Mentos

A number of different Mentos flavors

Mentos is a brand of mints, of the "scotch mint" type, sold in many markets across the world by the Perfetti Van Melle corporation. Mentos was first produced in the Netherlands during the 1950s. The mints are small oblate spheroids, with a slightly hard exterior and a soft, chewy interior. They are sold in rolls which typically contain 14 candy discs, although the new "Sour Mix" flavor contains only 11 candy discs per roll. Certain flavors are sold in boxes in Australia, the United States, Brazil and the United Kingdom, and the rolls are available in four packs. The slogan of Mentos is "The FreshMaker." Most Mentos packages describe the candy as "chewy dragées." The typical Mentos roll is approximately 3/4-inch in diameter, 6/16-inches tall and 37.5g. Many people find mentos to be quite yummy.

Flavors

Mentos are available in several flavors, mint and mixed fruit,and also an assortment of orange, strawberry, and lemon. Mentos first appeared as a liquorice-flavored sweet which can still be purchased in the Netherlands as "Drop Mentos." New flavors were initially test-marketed in the Netherlands and throughout Europe, however recently, most of the flavors have been available worldwide.

Mentos Boxes

Other flavors include green apple, cinnamon, strawberry, mixed fruit (which contains a mix of cherry, strawberry, orange, and lemon flavors), grape, wintergreen, raisin, grapefruit, peach, plum (or ume), spearmint, strawberry yogurt, lemon yogurt, pineapple (pine fresh), red apple, wild fruit mix, cherry, watermelon, fresh cola, cassis (blackcurrant), red orange, currant and two versions of black licorice flavored Mentos. Two varieties of the mint flavor, known as "Mentos Strong" and "Air action Mentos" are sold in the Netherlands. Also available in the Netherlands is the Special Mix 4 pack, containing the flavors mint, fruit, berry mix and mango orange. Two varieties of the mint flavor are also sold in China, known as "Mint" and "Strong Mint." Grape and 'N Cream (presumably Apples and Cream), Strawberry 'N Cream, and Banana 'N Cream are also marketed in Asia. Chocolate Mentos were produced in 1989, but the flavor was discontinued. In 2006, the citrus mango flavor was introduced to the Japanese market. In the Philippines, a "Dalandan Fresh" variant is available. A new product line, Mentos Sours, have recently become available in the United States, featuring Watermelon, Green Apple, and Lemon flavors. There are also caffeinated "Energy" Mentos, sold mainly in Germany, where one roll equals the amount of caffeine in two cups of coffee. A "Fresh Cola" flavored Mentos has also been released in New Zealand, Australia and parts of Europe (at least Portugal, Spain and th UK).

In the Netherlands, Mentos Gum is sold in blisters and bottles in 6 different varieties: Pure (4 flavors), Fruit (4 flavors), Regular (5 flavors), Bubblegum, Cubes (4 flavors) and White (3 flavors). Mentos Gum is also available in Australia, Greece, China, Canada, Brazil, Turkey, the Philippines, and recently, the United States in blisters and bottles, both in three different flavors.

Mentos Sugar Free

In August 2005, the variety of the candy which comes in "mixed berries" and "cool mint" flavors was changed to be sweetened with sucralose. In the Netherlands the flavors mint, licorice and fruit are also available in the sugar-free variety.

Australian varieties of Mentos are Mint, Fruit, Strong Mint, Berry Blast, Spearmint, Grape, Cola, Sour Mix, and Tropical. Mentos Gum is also available in Peppermint, Spearmint and Orangemint.

The UK has six flavors of rolls:

• Fruit (Orange, lemon and strawberry)
• Mint
• Strawberry,
• Fresh Cola
• Spearmint
• Berry Mix [aka Red Fruits] (Cherry, Raspberry and Black Currant)
• Rainbow flavours (with 2 flavors of each of the following - Raspberry, Watermelon, Apple, Pineapple, Orange, Black Grape and Strawberry).

In the UK, Mentos Gum is also available stick packs (peppermint, spearmint, pure white, air action (menthol) and fruit), Bottles (spearmint, peppermint and red fruit - which retails for approximately £0.99), as well as flip top boxes in peppermint or spearmint with green tea extract, and a pure white with white teas extract. Sugar free versions are available, as are Mentos Cube soft gum boxes, but these are rarer to find, usually only found in large supermarkets. Mentos gum holds a 4% market share of the UK gum market.

In Greece, Mentos is very popular, and is available in the following formats:

• Mint
• Strawberry
• Melon
• Watermelon
• Fruit (Orange, lemon and strawberry),
• Energy (each roll is equivalent to 2 cups of coffee)
• Mentos gum in Bottles
• Mentos Cube
• Mentos in Boxes (mint and Fruit).

Mini Mentos, somewhat smaller than ordinary Mentos, are available in the Netherlands in two varieties: Mini Mentos Fruitmix, which contains the flavors orange, lemon, strawberry and apple, and Mini Mentos Yoghurt, with the flavors strawberry yoghurt, raspberry yoghurt and blueberry yoghurt. Also sold is Mentos KIDZ, a bag with 12 boxes containing 10 miniature candies, in the flavors strawberry, orange, lemon, apple and blueberry. "Mentos Teens" is available in Brazil and the rest of Latin-America. They come in a rectangular box. The candy is basically miniature Mentos roughly the size of Skittles, and they come in mixed flavors: white grape (green), lemon (yellow), strawberry (pink), orange (orange), raspberry (blue), and cherry (red).

During the World Cup, a Brazilian team Mentos was released in Brazil to support the national team. The candy was green and yellow.

In some countries, the Mentos Ice candy can be bought in flavors such as, cherry (red), green apple (green) and grape (purple).

Mentos have often been subject of heated debate as to whether Mentos is both the singular and plural form of the word. According to the maker of Mentos, however, the term Mentos is both singular and plural.

Marketing

Part of Mentos's popularity can be attributed to its camp TV adverts and catchy jingle, which debuted in late 1991 on American television. Shot in South Africa, individuals facing various day-to-day dilemmas consume Mentos and are subsequently inspired to solve their problems at hand in a creative, often-humorous MacGyver-like fashion.

These unusual behaviors are typically witnessed by nearby, sometimes antagonistic characters, and a roll of Mentos is boisterously displayed by the commercial's respective protagonist to the observer as an explanation for their actions. The ad campaign was parodied in the Foo Fighters music video for their song "Big Me."

Recently, Mentos Gum has gotten its own commercial. It displays a man sitting near a business water tank, and pops a piece of Mentos Gum in his mouth. A woman then walks by, pushes his nose up, and proceeds to kiss him, the kiss making a slurping sound. The woman then wipes her mouth, and pushes the man's nose back down as if to close it. The phrase "Mouthwatering" was used. However, more recently, the slurping, kissing sounds have been removed.

In India, the slogan of Mentos is 'Mentos Khao Dimaag Ki bati jalao' which translates to 'Eat mentos and ignite the fire in your mind'. TV Ads are generally based on a situation where a loser eats Mentos and becomes a winner.

Competing brands

• A similar candy in the U.S., called "Chewz", is manufactured by Lance, Inc. Mentos fans have jokingly referred to this as the "anti-Mentos."
• Trebor Softmints and Softfruits, introduced in 1981 and sold in the United Kingdom and Ireland by Cadbury-Schweppes are also similar to Mentos, although with softer exterior coatings.

Mentos and soft drink reaction

Main article: Diet Coke and Mentos eruption

A Diet Coke bottle, shortly after Mentos were dropped into it.

First demonstrated by physics teacher Lee Marek on the Late Show with David Letterman in 1999, and later popularized in a June 2006 viral Internet video by Eepybird, a Mentos mint expedites a rapid release of carbon dioxide when dropped into a carbonated liquid, such as a soft drink, because of its high surface tension; so when the carbon dioxide is removed from the soda (a simple way to do this is to shake the bottle) it can't burst. Also, the small dents in the surface of the candy provide a great site for nucleation, which is how the carbon dioxide molecules can escape so rapidly. The escaping bubbles quickly turn into a raging foam, and the pressure can build dramatically in a restricted container such as a two-liter bottle.

As Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, special mechanical effects experts who have come to be known as "The MythBusters," explained on an episode of MythBusters (Episode 57, Season 4; "Mentos and Soda," aired on August 9, 2006), diet sodas (particularly colas due to their visible brown color) are most commonly used for the experiment. The MythBusters also found that the fruit flavored Mentos produced a smaller reaction, supporting their theory that nucleation is the largest factor in the reaction, because the wax coating blocks the pits that allow nucleation. People are often under the illusion that aspartame causes the reaction-—this is only partly true; the MythBusters have shown aspartame to be one of many reactive components and/or catalysts in both the soda and the Mentos. Diet colas are also preferred because they do not contain large amounts of sugar like regular colas. Sugar molecules help keep the carbon dioxide in solution, slowing the reaction. Artificial sweeteners in diet colas are much sweeter per molecule, and so make up a smaller proportion of the solution and allow a faster reaction; they also enhance the reaction.

The resulting geyser (popularly known as a "Diet Coke and Mentos eruption") can shoot as high as 6 meters (20 ft). The unofficial record, reached in MythBusters, was over 34 feet with the use of a nozzle.

On July 10, 2007, a record number Mentos-and-Diet Pepsi geysers, 791, were set off in Flower Mound, Texas by employees of Books Are Fun and the company's independent representatives. Guinness World Records had a representative in attendance, who confirmed the feat.

On July 15, 2007, a world record was set in Perfetti Van Melle's hometown of Breda, North Brabant, The Netherlands, in which 850 people set off Mentos-and-Diet Cola geysers at the same time. Everyone put five pieces of Mentos in the Cola at the same time producing geysers of four to five meters high. The record will be included in the Guinness World Records.

On April 23, 2008, students in the Belgian city of Leuven set a new world record, simultaneously launching 1,360 Mentos geysers.

Besides making geysers with cola and Mentos, the bottles can also be fired as rockets by unscrewing the lid until a thin stream shoots and slamming horizontally into the ground, creating enough pressure on impact to blast the lid off and launch the bottle in the opposite direction. These work best when the bottle is shaken for about 20 seconds vigorously after quickly putting in the Mentos. It takes a few practices to work out how much to twist the lid off (usually approximately one full turn) but can travel large distances with this technique, often up to 20 ft high and between 40–70 ft horizontally. In November, 2006, the Urban Legends Reference Pages examined the rumors of people dying from eating Mentos and drinking cola. Their research found that while eating Mentos and drinking cola can result in people regurgitating the foamy result (as evidenced by numerous online videos), no actual news accounts exist of anyone dying from it. MythBusters also tested this hypothesis using sheep parts and found that the act of drinking the cola releases enough of the carbonation to prevent the violent reaction caused when the Mentos is added to the cola directly.

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External links

• Official Mentos website
• Mentos commercial filmography Archived 2007-12-10 at the Wayback Machine