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Mr. Bubble Bubble Gum Flavor Craft Soda

Martin Peyruc

Reporter, The Reackless Gastronome

Life News Today


Greeting my squeaky-clean readers, once again I, The Reckless Gastronome, get down and dirty with something that many people aren’t even sure if its food. Sure, bubble gum is a paradox. It’s candy that you chew but don’t eat. Then to make things more confusing, Mr. Bubble is a bubble gum scented bubble bath (I have the feeling I’m going to be saying “bubble” so many times that it becomes a gibberish word in my head by the end, a process known as “semantic satiation”), so you really don’t want to put it in your mouth. Original Mr. Bubble is non-toxic, but it will cause a stomach ache. So, Mr. Bubble Soda (I’m shortening the name) is a drink that you swallow but don’t chew that tastes like a candy you don’t swallow, named after a soap you don’t put in your mouth at all. This feels like some sort of modern Sphynx riddle.


I’m going to save the history and what is the true flavor of bubble gum for another article (it’s just a matter of time before someone puts bubble gum flavor somewhere it shouldn’t exist, like the bottom of a desk) and instead focus on Mr. Bubble itself (himself?) Mr. Bubble (no relation to Michael Bublé) was invented in 1961 by Harold Schafer as a low-cost powdered bubble bath product. Despite some initial difficulties keeping costs down the bubble gum scented soap and its mascot proved to be a success. In 1972 the now iconic liquid bottles were released and business was popping until 1986.

 

In 1986 the Gold Seal Company sold Mr. Bubble to Airwick Industries, which then seemed to pass it around for a couple decades until it finally reached its current manufacturer, The Village Company in 2008. I’m not sure why things went down the drain in 1986, but I do have a couple theories. I turned seven years old (yes, this makes me a “younger” member of Gen X as I stroke my long grey beard) and despite my love of Mr. Bubble, my family decided I was too old to continue taking bubble baths. Maybe it’s not their fault though (I’ll still blame them), there were a number of dark events for children that year not limited to (but the only one I feel comfortable talking about) Optimus Prime being ahem returned to the Matrix on the big screen.

 

From there on Mr. Bubble seemed to lose much of its cultural cachet. At least to my perspective. There was something indelible on children’s souls that bright pink bubbles couldn’t wash away. Or I aged out of their target market and stopped paying attention. Still a quick look at the Mr. Bubble website shows that it seems to be having a bit of a renaissance with a number of products in styles I can’t even begin to fathom. Bath potions? Bath dough? I thought bubbles and maybe a rubber ducky was the height bathing luxury. If I can find an affordable plumber to finally fix my tub, I’m going to have to do some “research” (being an adult is a drag.)

 

This resurgence is also why we have today’s review, Mr. Bubble Bubble Gum Flavor Craft Soda. We have come full circle. Mr. Bubble along with Mr. Sketch (why are children’s products so formal?) scented markers have always been the forbidden fruit of smells you dare not taste (I’m probably not alone in trying them regardless), thus having an intended for consumption product is quite exciting.

 


As always let’s start on the outside and move in. It comes in a tall thin can holding 12 Fluid Ounces (355 mL for the metricians in the audience, I’m coining a new usage.) It’s a bright pink that I would have sworn that Barbie tried to pull an Anish Kapoor on, with tiny bubbles and features the minimalist retro design of Mr. Bubble, which is honestly a relief (I guess it’s the opposite of a relief technically.) I find the 3-D Mr. Bubble off-putting. Popping the top (ok, pop tops have been gone since the 80’s but I wanted yet another bubble pun) the scent of bubble gum is almost overwhelming. It’s like a childhood flashback, where I’m agreeing to have a bath, but only if I can have bubbles. The taste is an even bigger hit of nostalgia. Suddenly I’m chewing on the gum from a freshly opened pack of Garbage Pail Kids. Actually, let me go a bit further, I’m chewing on the gum from five packs of Garbage Pail Kids at once. Fidelity is king when making flavored foods, but this almost goes too far. I swear I can even taste the hint of cornstarch they use to keep the gum from sticking to the cards. I feel like we are almost reaching the platonic ideal for bubble gum, the very essence of what bubble gum is. There’s even a moment of disconnect when I remembered that there is no chewing involved. It’s quite sweet, as expected, but the carbonation keeps it under the threshold from being cloying, even if barely.


As a final judgement, I’ll say that I enjoyed it, with a huge caveat that I can’t imagine this as anything other than a rare treat. Considering that the only way to get this is by ordering directly from the Mr. Bubble website, and it says that it’s a limited run I don’t foresee too many people make this into a habit. Nostalgia works best as a window to walk past, not a house to live in.


 
 
 

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