Certs

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Certs Classic Mints
American Chicle
Tagline
  • "Two Mints in One"
  • "The Right Amount of Mint"

Certs was a brand of

drug stores and convenience stores since its debut on the market in 1956. It was discontinued in 2018, possibly for having partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, which is not allowed as an ingredient in food sold in the United States since then.[1]

History

Certs Classic Mints were developed by

Nestle in a bidding war.[9][10] Mondelez International, then called Kraft Foods, made a hostile takeover of Cadbury in 2010 for $19.5 billion.[11] The Certs name ceased to be mentioned by Mondelez as one of its brands in December 2013.[12][13]

Description

Certs were classified as mints, but they actually contained no oils of any mint plant. Instead, as has long been advertised, the mints contain "Retsyn," a trademarked name for a mixture of copper gluconate, partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, and flavoring. It is the copper gluconate in Retsyn which gives Certs its signature green flecks.

Certs were originally shaped as simple circular tablets with beveled edges and "CERTS" embossed with the "C" enlarged and surrounding "ERTS". The shape later changed to have a toroidal bulge on each face without a hole; "CERTS" and "RETSYN" were debossed near the circumference.

Variations

Certs Classic Mints were available in assorted fruit, cinnamon, peppermint, spearmint, and wintergreen.

Certs Mini-Mints, and later as Certs Powerful Mints, were small Tic-Tac-like mints available in peppermint, spearmint, and wintergreen.

Certs Cool Mint Drops, described as a "breath drop", were medium-sized oval-shaped mints. They came in flavors named "cinnamint", "freshmint", and peppermint.

Advertising

In the 1960s and 1970s, Certs was heavily advertised on American television with a famous campaign featuring two attractive young people earnestly arguing over the proper classification of the mints. The one participant would assert, "It’s a breath mint!" The other would assay a rebuttal by stating, "It’s a candy mint!" This

taxonomic dilemma would finally be resolved by the unseen announcer, who would achieve synthesis by explaining that Certs was "Two, two, two mints in one!" Saturday Night Live lampooned the ads with a fictitious product called "Shimmer", with Gilda Radner's argument "It's a floor wax!" vs. Dan Aykroyd's "It's a dessert topping, you cow!" being resolved by announcer Chevy Chase's declaration that "New Shimmer's a floor wax and a dessert topping!".[14] Indeed, the phrase "Two, two, two [insert almost any word or short phrase here] in one" remained an American idiomatic expression into the 21st century.[citation needed
].

In 1999, the

anti-bacterial ingredients, they were, indeed, simply a candy mint. This ruling was, however, overturned at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, making Certs legally a breath mint.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Final Determination Regarding Partially Hydrogenated Oils (Removing Trans Fat)". US Food & Drug Administration. US FDA. 20 February 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  2. ^ "The History of Breath Mints". Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  3. ^ "How they came up with the name Certs". San Diego Reader. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  4. ^ a b "2000: Pfizer joins forces with Warner-Lambert". Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  5. ^ a b "Cadbury Adams USA LLC". Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  6. ^ "Breath Mint". Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  7. ^ "Mint Marketers Chase Altoids". Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  8. ^ "Cadbury chews up $4.2bn gum maker". Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  9. ^ "Cadbury secure deal to buy Adams". Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  10. ^ "Cadbury to Acquire Adams". Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  11. ^ "Cadbury's board agrees £12bn sale to Kraft". Retrieved 2023-07-18.
  12. ^ "Mondelez International: Our Brand Family". 2013-11-01. Archived from the original on 2013-11-01. Retrieved 2023-07-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  13. ^ "Mondelez International: Brand Family". 2023-12-19. Archived from the original on 2013-12-19. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
  14. YouTube
  15. ^ "No. 04-1489". Warner-Lambert Company v. United States. United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; caselaw.findllaw.com. May 11, 2005. Retrieved August 31, 2012.

External links

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