OUCH! Bubble Gum | 21 Sticks of Stawberry + Watermelon + Grape | Brought To You By Iconic Candy

Just as good as I remember them when I was a kid! Santa gave these to my children in their stocking this year. They’ve eaten plenty of it already! The stick of gum is the same color as the flavor and of course the flavor doesn’t last super long…but long enough for a 5 and 8 year old, so no complaints from them!

It's bad. Flatly, bad. Genuinely not the same gum. Bland, almost flavorless, dry to the point of being brittle, powderless, and even the smells are off. I've had the original gum in 2009, and I even have photos of the tin to prove it. But some things stuck out to me from those photos, the ingredients. The nutrition facts are exactly the same, but the ingredients aren't. Sugar, gum base, glycerol, artificial flavors, and the colorants. These are all the gums have in common. Corn syrup (replaced with glucose syrup, not a significant change), malic + tartaric + citric acid, soy lectin, corn starch, natural flavors, and butylated hydroxytoluene. All of these are absent. Without these, the gum has no depth or tang, is hard and dry, lacks the distinct powder coating that made this gum feel unique in the mouth. The BHT is why the old tins of gum haven't gone rancid, so that means these won't even have the same legendarily immortal shelf-life. And the natural flavors that were mixed in added to the smell/taste, which without means these are no longer OUCH! gum. They're a cheap impostor who's only upside is being a reasonable price. I'll say it again, this is NOT the same gum it was, and no about of nostalgia marketing will change that this is generic gum wrapped in a nostalgic brand. The brand wasn't saved, it was slaughtered. They slaughtered my childhood gum, and by tying the name to this slop, it'll never come back like it was.

Like chewing on glass, these must really be from the 90s haha

The gum is as terrible as ever. The cute tin is exactly what I was looking for. So nostalgic. So worth it.

It's just as good as I remember them

As a certified 90s kid, I had no choice but to click on “Add to Cart” when I saw this gum pop up on my Amazon suggestions. The tin alone transported me straight back to 4th grade recess. And honestly? They nailed the look. Nostalgia = activated. Flavor-wise: strawberry and grape? Chef’s kiss. Tasted exactly like what I remember! Watermelon?…Not so much. Now…let’s talk gum quality. It wasn’t stale, which was a pleasant surprise, but WOW was it hard. The first 15-20 seconds felt like chewing a pink rectangle of determination. Once it softened though, the flavor finally showed up and did her job. Texture wise it was comparable to other stick gum. Is it a little pricey? Yep. Did I still giggle opening the tin? Also yep. Totally worth it for the throwback vibes and to watch my kids try to figure out why their mom is emotional over novelty gum. Planning to bring the rest of the tin to a family get-together because I NEED to witness everyone’s reactions in real time. If you grew up with this stuff, treat yourself. It’s nostalgia you can chew. (Mostly.) 😉

This came in and I was so excited to get the same gum from my childhood. This gum was HARD AF! Geeze, it was about as hard as a jolly rancher...

Gave it to my daughter as a stocking stuffer. I remember this gum being really soft. This gum was unbelievably hard and had almost no flavor.