Gummi Bears

I have recently rediscovered my love of the gummi bear. Sam picked them out at the store as her “pool treat.” They were so tasty cold right out of the cooler, so now we are keeping them in the frig. I know other brands turn rock hard when they are cold, but the Brach’s brand doesn’t. As I was getting one out for Sam yesterday (okay…for myself), I actually looked at the gummi bear and it got me thinking.

I can see a candy chef coming up with a gummy blob of tasty, colorful candy. The part that seems odd to me is that they would then decide to mold it into the shape of a bear and that would make everyone want to buy and eat it. I always wonder how those types of Ad Agency meetings go.
I flashed back (I must be getting old because that is the second time in one week) to my preteen years when flipping the collar of your Izod/Polo shirt was really cool. The rage was to lick the back of a gummi bear and stick it right next to your Izod/Polo logo and wear it there all day. I don’t remember if we ever actually ate those gummy bears or just threw them away at the end of the day. At the time I assumed it was a worldwide fashion craze. When I started thinking about it last night, I wondered if everyone did that or if it was only going on it my little world. Let me know if you think I am crazy.

FYI> In order to be completely thorough with my Gummi Bear entry, I did some research on the history of the Gummi Bear…

The Gummy Bear originates from Germany where it is hugely popular under the name Gummibär ("rubber bear"). The German company Haribo from Bonn first produced bear-shaped sweets in 1922 and introduced its Gold-Bear product in the 1960s. The success of Gummy Bears has spawned many gummy animals and objects: worms, frogs, hamburgers, cherries, cola bottles, sharks, apples, oranges, and even gummy ampelmenn. Many knockoff gummy bears are available on the market. Trolli is a well-known knockoff gummy candy manufacturer and was the first to introduce "gummi worms" in 1981.