As it turns out, 2011 is a year of milestone anniversaries for a number of global brands—Coca-Cola celebrated its 125th anniversary in May, Mercedes-Benz marked 125 years after the first automobile was invented, Starbucks turned 40 and Perrier-Jouët celebrated its 200th birthday with a glamorous edition. For Wrigley, the iconic chewing gum company, a subsidiary of Mars, this year is also very important—a century ago, on October 19, 1911 the genuinely American company, which was founded in Chicago in 1891, opened its office in London, selling its gum product in a chemists shop. Then, 100 years ago, its capital was just £2,000, and now it grew dramatically, since “more than 90% of the gum chewed by Britons is made by the company, says Mars Inc..
Photo: Wrigley celebrates 100th anniversary in the UK
To mark the anniversary, the company, which now belongs to Mars and sells 725 million packs of gum each year in the UK, decided to turn to its achieves, providing consumers with an insight into the brand’s development and the current state of business in the sector. The company is «opening their picture and film archives to the media in the UK«, showcasing a series of vintage photos from the past century, which include “iconic images and well-loved advertising campaigns that invoke a sense of nostalgia in the nation’s chewers.” To see the vintage advertising elements and packaging of Wrigley’s gum, visit Museum of Brands Packaging And Advertising in London. The company also invites its fans to explore its rich heritage online, at www.wrigley.com/uk.
Photo: Facebook fan page of Museum Of Brands Packaging And Advertising, a 1930s shop display showing the Wrigley’s ‘Spearman’ who first appeared in 1915
Here are some UK-related facts the company shared in its press release:
● Chewing gum really took off during the Second World War when American GIs living in Britain had Wrigley gum in their ration pack. Gum was then viewed as a glamorous, luxury item during the era of war-time austerity and rations. When rationing ended in the early 1950s, gum was one of the products people flocked to buy.
● Due to shortages in electricity after the war, bicycles were used to generate electricity to keep the Wrigley production line going.
● In 1974, a packet of Wrigley’s gum became the first item ever to be bought using a laser barcode.
● Orbit was the first ever sugar-free chewing gum in the UK, launched in 1977. The development dramatically changed the landscape of the gum category. Now, more than 90% of Wrigley chewing gums in the UK are sugar-free.
“It’s so exciting to see how far we’ve come since we launched in the UK in 1911, from small beginnings in a single office in London to becoming the UK’s biggest seller of gum. Despite all the political, cultural and technical changes, the core of what we do remains clear: to celebrate simple pleasures to brighten everyone’s day,” commented Hamish Thomson, Wrigley’s UK general manager.