 | ||
Big Red is a cinnamon-flavored chewing gum introduced by the William Wrigley Jr. Company in 1976. Big Red was available in the UK and Ireland in the mid-to-late 1990s, but is no longer available there. It is a popular souvenir for visitors to the US from Ireland or the UK. Big Red was also released in the early-mid 1980s in Australia, but was discontinued in late 1980s. Some specialty sweets shops, however, do still stock it. It was re-released in 2004 and again in late 2007. It is also available in Mexico, Germany, Luxembourg, Latvia, Norway, Poland and parts of Sweden; the gum sold in Germany, Norway and Poland is not red but white. It is meant to be hot in flavor.
Despite it not being a sugarless gum, in 2003 in the United States, Wrigley's replaced some of the sugar with aspartame and Ace K, both artificial sweeteners.
The "Big Red" song
Like its sister product, Juicy Fruit, Big Red had its own commercial jingle, which was used from 1979 to 1998. The song was composed by Peter Cofield from Sunday Productions in New York City and sung by Ryan Devereaux. Many of the commercials depicted couples passionately kissing in a romantic setting for an unusually long time, always including one kisser who then must chase his departing ride. This commercial formula would later be parodied by a number of TV shows, including Saturday Night Live.
In August 2008, Wrigley teamed with popular singer-songwriter Ne-Yo to update the classic jingle.
In February 2010, Verizon Wireless repurposed the classic jingle for a television campaign featuring the company's industry nickname, "Big Red" (a reference to the color of the company's logo).