Starburst (candy)

Official Starburst logo

Starburst candies

Starburst (originally known as Opal Fruits) is the brand name of a cuboid-shaped, fruit-flavoured soft taffy candy manufactured by The Wrigley Company, a subsidiary of Mars, Incorporated. Starburst also exist as jellybeans (known as Joosters), lollipops, gummies, hard candy, candy canes, and lip gloss (the latter in a partnership with Lip Smackers).

History

The UK 'Opal Fruits' limited edition branding

The Starburst brand was introduced by Mars in 1959, named by Peter Pfeffer in a competition that won him £5 as Opal Fruits.^[1] The four original flavors were strawberry, lemon, orange, and lime. Lime was later replaced with cherry. In the 1970s Opal Fruits were well known for their advertising tag line "Opal Fruits - made to make your mouth water! Fresh with the tang of citrus. Orange! Lemon! Cherry! Strawberry!" Opal Fruits were introduced in the United States in 1967^[1] as Starburst. Originally, Starburst came in the same flavors as Opal Fruits and the first variant, "Sunshine Flavors", later renamed "Tropical Opal Fruits", was released thereafter. In Europe, Lemon and Lime were combined to become "Lemon and Lime" to make room for a Blackcurrant flavor. The brand name 'Opal Fruits' was phased out in the UK, followed by Ireland in 1998 in order to standardize the product in a globalized marketplace.^{[citation needed]} In 2008, the supermarket chain Asda revived the original Opal Fruits in the UK for a period of 12 weeks starting May 10, 2008.^[2] On October 6, 2008, Mars acquired Wrigley, and transferred Mars' non-chocolate candy brands, including Starburst, to the Wrigley subsidiary.^[3] In the US, Starburst are manufactured in Waco, Texas.

The original flavors are now branded "Original Fruits", and Starburst now comes in several assortments: Limited Edition Retro Fruits, Tropical, Baja California, Sour, Strawberry Mix, and Berries & Creme. Among the additional flavors are Kiwi, Banana, Plum, Passion Fruit, Raspberry, Strawberry-Banana, Mango, Melon, Tropical Punch, Green Apple, Blue Raspberry, Watermelon, Mixed Berries & Cream, Peaches & Cream, Orange Cream, and Strawberry & Cream. Europe also has the "Sour" assortment, which includes Apple, Cherry, Pineapple and Raspberry, as well as Strawberry Mix. As of early 2010 it was decided that Strawberry was the most popular flavor in the United Kingdom.

Lime Starbursts made a comeback in 2007 as a limited-edition 'retro' flavor in packages of the 'Baja' version, while the range in the UK was further extended with a version named Starburst Choozers. These lozenge shaped chews have a liquid fruit juice center, and come packaged with the tag line "The chews that ooze." Each packet contains three flavors; Orange & Mango, Raspberry & Orange, and Pineapple & Orange.

Starburst engaged in a marketing tie-in for the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest by replacing Kiwi Banana and Tropical Punch with Royal Berry Punch.

The current slogan for Starburst in the U.S. is "It's A Juicy Contradiction"^[4] and in the UK and Australia it is "Tastes Like Summer."

Some time after June in the summer of 2009, Starburst discontinued their Baja California flavor worldwide due to low sales.

Products

A pack of Starburst GummiBurst.

• Original Fruit Chews (US: Cherry, Lemon, Strawberry, Orange. UK: Blackcurrant, Orange, Strawberry, Lemon & Lime)
• Starburst - "All Strawberry Pack"
• Starburst - Strawberry Mix
• Starburst - California Fruits (Red Cherry, Strawberry Watermelon, Malibu Punch, Wild Berry)
• Baja California Fruit Chews (discontinued) (Limon, Aztec Punch, Baja Dragonfruit, Strawberry Watermelon, Plum)
• Tropical Fruit Chews (Strawberry Banana, Royal Berry Punch, Mango Melon, Piña Colada)
• Sour Starburst (US: Sour Strawberry, Sour Green Apple, Sour Tangerine, Sour Blue Raspberry. UK: Cherry, Pineapple, Raspberry and Green Apple)
• Berries & Crème Fruit Chews (Mixed Berry & Creme, Strawberry & Creme, Blueberry & Creme, Raspberry & Creme)
• Fave Reds - (Cherry, Strawberry, Fruit Punch, Watermelon)
• Summer Fun Fruits - (Kiwi-Banana, Lemon Limeade, Cherry Splash, & Strawberry Watermelon)
• Joosters Jelly Beans
• Starburst Gummibursts (Liquid Filled Gummies). The idea was adapted for the UK as Starburst Choozers, and later Starburst TongueTangles
• Sweet Fiesta - ( Cherry-Mango, Peach-Guava, Strawberry-Pineapple, Melon-Berry)
• Sour and Sweet (Sweet Blue Raspberry and Strawberry/Sour Green Apple and Watermelon)
• Starburst Twisted Chews (Blueberry & Banana, Strawberry & Lime, Cherry & Lemon)
• Starburst Smoothies (Strawberry & Banana, Strawberry & Blueberry & Yogurt, Mango & Passionfruit).
• Starburst Squirts (Similar to Gummiburst but has more flavors and is made for New Zealand and Australia only, as they do not sell Gummibursts in those countries).
• Starburst Easter Chews (Wrapper shaped like Laffy Taffy, but inside the wrapper has original fruit chews.)

See also

• Now and Later
• Mambas
• Skittles
• Sugus

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Starburst.com: About^{[dead link]}
2. ^ Mercer, Charles (2008-05-01). "Opal Fruits return to British playgrounds". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1917207/Opal-Fruits-return-to-British-playgrounds.html. Retrieved 2008-05-02. 
3. ^ Mars Wrigley Press Feed
4. ^ Wrigley.com :: Starburst

External links

• Starburst Brand official site
• Starburst UK Site at Wrigley
• Starburst Australia
• Timeline of Candy
• Starburst's Facebook Page