I Do NOT Want to Be Paid in Gum!

This is my first 'official' review, for fun, unpaid and un-reimbursed in any way. Please let me know what you think and if you think I should do more of these types of posts.


Have you seen that commercial for Trident Layers gum on TV? A guy comes home and wants to pay his kids' babysitter with gum instead of money. Oh but it's not just ANY gum...it's Trident Layers gum and so wonderfully amazing that the kids (and the gardener, and the phone guy) are happy to receive gum instead of cash.



They're clearly insane (not to mention horrible actors).

I was really looking forward to trying this new gum because I enjoy chewing gum on a daily basis. The gum looks great and there are several different flavors to pick from. It's also sugar free (a big pre-requisite for my gum choices).

I rarely buy candy or gum without a coupon (I'm something of a coupon lady) so when I saw it was on sale at Fred Meyer for $1, and I had coupons for $0.75/1 and $1.00/2 I decided to buy five packs. I bought three packs of the Wild Strawberry + Tangy Citrus and two packs of the Green Apple + Golden Pineapple for a total investment of $2.25. The regular price I've seen this gum sold at seems to vary from $1.49 to $1.74. When did gum get so expensive?

The packaging for this gum is great. It's the new style that many gum packs seem to be going with these days - the 'box' flips up to reveal two rows of gum in neat little lines. It reminds me of an old fashion cigarette case...only healthier. The paper of the box is thicker than other brands of gum that I've seen (i.e. Extra).


Each piece is individually wrapped in heavy silver foil and the size of each piece is substantial at 1 1/2 inches long, almost 1/2 an inch wide, and 6 mm high. Getting the first piece out is a little challenging as they are all packed in there rather tightly and after a tug I managed to get a piece out with the wrapping a little rumpled.

I started with the Green Apple + Golden Pineapple. The initial flavor is very pleasant and sweet. I don't detect any sort of 'sour' notes that I'd expect with Green Apple. After a few minutes (less than 5), however, the pleasant taste turns into a sickly sweet. I've never experienced gum that makes my mouth feel like I've just taken medicine, but Trident Layers managers this feat swiftly. The Tangy Strawberry flavored one is the same - pleasant for the first minute and then it starts tasting like medicine.

After chewing the gum for less than 15 minutes I am ready to spit it out and move on. The texture has gotten to the point that it feels like I'm chewing on a rubber band, although it does seem to work when I try to blow small bubbles. It certainly isn't Bubbalicious bubble blowing gum though.

Ingredient Notes - This gum contains Soy and Phenylalanine. Say that three times fast.

What will I do with the extra packs I bought? The joy of couponing is being able to share with others. I knew that if I didn't like it I could just share it with my coworkers. There are enough people in the office that someone will like it. And I'm only out a couple of dollars total.

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If you liked this review I'd really appreciate your feedback (well, I guess I'd appreciate your feedback if you didn't like the review too!). I haven't decided if I'll make these sort of posts a regular part of my blog or not. I do enjoy it so we'll see what the response is like. :)