Bubblegum lovers and fans of Fortune Bubble Gum have reason to rejoice! The popular bubble gum from the 1980s that disappeared in the 1990s re-entered the marketplace last February. Fortune Bubble Gum was a large stick of pink bubble gum wrapped in wax paper that contained a funny fortune. Pick up a pack and see what it says!
Surge was first developed in Atlanta in 1996 to 1997. Surge was developed to compete with Pepsi’s Mountain Dew. In Norway, Surge was known as Urge. In fact, it was due to its Norwegian popularity that it was ever released in the U.S.
at all! After it was discontinued in the U.S. in 1999, Norway was the only country where you could purchase Surge (or Urge). That was until 2014. Surge made a comeback in the U.S. as an Amazon-exclusive product. Based on its popularity and fan campaigns to bring Surge back permanently, in February (to May) 2015, Surge was test marketed in stores primarily in the Southeast U.S. As of September 2015, Surge has been re-released to stores in the Southeast, Northeast and parts of the American Midwest. Surge fans can rejoice. It is definitely possible to get a product brought back from extinction.
Nabisco brought us Bonkers — chewable rectangular fruit candies with a fruit filling in the mid 1980s. The marketing campaign was quite effective. TV spots showed a series of uptight characters that would get bonked in the head by giant fruit. They would then erupt into raucous laughter. After the commercials stopped running, public interest waned until Nabisco ceased manufacture.
In February 2012, Leaf Brands, LLC (http://www.leafbrands.com) announced that they were acquiring the trademark and would re-introduce Bonkers by the end of the same year. A quick look on the web reveals various press releases regarding the purchase of the trademark, but a close look at Leaf Brands’ website makes no mention of a Bonkers re-introduction…..yet?