According to what I learned in my business classes in college, the purpose of advertising is to help a company market a product to customers, whether repeat or potential. Some ads are designed to make a lasting impression to improve brand awareness, reminding the customer of their historic shopping preferences. Other ads are intended to simply increase sales. The question is, what is the purpose of the new advertising campaign for Orbit chewing gum? The William Wrigley, Jr. company has dominated the chewing gum business for more than 100 years. Their most popular U.S. products include Altoids breath mints, Skittles and Starburst candies, Lifesavers, as well as Juicy Fruit, DoubleMint, Spearmint, and Big Red gums. Orbit gum is yet another Wrigley brand of gum, one with a very interesting history. During World War II, every pack of Juicy Fruit, Spearmint, and other well known Wrigley brands manufactured were exported to U.S. troops fighting overseas. The brand was discontinued in 1946, after the war had ended and the other brands returned to the American market. In 1976, Orbit was revived as a product, introduced as a sugar-free gum sold in a few European countries. In 2001, the brand was brought back to American markets with the "Dirty Mouth" ad campaign. The first commercials featured a blonde spokeswoman and typically suggested that the reason a person needed to chew Orbit gum was to clean their mouth after they had used bad language. They were pretty silly ads, but mostly harmless. The one starring Snoop Dogg was actually pretty funny, … [Read more...]