Monday, November 9, 2009

Hubba Bubba OUCH!

Flavor: What does it matter? It's bubblegum. I'd even go to far as to call it a superior bubblegum. (Most sugarfree versions of sugared brands of gum are superior, as a general rule. I long to find sugarfree bubbletape again.) But, big deal. It's impossible to rate this gum objectively.

Texture: Good. Great. Fine. Awesome. Who cares?

Overall: Okay, here we go. I'm hoping that anyone over the age of, say, 25, can feel me on this one.

I vividly remember OUCH! gum when I was a kid. It was most definitely sugared gum, of the fruity variety (though it wasn't a very strong fruit flavor - I actually think it was more bubblegum than fruit.) It came in a band-aid tin which made it completely awesome to a kid. It was an actual metal tin that I remember re-using for other gum, candies, change, whatever.

The gum itself was wrapped in a paper wrapper that had a printing of a band-aid on it. Why this was awesome, I have no idea, but it was indeed quite awesome. I remember feeling like I was the shizz when a classmate would be all, "Got any gum?" and I'd whip out my band-aid tin of OUCH! gum and hand them a piece of band-aid wrapped sugary goodness. Oh, it was awesome.

Apparently, Hubba Bubba bought the rights to OUCH! gum years later and redesigned the package. I feel like this redesign was after my time, as I don't remember seeing it or tasting it. I can't tell you much about it, but I found this picture online:

So what we can deduce is: OUCH! went corporate, but Hubba Bubba had the brains to, at the very least, continue packaging it in its signature metal band-aid tin. I can't speak to the sugar content (anyone know if the new verson was sugarfree?) or the taste (it looks like there are three flavors in the pack - grape, watermelon and strawberry) but the look new look was fun, whimsical, and nostalgic.

But now. Now! Oh, Hubba Bubba. What have you done??

It's just a friggin' pack of gum! It's a pack. of. sugarfree. bubblegum. Who cares? The only thing reminiscent of the OUCH! gum of my youth is the band-aid on the front of the package, and the OUCH! logo. And that's where it ends. The front of the package proudly declares, "Games INSIDE!" and you open up the pack to reveal:
Oh, big WHOOP. "How Many? How many crutches are outside the emergency room?" And you have to search through the crudely drawn picture to find the 5 obvious crutches. There's a little bubble "LOOK FOR MORE GAMES IN PACKS OF OUCH!" as if the 0.4 seconds of fun I had searching for crudely drawn crutches would be enough to draw me back to buy more OUCH! gum. Hardly. There's not even any band-aid printing on the gum wrappers. It's JUST. GUM. Katie and my husband both think that the "OUCH!" logo on the front of the package actually works as a reason NOT to buy the gum - that it's some kind of super sour gum that will hurt you by chewing it.

Oh, I have been hurt by chewing OUCH! gum, Hubba Bubba. But not on my tongue, in my heart. No matter how flavorful this gum may be, no matter how perfect the bubbles it blows or how long the consistency lasts, Hubba Bubba has struck out big time with this one. They haven't even tried. I implore you to boycott OUCH! gum, and just buy Extra Classic Bubble if bubblegum flavor is the hankering you have.
Rating: o (one gumball)


36 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am 13 years old and when I was younger I used to always have the one in the colorful tin can with 3 flavors. it was delicious!!!!!!!! so earlier today i found a tin i had saved in my room. And it made me wonder what happened to that gum, because I haven't seen the tin in the store for at least a couple years. So I decided to google it, and found this site. And now I am really mad that it is just plain bubblegum (I hate bubblegum flavor) in a normal box!!!! part of the fun was the tin! and the flavors were so delicious! I miss that gum. -Abby

Christian said...

I agree with abby. I am also 13 and my story is almost identical to hers. Too bad they stopped producing the tin.
P.S.- It's not for professionals, its for 5 YEAR OLDS.

Anonymous said...

I'm upset. The Hubba Bubba corporation couldn't afford to make awesome tin cans to hold multi- flavored bubble gum in anymore? I remember eating that as a little kid! I'm upset. I'm not 13 though i'm 18. I found this site today. You are amazing!

Sydney said...

I am just like christian and abby, 13 years old. I am obsessed with gum and i am so sad its only bubblegum flavors now. It was so good and the tin was the best part!
Sydney

Anonymous said...

I'm sixteen and remember LOVING this gum when I was little. Very sad to hear they changed the packaging :(

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately I have not been around long enough to experience the tin cans, becuase when I bought this today I knew for sure that the OUCH! was going to mean something amazing that stands out from any other gum and I was hoping to "wow!" my sister in the checkout line. Wrong. I not long ago found out about the great history of the bandaid packaging of the package and the gum itself. Well...there's nothing special about it but at least they didn't take away the whole "OUCH!" idea. But it's not like it means anything. Still allright gum. Nothing wrong with it, flavor doesn't die out too quickly.

Unknown said...

This is absolutely delightful! I loved just browsing and finding this blog, and the best part...reading the dramatic parts! And the comments! Too fun!!!! I loved it! Keep it up!

Anonymous said...

I was super excited to see the pack of the ouch and then was beyond appalled when the gum didn't even have the bandaid wrappers!! I am 26 and thought this was like memory lane. Too bad they clearly took a detour when redesigning. At least they didn't change the bubbletape. I wish I could find that metal tin again

Jake said...

When I was younger, I never really liked to chew gum, because I was a real picky eater and I didn't like a lot of fruit. Now I chew bubble gum today because I LOVE to blow bubbles! I had seen this tin at my cousin's house before, and then I saw this new slim pack about half a year ago. Today I bought it to see how good it is. As I chew it right now, it turns out it's almost the same as Extra Classic Bubble, which doesn't make sense because Wrigley makes both Extra and Hubba Bubba. I wish I could taste this old bubble gum from the tin...:(

Anonymous said...

I am also 13 and i used to LOVE buying the tin cans so this made me upset. :( me and my sister used to love the grape flavor. I wish I could still buy the old OUCH! gum in the tin containers. :'(

Anonymous said...

I am also 13 and used to chew a whole tin can of the gum a day... i loved it and miss it so much i only have one can left as a memory and i only wish i could taste it once more.

Bay said...

I'm 14 years old, and I do remember seeing that tin can with the three colored stripes, but... I never got the gum, since, initially, it always seemed like a really painfully sour gum because of the name - OUCH! I always avoided sour stuff as a kid, and went for the super sweet things - I loved Hubba Bubba Max, especially. Am I the only one that was turned off of the gum just by the name...? It just didn't seem too appetizing to me.

Anonymous said...

Im 21..I used to love this gum so much! the grape flavor was the best! I'm sad to hear that they redesigned the whole concept of the bandage packaging...now it's nothing more than a wanna be.

Anonymous said...

i cant believe they stoped selling ouch bubble gum in that really cool tin, im 17 & i loved ouch bubble gum when i was a kid, but now that they've remade it, its just not the same anymore now it just tastes like regalure bubble gum, & it sucks hubba bubba totally ruined it for me

Anonymous said...

Hubba Bubba OUCH! tastes the same, so get over the stupid packaging! Packaging doesn't matter! You can store your money in the new package too! Who cares if it's a stick of gum, or a Band-Aid? Only nerds! Who wants to chew on a Band-Aid? It's from a colored tin can! Come on... Won't you eat one? I do however, think calling it OUCH! when it's the same as Hubba Bubba Classic is stupid. Just get rid of it Hubba Bubba!

- Someone Smart

Anonymous said...

lol i was born in 1989. i always wanted the original tin when i was younger. i still have one of the original tins somewhere. but i remember when the new crap came out. i think i liked two of the flavors, but not the other. one was a grape, the other a fruit, similar to watermelon...

Anonymous said...

We are doing a research on Hubba Bubba, and we (my friend and I) are very surprised how old it is, and we are mad that the cans HAVE VANISHED!! Those were the BOMB! ;D

I love hubba bubba gum! MAKE THE CANS COME BACK! (Better for the enviroment)

-Grade 7 students

Anonymous said...

:"C

I am glad I found this article, but SOOO SAD to see the results! I am 20 and have been looking for nostalgic gifts for my brother. The triple-colored tin cans made me SO happy when I was 3-6! (don't judge my parents on giving gum to a 3-year old ;) ).I especially loved the watermelon! I think I remember it was pink with actual little black spots that were supposed to look like seeds :D. So cool. Someone should send this in to "Hubba Bubba" and see if they'll produce them again. It stinks to see our culture go for cheap mass quantity, when people are actually hungry for unique quaintness and quality and are willing to pay for it!

Anonymous said...

Duuuude! I'm 21, and I so remember this gum! It was so awesome, along with the Bubble Jug, and the Neon Beach gum that came in a toothpaste tube and had a necklace! Great times man, wish I could find these somewhere in the original tin. Never know what you got til it's gone...if only I could go back in time and buy one of each, and preserve them somewhere so kids of the future can also experience the awesome!

Anonymous said...

OH! Forgot to mention the Bubble BEEPER! Remember those? They came in a plastic case (in green or pink) and had holographic type branding. Used to love those!

Kendall said...

I loved that gum when we went to cracker barrel (a country chain restaurant with a store inside of it) I always got that gum as a treat and I'd chew like 5 pieces at a time nom nom nom so good last time I remember chewing some was when I was at school in 4th grade I'm now in 9th grade :/

Unknown said...

When I was a little girl, this was almost always my candy of choice when my mom or aunt took my to CVS. It just looked. So. Cool. The colors on the tin can and the tin can itself were very enticing. I hated it when my mom finally made me throw the empty tin away.

Many years have passed since I last had that amazingly yummy fruit-flaovred gum, that was the absolute perfect amount of sour. I just saw one of those "Like if you renumber this" things on Facebook, and it was, lo and behold, the gum of my youth. I was filled with a rush of nostalgia and could almost taste that delicious grape flavor on my tongue, and then I had a thought. Do they sell these anymore?

And so I ended up here. And now I feel like yet another part of my childhood has been erased from the world.

Anonymous said...

Im 7 years old i curse the people that took it away! I want to taste it! and punch the people in the face!

Morgan said...

Im 14 now and I used to get that gum all the time! i loved the watermelen! i really wish they didnt get rid of it, I havent seen it since i was mabye in fourth grade... i can still taste it mmmm... where do you guys get it now?!

Anonymous said...

WHERE THA TIN CAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Blasphemy!!! I'm 20 and I very well remember the tins. I teach a class and the lesson requires me to cut out these giant band-aids for the 5 year olds to wear and I give out treats and was planning on getting each kid the tin can ouch gum. Google'd what store might have them, found this site and am completely shocked!!!!):

Ashley said...

I can't tell you the strange course of events that led to my reminder that Ouch! Gum exists, but here I am, distraught as the rest of you to see what has become of a childhood favorite.

SHAME ON YOU. SHAAAMMMMEEEE.

Anonymous said...

The excact same thing that happened to me Abby! same age and every thing! Oh but that gum its just not the same i still have that one can that i had boughten..:(

momof2 said...

I think that they should bring back the regular ouch gum! Everybody loved it! There where such good memories of it! BRING IT BACK!!!!!

Shn4zy said...

I was eating some zebra stripe gum and thought to myself, "Why don't they ever sell that band-aid gum anymore...I used to love that. My mom would always let me get a pack in the check-out line at Meijers growing up and I'd always get the band-aid gum in the cool tin, or the Zebra stripe if they were out of the tins. I can't believe they got rid of it...bit to change it so just some regular lame pack; I think I'd rather have them retire it with dignity they ruin it first.

Anonymous said...

I'm 13 soon to be 14, the other day I got a random thought about the hubba bubba ouch gum so I googled it and I found this site, I grew up on this gum and I have to say the band-aid look was my favorite part the tin can was second and the three flavors were awesome but anyway, I am so sad/pissed off on how they changed it I wish they would go back and produce the gum like the used to -Gamergirl

LilDebbie said...

The sick sick bastards. Lucky for me I just found 2 unopened original fruit flavored tins and 1 unopened three flavor tin from the 90's before they sold to hubba bubba. I bought them up and they will now sit forever unopened,unchewed for display. The last 3 unopened in existence and they are now mine...I feel lucky

Anonymous said...

Sorry Debbie you do not have the last 3. We have some as well... I'm sure others do too.

Real band aids usually don't come in tins anymore either.

Anonymous said...

YES! I loved this gum! Especially the grape flavor! (although watermelon was amazing, too) My mom once bought this lotion and I smelled it and it smelled EXACTLY like the grape flavor had tasted! I was amazed! I'm 16 and I remember those tins vividly (only hubba bubba, though) I can't believe they put it in regular packaging! That's horrible! With no special flavors or wrappers? WHAT?

Unknown said...

I use to love this gum and have been trying go find it FOREVER (well the real Kind in the tin cans) here is a website that is them for sale it's like $11 for 10 cans of something like that.i haven't tried to order from it yet.... cause i just found it today http://www.nationwidecandy.com/snacks/items/5850.htmrm GOOD LUCK

Unknown said...

damn those tin cans were the best part