Product type | Breath mint |
---|---|
Owner | Mondelez International |
Country | United States |
Introduced | 1956 |
Discontinued | 2018 |
Previous owners | |
Tagline |
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Certs was a brand of breath mint that was noted for the frequent use of "two mints in one" in its marketing. The original "classic mints" were disc-shaped without a hole and sold in roll packaging similar to Life Savers and Polo. Certs was one of the first mints to be nationally marketed in the United States and has been a fixture at American drug stores and convenience stores since its debut on the market in 1956. It was discontinued in 2018, possibly due to its containing partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, an ingredient which has not been allowed in food sold in the United States since then. [1]
Certs Classic Mints were developed by American Chicle and introduced into the North American market in 1956. [2] The "Certs" name originated from its approval by Good Housekeeping (as in "certified by Good Housekeeping"), a magazine that, then as now, bestowed the Good Housekeeping Seal on products that pass its quality and reliability tests. [3] In 1962, the company was acquired by Warner-Lambert. [4] Within Warner-Lambert, confectionary brands, which included Certs, Chiclets, Dentyne, Halls, and Trident, were placed into its new Adams division (named after the American Chicle founder). [5] In 1988, sugar-free Certs Mini-Mints sweetened by Nutrasweet were introduced as a Tic Tac competitor. [6] In 1997, Certs Cool Mint Drops were introduced in response to Altoids' rapid growth during the 1990s. [7] Pfizer acquired Warner-Lambert in 2000. [4] Citing that confections is a "noncore" business, [5] Pfizer sold its Adams portfolio to Cadbury for $4.2 billion [8] in 2002, which beat Nestlé in a bidding war. [9] [10] Mondelez International, then called Kraft Foods, made a hostile takeover of Cadbury in 2010 for $19.5 billion. [11] The Certs name ceased to be mentioned by Mondelez as one of its brands in December 2013. [12] [13]
Certs were classified as mints, but they contained no oils of any mint plant. Instead, as has long been advertised, the mints contain "Retsyn," a trademarked name for a mixture of copper gluconate, partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, and flavoring. It is the copper gluconate in Retsyn which gives Certs its signature green flecks.
Certs were originally shaped as simple circular tablets with beveled edges and "CERTS" embossed with the "C" enlarged and surrounding "ERTS". The shape later changed to have a toroidal bulge on each face without a hole; "CERTS" and "RETSYN" were debossed near the circumference.
Certs Classic Mints were available in assorted fruit, cinnamon, peppermint, spearmint,wintergreen and Fruit flavor.
Certs Mini-Mints, and later as Certs Powerful Mints, were small Tic-Tac-like mints available in peppermint, spearmint, and wintergreen.
Certs Cool Mint Drops, described as a "breath drop", were medium-sized oval-shaped mints. They came in flavors named "cinnamint", "freshmint", and peppermint, and fruit flavor.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Certs was heavily advertised on American television with a famous campaign featuring two attractive young people earnestly arguing over the proper classification of the mints. The one participant would assert, "It’s a breath mint!" The other would assay a rebuttal by stating, "It’s a candy mint!" This taxonomic dilemma would finally be resolved by the unseen announcer, who would achieve synthesis by explaining that Certs was "Two, two, two mints in one!" Saturday Night Live lampooned the ads with a fictitious product called "Shimmer", with Gilda Radner's argument "It's a floor wax!" vs. Dan Aykroyd's "It's a dessert topping, you cow!" being resolved by announcer Chevy Chase's declaration that "New Shimmer's a floor wax and a dessert topping!". [14] Indeed, the phrase "Two, two, two [insert almost any word or short phrase here] in one" remained an American idiomatic expression into the 21st century.[ citation needed ]
In 1999, the United States Customs Service classified Certs as a candy mint for tariff purposes, since candy was taxed differently from oral hygiene products. In the ensuing suit before the United States Court of International Trade, Cadbury introduced expert testimony that Certs stimulate the flow of saliva, thus flushing bad odors from the mouth, and that its flavors and oils mask bad breath. But the court ruled that, since Certs did not contain anti-bacterial ingredients, they were, indeed, simply a candy mint. This ruling was, however, overturned at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, making Certs legally a breath mint. [15]
Listerine is a brand of antiseptic mouthwash that is promoted with the slogan "Kills germs that cause bad breath". Named after Joseph Lister, who pioneered antiseptic surgery at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary in Scotland, Listerine was developed in 1879 by Joseph Lawrence, a chemist in St. Louis, Missouri.
Altoids are a brand of mints, sold primarily in distinctive metal tins. The brand was created by the London-based Smith & Company in the 1780s, and became part of the Callard & Bowser company in the 19th century. Their advertising slogan is "The Original Celebrated Curiously Strong Mints", referring to the high concentration of peppermint oil used in the original flavour lozenge. The mints were originally conceived as a lozenge intended to relieve intestinal discomfort.
Tic Tac is a brand of small, hard mint manufactured by the Italian company Ferrero. They were first produced in 1969 and are now available in a variety of flavors in over 100 countries.
A mint or breath mint is a food item often consumed as an after-meal refreshment or before business and social engagements to improve breath odor. Mints are commonly believed to soothe the stomach given their association with natural byproducts of the plant genus Mentha. Mints sometimes contain derivatives from plants such as peppermint oil or spearmint oil, or wintergreen from the plant genus Gaultheria. However, many of the most popular mints citing these natural sources contain none in their ingredient list or contain only trace amounts.
Life Savers is an American brand of ring-shaped hard and soft candy. Its range of mints and fruit-flavored candies is known for its distinctive packaging, coming in paper-wrapped aluminum foil rolls.
Black Jack is an aniseed-flavored chewing gum manufactured by the American company, Gerrit J. Verburg Co.
Laffy Taffy is an American brand of taffy candies produced by the Ferrara Candy Company, a subsidiary of Ferrero. The candies are small, individually wrapped taffy rectangles available in a variety of colors and fruit flavors, including banana, strawberry, green apple, grape, blueberry, watermelon, blue raspberry, and cherry. Rarer flavors include caramel apple, coconut, strawberries & cream, apple crisp, chocolate mousse, pumpkin donut, pineapple, guava, orange sorbet, and lemon raspberry. Discontinued flavors include fruit punch, mango, strawberry banana, peppermint, and hot cocoa.
Chiclets is an American brand of candy-coated chewing gum manufactured by Perfetti Van Melle. The brand was introduced in 1900 by the American Chicle Company, a company founded by Thomas Adams.
Dentyne is a brand of chewing gum and breath mints available in several countries globally. It is owned by Perfetti Van Melle.
Trident is a brand of sugar-free chewing gum owned by the Italian-Dutch company Perfetti Van Melle. It was originally introduced by American Chicle in 1960 shortly before it was bought by Warner-Lambert in 1962. It reached the UK in 2007 when it was introduced by its then-owner Cadbury Schweppes in the United Kingdom. In many other European countries, Trident is branded as Stimorol gum; it is generally the same as Trident.
Swedish Fish is a fish-shaped, chewy candy originally developed by Swedish candy producer Malaco in 1957 for the U.S. market. They come in a variety of colors and flavors.
Beemans gum is a chewing gum formulated by Ohio physician Edward E. Beeman and first sold in February 1890. It originally contained pepsin, but no longer does. Beemans became popular with early aviators as a good luck charm, and Chuck Yeager is purported to have chewed a stick of Beemans gum before every flight.
Halls is a British brand of a mentholated cough drop owned by Mondelēz International since 2015. In 2016, it was one of the biggest selling brands of over-the-counter medications sold in Great Britain, with sales of £32.5 million.
Freshen Up was a chewing gum with flavored gels inside manufactured by Cadbury Adams in Brazil. Current flavours include cinnamon, peppermint, spearmint and bubble gum. A fruit variation was offered in the 1970s.
Clorets is a line of chewing gum and mints made by Cadbury Adams. It was introduced in 1951. Clorets gum and candy contain Actizol, a proprietary ingredient that contains chlorophyll, which purportedly acts as an active ingredient to eliminate mouth odors. Clorets was originally owned by American Chicle, then by Warner-Lambert in 1962 under its Adams division until Pfizer took over in 2000. The Adams division was sold to Cadbury-Schweppes in 2002, which is now known as Cadbury Adams.
Stride is a brand of sugar-free chewing gum introduced in 2006 and owned by Mondelez International, sold in packs of 14 pieces. The company sold most of its chewing gum brands to Perfetti Van Melle in 2023, which didn't include the sale of Stride, to focus on other confections. In 2024, Mondelez discontinued sales of Stride in the United States, Canada, and Europe, but is still sold in China and Australia.
The American Chicle Company was a chewing gum trust founded by Thomas Adams, Jr., with Edward E. Beeman and Jonathan Primle.
Trebor is a British confectionery brand-name owned by Mondelez International, and formerly a company of the same name.
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