Sagal and sisters of Married... with Children's Katey Sagal). The Sagal twins enjoyed a brief run as the stars of a sitcom, Double Trouble, in 1984. Later twins projected more sex appeal in keeping with trends in American advertising; the Barnstable twins were later asked to pose for Playboy magazine due to their popularity as spokeswomen for the gum.
In 2004 the European Union Court of Justice ultimately denied Wrigley's request for trademark status on the name "Doublemint"; The Court found that the mark DOUBLEMINT was "descriptive" of the product and in violation of trademark law.
The actual flavorings used in Doublemint gum are evidently a trade secret, but the company does say that the main flavor ingredient is peppermint.
Ironically enough, while Doublemint is in the chewing-gum business, the original Doublemint Twins were not permitted to be seen chewing gum in public, on direct orders from Wrigley himself. Reasons for this order are unclear.
Although it is not a sugarless gum, Wrigley's replaced some of the sugar with aspartame and Ace K, both artificial sweeteners, in 2003.
Wrigley began running Doublemint Twin commercials again in 2005 with a new set of twins, Natalie Garza and Nicole Garza dressed in old-fashioned clothes. They ride a tandem bike through various modern day situations, singing about the complexity of modern life and touting the joy of the simple pleasure of Doublemint gum. Wrigley also began an open casting call for people to be in their ad campaigns. The call goes out to not only actual twins but anyone and their dog—literally. Many twins have applied but so have people and their friends, their pets, even inanimate objects. They can be seen at the official Doublemint Gum website. Since then, they have run various commercials with some of the new twins as well as Natalie & Nicole from the 2005 campaign.
R&B singer Chris Brown starred in a 2008 Doublemint gum commercial featuring his hit song "Forever" that introduces Wrigley's new thinner Plen-T-Pack packaging. On February 9, 2009, Wrigley Gum announced that they are dropping Chris Brown as their star of the Doublemint gum commercials due to his arrest allegations.
[edit] External links
- Official Doublemint Gum website
- Doublemint Gum Twin Application
- Wrigley's Doublemint Gum Corporate Site
- An academic article discussing the Doublemint trademark case in Europe
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