Cry Baby Gum (History, Marketing & Pictures)
Cry Baby Gum is a unique gum product that is actually a Tootsie Roll product. Chewing gum has always been very popular in the US and there are many different kinds of gum on the market that will take care of your breath-freshening needs as well as offer enjoyable taste profiles for your needs. For many people, the gum is used for breath freshening, but there are some fun gum types on the market that are enjoyed just for the taste.
If you have not tried Cry Baby Gum, you are in luck. This is a very unusual, sour gum that is almost like candy. You will love this gum if you love sour candies and this is a great blend of gum and sour candy enjoyment that you will not get from any other gum product. If you want to learn more about this unique and fun gum variety, you will need to read on!
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History
Cry Baby Gum is a sour bubble gum product that is made by Tootsie Roll Industries. The product was named by David Klein who also invented Jelly Belly Jelly Beans. This candy gum has been called Tear Jerkers as well, but this is not an official name of the gum. The Philadelphia Chewing Gum Company made the gum at first, but Tootsie Roll bought it shortly after the release of the gum in 1991.
Cry Babies are known for their sour coating that vanishes as soon as you start chewing the gum. The sourness is quite strong when you first start chewing, which can make some people’s eyes water. The name stems from the rumor that everyone who chews it experiences this eye-watering effect from the gum. This has been the flagship for sour gums for many years and it is often sold in jars that are full of all the flavors. They are hard gumball candies that are packaged in individual wrappers.
This gum is sold in five flavors and all of them are sour and enjoyable. You will find that kids and adults alike enjoy this treat and the original sourness fades rapidly enough that people who don’t love sour candies and gums will still enjoy the gum. This is a really unique gum and it can be really unexpected for some people who are used to breath-freshening gums.
Children often challenge one another to put more than one piece of gum into their mouths and see how long they can chew them. The sourness multiplied can be quite intense when compared to the sourness that is offered by a single gumball. This is one of the main challenges that surround this gum but you can find many challenge videos online where people try to chew many pieces of gum at once.
This gum is actually Double Bubble with sour flavoring added to it, so you will be able to blow giant bubbles and also enjoy a fun taste experience.
Flavors
There are five flavors for the gum and they are all equally sour. If you love sour things, you will want to try all of the flavors to see which is your favorite and which is the sourest.
- Lemon
- Cherry
- Green apple
- Blue raspberry
- Orange
- Watermelon
There are also Cry Baby Sour Nitro Packs that come with a soft center that offers additional sourness in the liquid center of the gum. This is one of the newer offerings that has been made with the Cry Baby Sour Gum branding attached to it and you will love this version of the gum if you really like sour things a lot. These gumballs are the ultimate choice for those who love to have a challenge with foods and candies that are sour and a little bit stronger than the average product.
Logo
Buy Online
You can also buy Cry Baby Gum at Old Time Candy by clicking the image below.
Ingredients
From the Amazon entry for a 240ct tub:
- Sugar
- Dextrose
- Corn syrup
- Glucose
- Gum base
- Citric acid
- Tapioca dextrin
- Corn starch
- Artificial flavors
- Artificial colors FD&C Red 40
- Blue 1
- Yellow 5
- Yellow 6
- BHT
There might be some variation in some of the contents for certain flavors but these are the basic ingredients for all of the gumballs in each container. These are simple and basic ingredients that are common for this kind of product so you will find that this is not a remarkable set of ingredients. The ingredient profile is also close to that of Double Bubble since that is the basic gum that is behind the sour gum that is sold by the same company.
Nutrition
Serving Size: | 1 piece (6g) | % Daily Value* |
Amount per serving | ||
Calories | 20 | |
Calories from Fat | 0 | 0% |
Total Fat | 0g | |
Sodium | 0mg | 0% |
Carbohydrates | 5g | |
Net carbs | 5g | |
Fiber | 0g | 0% |
Glucose | 3g | |
Protein | 0g | |
Vitamins and minerals | ||
Vitamin A | 0mg | 0% |
Vitamin C | 0mg | 0% |
Calcium | 0mg | 0% |
Iron | 0mg | 0% |
Fatty acids | ||
Amino acids |
- The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs.
Marketing Style and Materials
The Cry Baby Sour Gum branding has always involved bright colors and lots of cartoony graphics. The current style of the wrappers and containers that the gum is sold in shows a cartoon person crying profusely and there are big block letters that proclaim what the name of the gum is. You will find that most of the containers are brightly colored with a green background and a yellow circle that wraps around the main logo. The gumball-style bags that are single strips with the gum inside are clear but have the same logo printed in the center of them with the crying person to the right of the logo.
The proclamation, “sour flavors” is on all the wrappers and containers so that you will not be confused about what you are getting when you buy it. The “Double Bubble” logo is on the wrappers as well because the gum that is wrapped in sour flavoring is actually the same as that which is sold in the Double Bubble gum product line.
Double Bubble has been another staple of the Tootsie Roll brand that also was originally part of another Philadelphia-based company called the Fleer Chewing Gum Company. The Double Bubble brand required some work to craft the really original and enjoyable chewing gum that has been so popular for generations and the Cry Baby Sour Gum brand piggybacks onto this other branding neatly and tidily.
You will get both the strong and durable Double Bubble bubblegum and the sour taste profile of the Cry Baby brand when you buy this product. This is a nice blend of factors and gives you both the benefit of a fun taste experience and the long-lasting chewing enjoyment of the Double Bubble product.
Can You Chew Too Many Cry Baby Sour Gumballs?
Yes, you can actually chew too many of these and cause gum injuries and issues with your tongue. Make sure that you are not overdoing it and that you only chew a few a day. Any acidic food can actually hurt your gums and your tongue so you should be careful not to overdo it. Some people have actually gotten so into chewing this sour gum that they have damaged their gums.
A lot of sour candies and foods do put warnings on their products to make sure that you do not consume too many of these products for your health. This might also be a variable experience as some people are more sensitive to sour items than others. This is one of those things that you cannot predict so you should be careful with your eating of sour items many times a day.
Making sure to be responsible about your consumption of sweets and how often you chew gum is important, no matter what products you are enjoying. These are not items that should be eaten or consumed many times a day and you will need to be careful with all sour items to be sure that you do not injure your palate and your tongue.
Are Cry Baby Sour Gum Balls Different Colors?
The flavors do impact the colors of this gum brand and you will find that the mixed variety packs sport a different color for each chewing gum flavor that is included in the packaging. Some bags and containers also come with watermelon which is added to the original flavor offerings.
The colors of current packs will include blue, green, orange, red, and yellow. You will find that there are also Nitro Sour packs that offer a liquid center that adds an explosion of additional sourness to the experience. These packs are slightly different and brighter in color compared to the traditional flavor offerings.
Pictures
Challenges
This is one of the more popular uses for this gum these days and many people try to see how many they can chew at one time. This has led to lots of viral challenge videos that have brought new awareness to the brand that has pushed the gum forward into the eye of popular culture for the first time in a long time. Sour candies are not as popular as they once were but these challenge videos have brought new attention to the gum.
Some challenging videos that are typical of the genre:
And a review of the product from a YouTuber:
Commercials:
Another classic:
My name is Brianna and I love writing on all topics. Candy history fascinates me and I am passionate about sharing my love of this topic with everyone else!
Please leave a review or any memories of this snack in the comments below. Thank you!
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