At some point many years ago, gum was a startup. I would have loved to hear the elevator pitch:
So, we have a sticky product that you put in your mouth and chew.
We call it "Gum".
It's a food?
No, you just chew it for a while. Then, you throw it away.
Throw it away? Where are you going to sell it?
Everywhere - gas stations, supermarkets, corner stores.
OK, I might pass. Let me know how it works out.
Chewing gum has been around for thousands of years, first to be commercially sold in the mid 1800s. So it had somewhat of an established test market :)
Interesting aside, Wrigley didn't start off selling gum - originally it was packaged for free with their baking soda. The gum became more popular than the baking soda and well... they did a fairly profitable pivot.
Around half a century later Topps was a manufacturer of chewing gum, having roots in the tobacco industry (things you chew?). By this point in time gum was sold by itself, and there were many players in the industry. In an effort to increase sales they began packaging cards with the gum and well...
