Tuesday, June 15, 2010

GumAlert FAQ

We've had a recent influx of visitors, emails and comments lately, and we thought that it might help our readers if we had an FAQ. Please to enjoy.

Do you work for the gum companies? Can I suggest a new flavor?
No, we don't work for any gum company, we're just a couple of girls who like to to chew gum! We'd love to hear your gummy ideas, though!

I work for a gum company. Can I send you samples of gum to review?
Sure! We love free gumz and we'll be happy to review it, just know that our reviews will always be honest and truthful. Send us an email at gumgirls@gumalert.com and we'll work something out.

I have a gum or candy blog, too! Can I be added to your "Friend of GumAlert" links?
We'd love to check out your blog! Send us a link and we'd be happy to give it a read. If we like it, we'll link it! Generally, it has to have been around for a while. If you have only a few posts or have been blogging for only a short while, we probably won't link you. But keep it up!

I own an online candy store. Can you add a link to my store on your blog?
We're sure that your store is great, but we don't like to direct our readers to online merchants that we are unfamiliar with. What you can do is send us some gum samples for us to review, and we'll add a "This review has been sponsored by..." link on the review itself. (Just know that our reviews are always honest and truthful.) If the relationship grows positively, we'll add a link to your store on our sidebar.

I have a product or website that I would like to advertise on Gum Alert. Can I give you money to put an ad on your site?
Even though Trident Layers would like you to think that gum lovers prefer to be paid in gum, these gum lovers prefer to be paid in money. Send us an email and we'll let you know our rates and policies.

You guys haven't reviewed my all-time favorite gum! What gives?
We probably just haven't gotten around to it yet! Send us an email and let us know what you want to see us review!

OMG there's a new gum out! Have you seen it yet??
No, we haven't!! Awesome!! Email us and tell us about it! Where did you see it? Did you try it? Was it good?? We always have our eye out for new gums, but we could always use your help in seeking out the cool new gumz.

I feel very strongly about a new gum or gum commercial I saw on TV, and I would like to post about it in your comments section using bad words and racial slurs. Is that okay?
While we love to hear your opinion about gum, our reviews, and gum culture as a whole, we want gum fans of all ages to be able to enjoy Gum Alert, so we ask that you keep your language in the comments section at a PG level. If we think something is offensive, we're going to remove your comment.

How do you guys decide what gum to review, and how do you review it?
We usually go in this order: Samples companies send us, new gum, requests, and then anything else. We'll try to mix it up if we get a few packs of the same brand or flavor, though, so we don't do too many of the same thing in a row. We only have one rule when it comes to doing the reviews, and that is that we must be chewing a piece of the gum while we review it.

Are you guys related?
Yes, we are sisters, unfortunately for our parents.

Don't you have anything better to do than write long-winded blog posts about gum?
Not really.

Get a life.
That's not a question.

Why do you do it?
We started GumAlert in April of 2009 because we thought it would be funny. We thought that the ultimate goal would be to get free gum from gum companies, but that happened pretty fast. Now, our goal is to attend the Sweets and Snacks Expo in Chicago in 2012. (We still love to get free gum, though. That never gets old.)

Does Trident Layers have pork in it?
From what we've been able to ascertain, Trident Layers does have a form of gelatin in its ingredients that is derived from pork, as do many other types of gum. Your best bet would be to contact the manufacturers directly just to make sure, if you avoid pork for religious or other reasons.

Aren't you worried about artificial sweeteners?
Kind of. We chew a lot of gum. Really, a lot of gum, and we do sometimes question the safety of sweeteners. That being said, we're not experts on the risks and benefits, and wouldn't want to sway anyone one way or the other. We recommend that you do your own research and make the educated decision that's best for you regarding your personal consumption of artificial sweeteners.

What's the flavor of Stride Mega Mystery?
There's a rumor that a Stride employee leaked the flavor as Strawberry Daiquiri. We don't taste that particularly, but we do think that it has a definite tropical drink flavor to it.

Is Stride Shift Berry to Mint good?
No.

Is Stride Shift Citrus to Mint gross?
Yes.

What's so special about 5 React gum? What does it do?
Right? We have no idea.

Can you eat gum wrappers, like Trident, Stride or Orbit?
We're not sure the official answer to this one, but we don't recommend eating any gum wrappers. We don't think it would taste good, and it certainly would mess up the texture. EDIT: Brian from Candy Addict referred us to this post in his blog with the definitive answer. Thanks, Brian!

What is your favorite gum?
Shannon's favorite gum is Extra Polar Ice. Katie's favorite gum us Trident Minty Sweet Twist. However, we like all kinds of gumz. We're partial to sugarless gum because we don't like the dentist very much, but the amount of xylitol running through our bloodstreams on any given day might eventually make us sick, too.

19 comments:

Rusty Shackleford said...

Nice FAQ :D

tablo said...

Gum wrappers are are non-toxic and comply with U.S. Food (FDA) regulations, but it tastes bad. It's PAPER!

Missy said...

Haha, the "anything better to do?" portion of your FAQs is funny. Someone gave me a sample of Stride's Mega Mystery gum and Google led me right here. Glad things are going well for your gum blog!

Anonymous said...

Hi, I just found you guys via candyblog. Do you know of any gum that doesn't contain aspartame? Even gums not marketed as "sugar-free" still contain it, such as Wrigley's Big Red, Juicy Fruit etc. I know Chowards makes gum without aspartame. I would love to hear if you know of any others.

Fun blog!

John said...

I love your blog, but I've noticed that many reviews and this FAQ suggest that artificial sweeteners are somehow going to make you sick and/or lead to cancer. I'm not talking about specific people who have allergies, I'm talking about the general population who have no physical aversion to artificial sweeteners. All of them, including aspartame, are perfectly safe. This link contains many references if you care to research- http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp

Shannon said...

Thanks for the comment, John. Our talk of the dangers of artificial sweeteners is mostly tongue-in-cheek, supposed to be more of a joke than anything else. That being said, we chew a LOT of gum, to the point where sometimes we have to take a step back and think about what's really in it sometimes. To the casual gum-chewer artificial sweeteners may be perfectly fine, but we do wonder about all the chemicals we ingest from the gum we chew. In the end, we're not scientists or experts, we just like to chew gum, and we recommend that everyone make their own educated decisions on their personal use of artificial sweeteners. (Perhaps we should add this to the FAQ!)

Shannon said...

Oh, and Felicity - you should check out pur gum! It's out of Canada so you may have to have it shipped depending on your location, but we love it. Check out our review of it!

Anonymous said...

Who wrote "Get a life?"

Anonymous said...

as for eating gum wrappers, I refer you to:
http://candyaddict.com/blog/2007/06/19/myth-busted-stride-gum-wrappers-should-not-be-eaten/

I just added a link to GA from CA :)

Brian
http://candyaddict.com

naomi said...

I Love Gum.

Unknown said...

Keep going girls. :)

Anonymous said...

In response to John- Oh whew Snopes said aparatame is safe SO IT MUST BE TRUE

Barbara said...

Barbara says: Where is Freedent gum for denture wearers?

Blake said...

I've been reminiscent of my child hood lately and I particular remembered my favorite all time gum as a kid was Fruit Strips Gum or Zebra Gum as I believe I previously revered to it as. I'm sure you guys think Fruit Strips is such an amateur gum and it probably is. As I'm sure you both are well aware of you chew for a few seconds and it is pretty great and then it is the biggest let down ever. The flavor is gone after five seconds. So as a result of that as a kid I would chew like five or so sticks at a time of Fruit Strips. And to this day I always chew at least two sticks of gum together if in public, and if I'm by myself I can easily go with three. Do you guys consider that a legitimate way to chew gum? I'm really curious to how you guys feel about that.

Aside from that I have to say I really love this website. Everybody wants to talk and argue about politics, religion, philosophy etc. and I just wanted to read about something fun and I found it. It really warms my heart to see that there people still out there that have an interest in things other than the above. Keep on chewing!

L. T. said...

I am one of those people who takes surveys online to make money (i-say.com ftw!) and recently took a survey about gum. In it, I got to see an ad for an upcoming gum from Trident and thought you might be interested--the screenshot is at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ox81nfl84g8rv5p/ODaFksKTyJ/con1015.jpg

I'm posting this as L.T. instead of my full name because I may or may not have agreed to keep this ad a secret.

Great blog, by the way
-LT

anne-laure said...

Hello! My name is Anne-Laure, I'm a french journalist. I'm working for a famous TV channel in France named "M6". I'm preparing a Tv documentary about chewing-gum. I want to show the fabrication of chewing-gum and all the funny things around chewing-gum like the Gum Alley San Luis Opbispo in California, etc...
I'm also looking for gum addicts..who take more than one box a day..
I'm looking fora museum of chewing-gum or other things!
You like chewing-gum so I think that you can help me in my investigation.
You can contact me on:
alg@lignedefront.com
+33671233754
Thank you very much

Anne-Laure Guérin

Anonymous said...

To the other Anonymous, Snopes is pretty trustworthy. They have an excellent track record as far as I'm concerned.

Anonymous said...

If anyone has any pull with Wrigley's, please have them make the green apple extra again!
Also, is the Lemon-Lime Extra available in the U.S.?

jenn said...

This is an incredible blog. My new favorite. Holy crap. I totally want to be friends and chew gumz with you guys.