From: doerrhb@expert.cc.purdue.edu (bacardi) Newsgroups: alt.tv.commercials,rec.arts.tv,alt.religion.kibology Subject: The Mentos FAQ V2.0 (11/2/94 update) Date: 2 Nov 1994 19:59:55 -0500 Organization: Purdue University Lines: 484 _ | | _ __ ___ ___ _ __ | |_ ___ ___ (tm) | '_ ` _ \ / _ \| '_ \ | __| / _ \ / __| | | | | | || __/| | | || |_ | (_) |\__ \ |_| |_| |_| \___||_| |_| \__| \___/ |___/ The Mentos FAQ V2.0 (11/2/94 update) (c) 1994 Heath Doerr doerrhb@expert.cc.purdue.edu e-mail auto server: mentos-faq@fische.com ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/asuter/coolstuff/mentos.faq html conversion by Timothy F. Kingwell (quetz@futon.sfsu.edu) Index: [*=Updated sections; ^=New sections] Section 1: Commercial Synopsis 1a: Commercial History, Origin, Explanation* 1b: Jingle Lyrics Section 2: The Candies* 2a: Packaging 2b: Ingredients 2c: Manufacturial Data 2d: Imitations* Section 3: Abbreviations Section 4: Miscellaneous* Section 5: Credits* Section 6: History* Section 1: Commercial Synopsis 1. The Broken Shoe (or 'High Heel Treachery') A sassy young lady sashays past an open air French style cafe, gaining the attention of a business man, and at the same time interrupting his newspaper enjoyment. As she glides past, a footwear malfunction occurs, leaving her sans one heel. She reaches for her secret freshness inducer, Mentos. After administering a piece of the magic elixir of nuttiness, she breaks off the remaining spike, proclaiming to the world her resourcefulness, and endless freshness. The man in the cafe is undoubtedly impressed. 2. The Fake Photographer (or 'Those Crazy Kids I') A young lad and his pals file through a mob of fanatics and paparazzi, in order to get a closer look at their favorite star. However, their adventure takes them over the legal boundaries of said activity, which is then pointed out to them by the authorities. After a bit of contemplation, and a hearty dose of freshness ala Mentos, our hero cunningly disguises himself as a member of the media, and breaks through the defenses of the establishment. 3. The Airport Tram Ride (or 'Baggage Claim Blues') A young woman finds herself in a bit of a pinch, as she discovers that she has packed too much, and her bags are a most bothersome burden. But she has no fear, it is a burden which is not insurmountable, especially with Mentos on her side. She unsheathes her glimmering blue tube of freshness, and holds it out stretched, like the mighty Excalibur, and although shortening it by 1/14, this weapon has not lost its power. She consumes the pellet of perkiness, and decrees that she and only she shall be the one to ride the baggage cart, and all the other most unfresh patrons of the airport shall bear the full weight of their baggage. Her friends cheer, and dream of one day achieving a freshness such as hers. 4. The Car Movers (or 'Overalls and Mentos') Only an unfresh person would park his car in such a way as to make his fellow motorist unable to go about her merry way, but that's just what our heroine is faced with in this episode of the Mentos saga. After an exchange of dirty looks, and communication of the parkee's need for promptness, the young girl contemplates her dilemma with the aid of a freshmaker. She has a revelation, and summons what looks to be the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line from a construction site across the way. With surprisingly little convincing, the barbarians lift her Fiat into the road, and as she thanks them she glances in the way of her nemesis, only to add an exclamation point to her freshness. 5. Evading Mom (or 'Psycho Mutant Killer Mom') While enjoying a pleasant afternoon at the mall, a teen and his companions suddenly spot one of their mothers. She raises her umbrella, signifying that she has acquired her target, and means to move in for the kill. Quickly searching his person, the teen removes from his pocket the only thing to help him out of this bind, Mentos. Thinking quickly, and now sporting fresh, clean breath, he seizes a baseball cap from a nearby mannequin. The perfect disguise! Placing it on his head in a diagonal pattern, he strikes a pose and avoids his pursuer. She spots him again, but this time only after entering the escalator. Knowing she has been vanquished, mom shakes her weapon yet again, all the while thinking, 'My son is sooo fresh!' 6. Through the Car (or 'The 3 Second Car Jacking') There is little peace in the land of Mentos, as yet another teen is faced with a distressing problem. While crossing the street, he is separated from his friends, and nearly from his legs by an over anxious motorist. Finding himself needing to traverse the street, but without a normal means to do so, he again thanks his lucky stars he remembered the freshmaker. His supply is reduced by one, but his freshness is increased exponentially. Opening the rear door, he climbs through the auto, while the driver looks over his shoulder in astonishment. Upon exiting, the youth shrugs at the motorist, Mentos in hand. Although a bit shaken, the passenger acknowledges the care free youths with an approving glance as he speeds away. "Wait till the wife hears of my brush with freshness!" 7. The Backstage Crew (or 'Those Crazy Kids II') In the final episode, once again the establishment has prevented some teens from achieving their goal. At the backstage door to a rock concert, our friends are star struck and must find a way backstage to meet their idols, demonstrate their freshness, and enjoy each others minty clean breath. Musical paraphernalia is being unloaded, and with the aid of a bandanna, one teen slips through the line undetected. At the last moment, a security guard spots him, but instead of pouncing on him and beating him to a bloody mess with his nightstick, he lets him go showing an expression that could only mean one thing, "Those crazy kids!". Bravo! Commercial History, Origin, and Explanation: First an explanation; Jan Setje-Eilers (jse@expert.cc.purdue.edu), tells us that the characters of 'Psycho Mutant Killer Mom' are actors from a sitcom taking place in Northern Germany. The mother, (incidentally, whose last name is 'Teufel', which means Devil in German) is a crazy character in the show, and one who would be avoided normally. Anyone who has seen the sitcom, (i.e. Germans) would understand this, but the American audience is understandably confused. So one would normally conclude that these spots were all shot in Germany, thus clearing up our national origin questions, right? Wrong. According to Chad Jones (cjones@gse.ucla.edu), 'High Heel Treachery' was filmed on the Third Street Promenade, a shopping district in Santa Monica, CA. Also, 'The 3 Second Car Jacking' was filmed in downtown Los Angeles. Joseph Hernandez (jthern@OCF.Berkeley.EDU) says one of the buildings in the background is the First Interstate Bank Building. And if that's not good enough for you: Andy Brooks (aceebro@netcom.com) argues that some spots had to have been shot in California, or at least in the U.S. No where else in the world can you find the 'Walk/Don't Walk' blinking sign that is depicted in the '3 second Car Jacking'. Also, Germany doesn't have the yellow center lines running down the middle of the streets (over there they are white). Finally, lights don't go from green directly to red. They are initially green, then are followed briefly by yellow, and then red. It certainly doesn't seem like there is any blatant insert editing or post production work involved here, all the shots look as if they took place on the same street corner. So we can honestly conclude that the Mentos commercials are without a doubt, multinational. As a final note on this subject, it was previously believed that the Mentos commercials were aired in English throughout the world. That is true, except for Russia! Steven Grimm (koreth@hyperion.com) informed me that while staying there last year, he was surprised to hear the relentlessly upbeat Mentos theme music pouring out from the TV in the room across the hall. Listening closely, he determined that the lyrics were all in Russian. He was, to his utter dismay, too slow to reach the TV in time to see which ad it was. Jingle lyrics: 'Doo doo doo, doo-doo, do-Wah!' It doesn't matter what comes, fresh goes better in life, and Mentos is fresh and full of life. Nothing gets to you, staying fresh staying cool, with Mentos, fresh and full of life. Fresh goes better, Mentos freshness, fresh goes better with Mentos, fresh and full of life! Mentos, the freshmaker! Section 2: The Candies The candies themselves come in five varieties; 'Mint', 'Mixed Fruit', 'Cinnamon', 'Strawberry', and 'Spearmint'. Taste and color are drastically different between them, but in every other way they are quite similar. The shape of a Mentos candy is disklike, with an ellipsical bulge in the middle. (It has been suggested that they are 'lenticular' meaning 'lentil-shaped'.) They measure 3/4" in diameter, and at their largest point, 6/16" tall. Net weight is reported as 1.3 OZ/37.5 g, but this was impossible to confirm at the time of this writing. Coloring of the Mint candies is a chalky light hue, that extends throughout the entire candy. The fruit variety contains three colors, purple (grape), yellow (lemon), and orange (orange). Cinnamon and Strawberry have a reddish/pinkish hue, Cinnamon being the darker of the two. Spearmint Mentos have a light greenish coloration, and like all Mentos, possess a chalk-like consistency. The Mint flavor variety unsurprisingly taste like peppermint, and could be considered to possess a breath freshening function as well as a cool, menthol-like aftertaste. Mixed Fruit have none of these properties, but are instead quite sweet. The differences between the flavors contained in a mixed fruit package are small. Color seems to be the only real distinguishable quality. Strawberry are also sweet, but contain a light, and unmistakable strawberry flavor. Cinnamon do indeed taste like cinnamon, possessing a semi-cinnamon burn feeling often found in strong cinnamon gum. Spearmint are closely related to Mint, and are lucky enough to serve as a breath freshener as well. Mentos' texture is not uniform. The candies have a thin crunchy shell and when chewed, disintegrate into a gum like consistency. If appropriate, they then release their breath freshening characteristics. Packaging: Mentos candies come in cylinder shaped 'rolls', with 14 included in each roll. The label consists of 'mentos' written in block letters, covering approximately 2/3 of the roll lengthwise. Next to this logo is the flavor identification, (i.e. 'mint' or 'mixed fruit') although flavor identification can be more readily obtained from the background coloring of the label. Mint has a misty bluish white photograph of many Mentos scattered about, while mixed fruit has a more colorful representation of the same shapes, including purple, orange, and yellow disks. Cinnamon wrappers are similar, but are colored in a deep blood red. Strawberry wrappers are a lighter, almost orangey red. Spearmint follows Mint's lead with a clouded hue, this time more green than blue. It is important to note that the colors displayed on the package are actually much more vibrant and deep than that of the actual product. Do not be misled, all Mentos have a very light hue to them, no matter what the flavor. Ingredients: Mint: sugar, glucose syrup, hydrogenated coconut oil, gelatin, dextrin, natural flavor, corn starch, gum arabic. Mixed Fruit: sugar, glucose syrup, hydrogenated coconut oil, gelatin, dextrin, natural and artificial flavor, gum arabic, coloring. Strawberry: sugar, glucose syrup, hydrogenated coconut oil, citric acid, gelatin, dextrin, corn starch, artificial flavor, gum arabic, coloring. Cinnamon: sugar, glucose syrup, hydrogenated coconut oil, gelatin, dextrin, corn starch, cinnamon, natural and artificial flavors, salt, gum arabic, artificial colors (yellow 5, red 3, blue 2). Spearmint: sugar, glucose syrup, hydrogenated coconut oil, gelatin, dextrin, natural flavors, corn starch, gum arabic, artificial color (blue 2). For nutritional information, you can write to: Nutritional Data P.O. Box 18190 Erlanger, KY 41018 Manufacturer: Mentos are made by Van Melle, Inc. and manufactured for Van Melle by: Van Melle Breda / Holland in Australia they are imported by: Stuart Alexander & Co. Pty. Ltd. 62 Rosebery Ave. Rosebery, N.S.W. 2018 Australia Van Melle's corporate headquarters: Van Melle, Inc. Erlanger, KY 41018 Mentos Imitations: The Anti-Mento is made by Lance candies. They are called 'Mint Chews', 'Fruit Chews', 'Cinnamon Chews', etc. They are sold in rolls of eleven candies of approximately the same size, shape, and weight as the true confection. Mint Chews, made in Holland for Lance Inc., list exactly the same ingredients as Mint Mentos. For their nutritional information, you can write to: Nutritional Data P.O. Box 32368 Charlotte, NC 28232 But they are not sufficiently fresh, nor full of life, to make such an inquiry worthwhile. Section 3: Abbreviations FAFOL = Fresh and full of life Section 4: Miscellaneous Item: According to Paulo A. Pereira (oluap@MIT.EDU), there is a sale on Mentos at the CVS in Porter Sq., Cambridge, MA as this is being written. Be fresh, and save a bundle! Item: Mentos are $0.54 at the Purdue Student Union. Item: I am currently negotiating with the Psychology department here at Purdue, in an attempt to obtain a research grant for the purposes of studying what I have termed 'the freshness effect' caused by consuming Mentos brand candies. Although there seems to be no mind altering substances contained in Mentos, individuals suddenly become aroused, inventive, and lose all regard for the norms of society a short time after using them. I've asked for $23,729. Item: According to Jeffrey F. Brent (lorax@acpub.duke.edu), Mentos also come in Licorice or 'Lakrits' flavor. Some Danish friends apparently possessed these beauties, and (as far as I know) the states have not been graced with them yet. They had a white shell, and a black center. A black wrapper shielded them from the elements, and they [you guessed it] tasted like Licorice. Jeff also claims to be working on a Macintosh arcade style game called "Mentos(R) in the Hands of Torgo(TM)" Be afraid. Be very afraid. Item: Flash! There exists yet another Mentos flavor. Andrea (apf62@cas.org) found 'Tropical Mentos' while vacationing in Jamaica. The candies come in orange, lime green, and lavender varieties, and taste like orange, guava, and something indiscernible, she writes. The packaging, like mixed fruit, has a picture of the various colors found inside. One last interesting note: The ingredients were printed in Greek as well as English. Item: Tim Verry (verryta@taft.law.uc.edu) has confessed interest in hammering out the details of 'the freshness defense' for criminal acts committed while under the influence of Mentos. Good Luck, Tim. [Say, isn't that a roll of Spearmint in that white bronco over there?] Item: The license plate number of the car in 'The Car Movers' is 'DH-L 64 12', and the teen that 'Evades Mom' does so by donning a New York Yankees cap. Item: Tyler K. Wong (neoncap@netcom.com) listens to Alex Bennett on Live 105 (105.3 FM) in San Francisco from 6am to 10am, and tells me that during his show, Mr. Bennett receives and reads E-Mail on the air. Tyler apparently came close to getting some of this FAQ read on the air. Live 105 isn't as fresh as some of the other stations in the Bay area, however, because Tyler couldn't sell him, and Alex later answered a phone call he wanted to put on the air instead. Item: Mark (stallard@world.std.com) asked recently if anyone had some information leading to a Mentos T-shirt, baseball cap, or other such merchandise. I too, would be grateful for any leads. Item: In a recent article in 'Advertising Age', Bruce Kasrel (bkasrel@us.oracle.com) read that Mentos advertising spending rose 34% from last year, to 11.9 million. Sales have increased from $20 million in 1991 to about $40 million today. We could be in for some more Mentos enlightened teens solving the most perplexing of situations in the near future. Item: At the 'Steak and Shake' on Highway 52 here in Lafayette, they have a candy machine that dispenses Mentos. The flavor was mixed fruit, although I know this from my own experience, due to the fact that the dispenser simply read 'MENTOS'. It charged 25 cents, and when I turned the crank I got 7 candies, but your mileage may vary. Item: Mentomania is ever-expanding, proof of which can be found at 'SLOMOTION' meetings according to Michael V Arnold (mvarnold@violin.aix.calpoly.edu). 'SLOMOTION' is a film club in which the members have taken fancy to making their own Mentos commercials. They only have two so far, but I'm sure that more are in the works. Item: Finally, if you doubt the significance of this FAQ, just ask Kevin Bourrillion (kevin@bradley.edu). He thought it was important enough to quote from it in his signature. I was so deeply touched, I just had to include his tribute. -- Kevin Bourrillion "Although there seems to be no mind altering substances kevin@bradley.edu contained in Mentos, individuals suddenly become aroused, http://bradley.br inventive, and lose all regard for the norms of society adley.edu/~kevin/ a short time after using them." -- Heath Doerr Section 5: Credits Originator, and maintainer of the Mentos FAQ: Heath Doerr (doerrhb@expert.cc.purdue.edu) Submission credits: Andrea (apf62@cas.org) Michael V Arnold (mvarnold@violin.aix.calpoly.edu) Ron Bauerle (bauerle@crypt.erie.ge.com) Kevin Bourrillion (kevin@bradley.edu) Jeffrey F. Brent (lorax@acpub.duke.edu) Andy Brooks (aceebro@netcom.com) David S. Cowen (esch@fische.com) Emily Cox (zebra@gorn.iuma.com) Figlet, the ASCII font creator. Todd A. Gibson (tgibson@lookout.ecte.uswc.uswest.com) Steven Grimm (koreth@hyperion.com) Joseph Hernandez (jtchern@OCF.Berkeley.EDU) Dan Hoey (hoey@AIC.NRL.Navy.Mil) Alan Jaffray (ajaffray@midway.uchicago.edu) Chad Jones (cjones@gse.ucia.edu) Bruce R. Kasrel (bkasrel@us.oracle.com) Timothy F. Kingwell (quetz@futon.sfsu.edu) Richard N. Kitchen (da825@cleveland.Freenet.Edu) James J. Lippard (lippard@news.primenet.om) Mark (stallard@world.std.com) Paulo A. Pereira (oluap@MIT.EDU) Jeff T.P. (image@expert.cc.purdue.edu) Jan Setje-Eilers (jse@expert.cc.purdue.edu) Andrew R. Shulman (andys@world.std.com) spatula@titan.ucs.umass.edu Genna Totten (dedisti@rhf.bradley.edu) Eric L. Tullis (TULLISE@indy.navy.mil) Tyler K. Wong (neoncap@netcom.com) Lupus Yonderboy (asuter@netcom.com) Note: In a most unfresh editing accident, I lost one contribution credit. If you see something in here that you wrote, and you aren't listed above, please feel free to contact me so I can correct the situation. Section 6: History 9/2/94: V0.01 (beta) 9/6/94: V0.5 9/7/94: V0.9 9/14/94: V1.0 (final) 9/28/94: V1.1a (update) 9/28/94: V1.1b (.html version) 11/2/94: V2.0 (now even fresher!) MENTOS: THE FRESHMAKER -- |~~~| Heath Doerr | "My only regret in life is |* | Purdue University | that I did not drink more | | West Lafayette, IN | Champagne." <..=~ doerrhb@expert.cc.purdue.edu | - John Keynes