Pech 1
Hassan Pech
Professor Toconis
Writing 1-36 TR
November 15, 2011
Sugar Free
I wonder why no one ever offers to pay me in Trident Layers Gum or when I have a dirty
mouth, to clean it up with Orbit Gum. I want to be paid in gum. I have a dirty mouth (not in the
terms of an actual dirty mouth, but with offensive language). These two companies advertise
worldwide, using unusual sales techniques that differ in some ways, but similar in other ways.
Both brands also promote increase in dental hygiene when using they’re product. Trident Gum
and Orbit Gum promote increase in dental hygiene, use of catchy slogans, and weasel words to
market their product; although the companies use similar techniques, their packaging and
commercial ideas are highly contrasting.
Trident, which is owned by Cadbury Firm, introduced Sugar Free Gum in 1964. Cadbury
focused on innovating gum which improves dental health and saliva flow, Cadbury even has
received an official ADA Seal on certain Trident Gum products which help reduce the risk of
cavities. As for the other, Orbit, which is owned by Wrigley Jr. Company, dates back to 1944.
The company produced and sold gum in effort to help support the troops fighting in World War
II. Post war the gum was discontinued and then reestablished in 1976. This was the first
establishment of Sugar Free Gum under the Wrigley Company name. The company also received
the ADA Seal due to their gum product helping reduce potential risk of cavities and increase
saliva flow. Orbit gum promotes a “Just Brushed Clean Feeling”.
Pech 2
In comparison, the two companies promote sugar free gum which helps increase saliva
flow and “help” reduce the risk of cavities if the gum is chewed for at least 20 minutes and must
chew at least 2 pieces of the gum to be effective. Professor William Lutz at Rotger University
notes, “Once the ad says ‘help,’ it can say just about anything after that because ‘help’ qualifies
everything coming after it.” Both Trident and Orbit also “help” reduce teeth staining, but does
not actually whiten teeth, even though advertisements from both companies can be misleading.
The “help word” technique confuses the audience because they believe it will stop cavities
instead of helping stop the cavities. The two companies target a broader audience of all ages.
With sales pitches that catch and mislead a viewer.
Orbit Gum commercials show people who have profane language or are really dirty can
chew Orbit Gum and have a clean mouth, “Dirty mouth? Clean it up with Orbit”. Trident also
uses a similar tactic, but instead of targeting dirty mouths, Trident uses commercials where five
dentists sit in a room and uses illogical explanations on why only 4 out of 5 doctors approve of
trident layers and why the fifth dentist does not as comedic relief, “Trident’s Long Lasting
Gum”. Journalist Bill Bryson connotes in his article The Hard Sell: Advertising in America, “A
slogan could make all the difference to a product’s success.” The companies focus commercials
around their slogan, picking metaphors and out of context ideas to sell their product. In contrast,
the two companies provide a strong difference in marketing strategy and packaging.
Trident uses sleek, small and compact, vibrant packages which appeal to the human eye
(view Image A). These packages stand out in a crowd of other packaged gum. A person tends to
focus on an object with a more vibrant and contrasted color from other products surrounding it.
In the Trident Layers videos, Cadbury uses an appealing marketing technique by allowing
someone to be paid in gum, comparing the new Trident Layers to be worthy of being used as
Pech 3
legal tender (view video link A). The lady takes her car to an auto repair shop and negotiates a
price with the mechanic with gum. The commercial finishes with “so good, you’ll want to be
paid in gum”. Society runs on money. Without money one cannot live. You can’t hunt with
having a warrant which costs money to buy, without that warrant you will be fined to pay a
certain amount. This psychological attack pressures the viewer to think that the gum must be
really tasteful to be able to be compared to money. Yet it’s ironic because transactions can’t be
processed with gum yet to have gum you need money. It’s illogical. If I wanted gum how would
I pay for it, with more gum? It cancels out, yet the audience doesn’t see the deeper understanding
just the broader point of the commercial and it catches their attention. The audience doesn’t have
enough time to ask questions. Trident’s second video uses the “5 Star” rating system, where five
people rate an object. In the video (view video link B) Trident shows why Trident Gum is rated 4
out of 5 because something misfortunate happens to the fifth doctor. In the video, a squirrel
crawls through the window and bites the doctor and he screams out in pain saying, “no!” when
the squirrel bites him, but he also accidently answers the question of approving the gum the fifth
star with a ‘no’. Of course this doesn’t happen in reality yet it appeals the audience. It pressures
the viewers to think that the gum would have been 5 out of 5 stars if the incident didn’t occur.
On the other hand, Orbit Gum uses bright colorful packaging (view Image B) and
commercial advertising techniques that uses play on words with profanity. Society uses jargon
language in everyday life. Swear words are always heard on the streets, in school, and on
television. Orbit Gum manipulates these profound words in society and catches the viewer with
the commercial tactics, play on words. In the first Orbit Gum video (view video link C) the first
person tastes the gum and exclaims, “what the…” and the hostess interrupts with “Frank”. Then
Frank, the second person, retorts, “son of a…” and the hostess interrupts again with the next
Pech 4
person’s name, “Beatrice” and this continues on. At the end, the hostess states, “more dirty
mouths, clean it up with Orbit; with stylish new packs.” People enjoy seeing things that appeal to
their sense of sight. Society judges everything by appearance. Orbit manipulates that to their
advantage by providing abstract images and neon colors (view Image C) that stand out amongst
other Gums on the store shelves. It’s a strong asset that is frequently used and never seems to
fail.
The brain plays a huge part in a human’s perception of objects. A person sees thousands
of images a day, but only memorizes what is unusual or anti adaptive. For example a woman
who is speed dating meets 50 men, but only remembers one man because he was wearing a green
sweater unlike all the other men wearing black suits. The object that stands out, the brain
memorizes. Just like Orbit and Trident Gum, using out of contrast, abstract packaging captures
the person’s brain and forces a person to memorize their product subconsciously. Humans are
just naturally attracted to thing that are unusual, but at the same time unique on its own. People
fall under the usual so seeing things that are out of societies usual and becoming attracted to it.
In closing, the two brands strategize advertising techniques similarly and play on their
slogans. Orbit Gum uses profanity to commercialize, “Dirty Mouth; clean it up with Orbit”.
Trident Gum uses illogical science and comparisons to legal tender to emphasize the worth of
their product. Weasel words and play on words are highly effective techniques and although
they use various techniques both gum products promote reducing risk of cavities. So if you ever
feel like you have a dirty mouth; clean it up with Orbits Gum. Want to feel rich; ask to get paid
with Trident Gum.
Pech 5
Image A:
Image B:
Image C:
Video Link A:
http://youtu.be/I23DQhGgx2E
Video Link B:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAVALXH9
nxU
Video Link C:
http://youtu.be/hE3CKN3JAh0
Pech 6
Works Cited:
Bryson, Bill. "The Hard Sell: Advertising in America." Language Awareness: Readings for
College Writers. By Paul Eschholz, Alfred F. Rosa, and Virginia P. Clark. New York,
NY: Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. 427. Print.
Lutz, William. "Weasel Words: The Art of Saying Nothing at All." Language Awareness:
Readings for College Writers. By Paul Eschholz, Alfred F. Rosa, and Virginia P. Clark.
New York, NY: Bedford/St Martins, 2009. 443. Print.
"Orbit Gum Commercial - 'Exclamations' (Funny) :) - YouTube." YouTube – Broadcast
Yourself. Youtube, 10 June 2010. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. <http://youtu.be/hE3CKN3JAh0>.
"Target.com: New Orbit Gum Coupon." Jessica's Coupons. Wood & Leaf LLC, 8 June 2010.
Web. 25 Oct. 2011. <http://www.jessicascoupons.com/2010/06/targetcom-new-orbit
-gum-coupon.html>.
"The World's Best-Selling Candies: Russia - Orbit - BusinessWeek." BusinessWeek Slide Shows
and Multimedia. Bloomberg LP, 24 June 2009. Web. 25 Oct. 2011.
<http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/06/0624_worlds_best_selling_candy/7.htm>.
"Trident Layers: Grease Monkey Business - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.Youtube,
10 Mar. 2011. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. <http://youtu.be/I23DQhGgx2E>.
"Trident ® - FAQ." Trident: Trident Gum Home. Cadbury Adams USA LLC, 2009. Web. 25
Oct. 2011. <http://www.tridentgum.com/textonly/faq.php>.
"Trident - Squirrel Attacks Fifth Dentist - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.Youtube, 10
Sept. 2008. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAVALXH9nxU>.
Pech 7
"Trident Watermelon Twist - Trident Sugarless Gum." Polyvore. 2008. Web. 25 Oct. 2011.
<http://www.polyvore.com/trident_watermelon_twist_sugarless_gum/thing?id=167119
8>.
"Wrigley.com :: Orbit." Wrigley Company. Cadbury Adams USA LLC, 2009. Web. 25 Oct.
2011. <http://www.wrigley.com/global/brands/orbit.aspx>.