Orbit (gum)

Orbit is a brand of sugarless chewing gum from the Wrigley Company. In the United States, where it was re-launched in 2001,^[1] it is sold in cardboard boxes with 14 individually wrapped pieces per package. In the UK, where it was launched in 1899^[2] it was originally sold as a traditional long-stick gum, later replaced by the same format as the US.

Orbit White, packaged in

blister packs of 20 pieces, was released to compete with Cadbury Adams' Trident White gum in 2001.^[3]

History

Orbit was originally released in 1899. It was launched in 1944 in the United States as a replacement brand by Wrigley due to rationing of gum-making ingredients in World War II. The brand was discontinued after the war ended, when Wrigley's three established gum brands, Juicy Fruit, Wrigley's Spearmint and Doublemint, returned to the US market.

The gum was reintroduced 30 years later in 1976, when it was introduced in Germany, Switzerland and The Netherlands. This marked the first time that a sugar-free gum was marketed under the Wrigley name. The brand was later introduced in other countries, including Canada, Australia, the UK, Norway, Poland, Israel and Serbia.

The gum returned to American shelves in the late 1970s, but was removed from the shelves in the 1980s due to a suspicion that the sweetener might cause cancer.^{[citation needed]} The gum was relaunched in the US in 2001.

Orbit gum is now sold in the UK as Wrigleys Extra, alongside the 'real', hard shell Extra gum.

Advertising

The US advertising campaign for Orbit centered on the Orbit Girl, a British accented character who always showed up to "dirty" and awkward situations wearing all white, a scarf, and a smile. Vanessa Branch played the Orbit Girl from 2001 to 2010, when she was replaced by Farris Patton,^[4] who played the Orbit Girl from 2010 through 2014.

In 2014, Orbit moved to a more global approach to marketing, replacing the Orbit Girl, and with a new commercial with Sarah Silverman to kick off its new campaign: "Eat. Drink. Chew Orbit." to emphasize the benefits of chewing gum after eating and drinking.^[5]

In the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada, the Orbit name was replaced by Extra in 2015, with the same 14-piece package.^[6] In 2019 the replacement was applied in Germany as well.^[7]