Talk:Big Red (gum)

Have you ever licked a Big Red wrapper and stuck it to your forehead?

• I just did, it didn't work :( 24.215.63.110 05:19, 1 February 2006 (UTC)

The "Big Red effect"?

Is there any evidence to support this addictive property? This sounds like urban legend to me.

• I can't find any evidence to support it, so I'm removing the material for now. Joyous (talk) 01:15, 10 October 2005 (UTC)

you have to put it there for a while then feel the burn —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.12.158.17 (talk • contribs) 17:06, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

I found some evidence for this phenomenon and name, through Google. Not necessarily reliable sources. So I guess it can stay. But recommend moving it to the popular culture section, rather than the main section, which is usually reserved for history. -Freekee 23:51, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

I have no doubt for the existence of the phenomenon. I suspect they impregnate the paper with spice as it's quite noticible. However, a google search for "Big red effect" yields only 7 non-wiki hits, I don't think any of them had to do with licking the paper. I don't believe it's a an established or agreed upon term (protologism), and think it should probably be removed. -Verdatum (talk) 06:10, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

I just wonder why people are stupid enough to do it. Why would you want to hurt yourself? 68.54.174.43 (talk) 21:19, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

Aspartame?

On a pack of Big Red made by Wrigley Scandinavia in Sweden I see no poisonous aspartame in the ingredients list, only good old fashioned sugar. --Baldur 22:05, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

Unfortunately in the US, they've screwed it up with aspartame and AceK. I need to buy me a box of Big Red from your part of the world. Aaronproot

Same here in Norway. It's with sugar.84.48.33.127 (talk) 10:52, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Lyrics

Inclusion of the complete lyrics to the Big Red jingle is a potential copyright violation. according to WP:LYRICS perhaps it should be removed. -Verdatum (talk) 05:56, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

BHT

What is the purpose of the Butylated hydroxytoluene in Big Red? The packet says it is "to maintain freshness"... 130.195.5.7 (talk) 01:31, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I don't know how to say this...it's there...to maintain freshness. Just read the links on the wiki page you yourself linked. "http://chemistry.about.com/library/weekly/aa082101a.htm". Also note that the talk page has to do with maintaining the article, not for general questions on the topic, I don't see how this question relates to editing the page. -Verdatum (talk) 09:22, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Red vs. White

The article mentions that Big Red sold in Sweden is white, unlike in US. I think Sweden isn't the only country where it's white as I myself live in one. I live in Lithuania and I buy Big Reds regullarly so I'm 100% sure they are white here. And I speculate that it is white in some other countries as well. So I think it might be awesome to do a bit of research and find out where it is red and where it's white and inclue it in the article. --195.22.191.4 (talk) 16:42, 14 June 2009 (UTC)

If I were to posit a guess, it would be white in any countries that regulate the use of Allura Red AC, aka FD&C Red 40. -Verdatum (talk) 20:30, 15 June 2009 (UTC)

What about the original jingle?

There’s no mention of the first jingle, from the 1970s. It was in the style of a country/western song in the key of B♭, with a deep bass voice on the melody, which descended at the end to hit a low B♭. It was all over in about 12 seconds. I saw this commercial hundreds of times, so the jingle is a permanent memory, but I can’t find any trace of it on the internet now. The original lyrics were: “Chew new Big Red / with the bold, clean bite / and the big, strong flavor / that’s bound to hit you right: / Big RED.” After the product was no longer new, the first line was changed to “Chew the gum called…”. I’ll watch this page in case anyone ever finds this jingle again. Mainly I’m wanting to know who sang it. MJ (t • c) 02:32, 12 March 2010 (UTC)

In case anyone else wondered along with me, I just found the original 1975 ad on YouTube! The one musical thing I had forgotten was that it started slower and accelerated slightly. A comment to the video claims the voice is that of Jack Barlow. MJ (t • c) 19:30, 25 March 2023 (UTC)

What about the name?

Has anyone ever looked into where the name Big Red came from? To me, the obvious choice, considering when the gum was introduced, would be the AKA name for the race horse Secretariat who won the Triple Crown back in 1973. This would have been, in my book, a stroke of genius. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jsmyers24151 (talk • contribs) 16:09, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

I think it has to be an hommage to Secretariat, and anyone seeing the name in 1976 would certainly have thought of Secretariat. Somewhere the article ought to mention this.--71.185.41.90 (talk) 09:41, 4 February 2012 (UTC)