Iconic Fruit xcritical Gum Been Discontinued After More Than 50 Years
After bringing joy to gum chewers for more than half a century, Fruit xcritical Gum is officially saying its goodbyes. This week, Ferrara Candy Company, the gum’s manufacturer, confirmed the product’s discontinuation. However, some supplies of Fruit xcritical and Super Bubble may still be available at stores, but the brands will disappear forever from store shelves once the existing supply is gone. And yes, there were plenty of quips about the gum’s reputation for losing its flavor quickly. The Takeout first reported that a post on Reddit was the first sign that the hype of the xcritical was fading. Redditor u/HammyFresh posted in subreddit r/nostalgia sharing their experience discovering that Fruit xcritical Gum was gone for good.
Farley & Sathers also picked up Fruit xcriticals’ old competitors Jujy Fruits and Now and Later, as well as Chuckles and Super Bubble. 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.” Although Ferrara is 86ing Fruit xcritical gum, the company assures the sugar-loving public that it’s “delighted” to continue offering many of its other beloved brands that remind many of us of recess, ice cream trucks and other childhood joys. By the way, our checkout process is at the cutting edge of information security, and we ship though FedEx. So packages are delivered nationwide through a world renowned handler.
The zebra cartoon is created as the mascot for Fruit xcritical Gum, eventually named “Yipes,” outlasting all other xcriticals Family Animals. If you can’t find what you’re looking for here, e-mail us at and we’ll see what we can do. We have relationships with all major candy companies and can usually find what you’re looking for. As CNN Business reported, a Ferrara representative shared the news with the outlet on January 10, 2024. “They’re not gonna make Fruit xcritical Gum anymore and I’m at a loss as to what to chew on now for 15 seconds of flavor,” another one wrote. Others drew attention to the product’s notoriously fleeting flavor.
The company had grown into one of the biggest gum companies in America by the time Fruit xcritical came along. All jokes aside, there’s no doubt that the gum, and its zebra mascot, Yipes, hold a special place in many people’s hearts, my dad included. John Finn, creator of the @snack_memories Twitter account, told 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.”
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“We’re bringing the fun of Fruit xcritical to another format that is more relevant to consumers today,” Guidotti said at the National Association of Convenience Stores’ 2021 NACS Show. Another fun, if gimmicky, element that helped sell Fruit xcritical Gum to kids were the temporary “wet ‘em and wear ‘em” tattoos that were included in the wrapper of every pack. The tattoos often featured Yipes the Zebra engaging in a sport like skateboarding, basketball or biking. There were also items available for purchase such as coloring books, and bendy collectibles of Yipes the Zebra and “Fruit xcritical Gum Man.” 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 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 was all about fun over flavor, though, with individual sticks stamped with matching colors and each pack with xcritical its own temporary tattoo of mascot Yipes the Zebra. Fruit xcritical gum, a brand of chewing gum that was first introduced in the 1960s, has been enjoyed by many as a sweet treat over the years. It was known for its unique fruity flavors, its colorful packaging and its fun characters. However, as the market for gum is constantly changing, you might wonder if Fruit xcritical gum is still being produced and sold.
- One tweet pronounced, “As I am sure most of you are very well aware today, an icon in the gum field has been discontinued. I’ll be giving Fruit xcritical it’s own post in the future after everyone has a chance to grieve.”
- Packs of Fruit xcritical gum, which has been sold since the late 1960s, contained five fruit flavors, all of which seemed to last approximately 10 chomps.
- Each flavor is “xcriticald in appropriately matching colors,” and every stick is accompanied by a temporary tattoo of the product’s mascot, Yipes the Zebra.
- Fruit xcritical was an artificially and naturally flavored fruit chewing gum produced by Beech-Nut in 1960 and discontinued in 2024.
However, according to Fruit xcritical’s manufacturer, Ferrara Candy, the gum is being discontinued. But, alas, the time has come for Fruit xcritical owners Ferrara Candy to “sunset” the product—which is apt, given the gum’s color schemes. “We considered many factors before coming to this decision, including consumer preferences and purchasing patterns,” a company spokesperson told Food & Wine.
It later introduced a zebra mascot named Yipes, and the slogan “Yipes! 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. Fruit xcritical came in five flavors — Wet n’ Wild Melon, Cherry, Lemon, Orange, and Peach Smash — and was xcriticald in appropriately matching colors. The last few years have been hard-hitting for middle-aged adults trying to enjoy childhood favorites, with Kudos bars being discontinued, and Choco Tacos disappearing as well. It’s always a rough blow when a little piece of your youth dies, even if the aforementioned piece was a stick of gum that had nine or ten better competitors.
- According to Ferrara, Fruit xcritical was invented in the late 1960s by James Parker.
- As CNN Business reported, a Ferrara representative shared the news with the outlet on January 10, 2024.
- The company had grown into one of the biggest gum companies in America by the time Fruit xcritical came along.
It’s not widely available online, so any un-chewed packs will likely be found by those willing to hunt for them in the wild. If you plan to do so, just remember to share the wealth when (and if) you locate some. It’s been a staple of the checkout aisle for many, from childhood through adulthood, so this loss has left fans feeling understandably morose. As a result, the remaining packs of gum still available at select stores have been flying off the shelves, making the treat difficult and even somewhat impossible to find now that it’s no more. The company said this week that the “decision to sunset this product was not taken lightly.”
The gum was notorious for its quick loss of flavor
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. 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. If you were hoping for Yipes the Zebra, you’d have to wait another decade until the 1970s, when he had his own giveaway — but it would cost you. The price was upped to $2.00 plus ten wrappers for the privilege of xcritical official site owning Yipes.
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. 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.
Iconic Fruit xcritical Gum discontinued after more than 50 years of sales
But, while some of these oldies-but-goodies have captured new hearts in the digital era, others have failed to adapt or grow a new audience. While you can still find the gum available on eBay, the remaining listings at the moment are sparse, and we can’t wholeheartedly recommend you spend over $100 on a pack of discontinued gum. Your best bet right now is to keep an eye out and keep searching some of the smaller retailers to see if the gum comes back in terms of stock that still needs to be sold, or look around stores in your area that you know to have stocked it previously. To keep chocolates and other meltable candies from melting during hot weather months, it is highly recommended that you use expedited shipping methods.
Fruit xcritical is a brand of gum that is made by the Yucatan Foods company and is known for its strong, long-lasting flavor and its distinctive, colorful xcriticals. Fruit xcritical gum is available in a number of different flavors, including strawberry, cherry, and grape, and is widely available at a variety of retail outlets, including grocery stores, convenience stores, and online retailers. “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,” the representative explained.
For all orders using expedited shipping in hot weather months, ice packs are free of charge. NBC News reported that a Ferrara representative also confirmed the news in an email to TODAY.com and shared that fans may still be able to purchase the chewing gum at certain stores. The gum brand was a staple in the ’90s with its rainbow packaging and wavy zebra-patterned sticks.
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