Wrigley's 5 Gum: Prism

Ah, fall...yet another reason to love you! Among all the other things I like about fall (note: mostly because it means Halloween is here!), fall is also when a lot of new gum flavors hit the shelves. And we all know how much Gigi likes gum. (Seriously, I have 29 -- well, now 30 -- different gum reviews alone.)

I like Wrigley's 5 line as a whole. The packaging is slick, the flavors are strong, and they have good staying power. I will also grant you I may have chewed so much of the 5 Solstice that at this point I am considered an addict.



At any rate, Prism is the newest member of the 5 family. And like all the 5 gums before it, it has a cool hook to get you to chew it. In this case, the gum is watermelon flavored and is supposed to give your tongue an actual electric tingle; I guess kinda like what happens when you touch the terminals of a 9-volt battery to your tongue. (Not, of course, that I have ever done such a ridiculous thing.) As a fan of both watermelon and things that tingle, this gum had a lot of potential in my book.

First off, smelling the gum though the wrapper, you notice that it does indeed have a fake watermelon smell. It's a little sweet, a little sour -- and oddly enough, a little like banana.



The taste starts off like just about every other watermelon flavored anything. It made me think of a chewable Jolly Rancher. As you continue to chew, the flavor -- just like the smell -- becomes pure fake banana. Now, I happen to like banana flavoring (even fake), and the second favorite gum of my youth was Banana Bubblicious Bubble Gum (a flavor that has sadly long since gone to the great Flavor Graveyard in the sky). The banana flavor lasts a good twenty minutes before it starts to wane. The dying flavor starts off tasting like Banana Runts, and ends -- fittingly enough -- tasting almost like actual watermelon.

As for the "electric tingle," the gum does in fact make good on its promise and it really does tingle! It's not overly strong -- but if you have any used any adult product that promised warm tingling sensations...well, it is pretty much the edible version of that...wait, my mother reads this blog...

Disclaimer: Not that pure, innocent, naive me would have EVER used such products! Clearly, I have only heard about them from sources like commercials run during educational programming such as Jersey Shore, or maybe from my slutty friends who are bad influences on me.

(*Quick side-eye glance around*) Everyone think she bought that?



Anyway, it's definitely an interesting and fun addition to the 5 line. The only negative side -- as pointed in by Gum Alert in their review (linked below) -- if you hold the gum in any one spot in your mouth for too long, it starts to burn. It's not a painful burn, but it does make you question what kind of a weird chemical Chernobyl might be building up in your mouth. But sacrifices must be made in the name of cool chewing gum, right?

Even though the flavor is more banana than watermelon, I still liked this gum enough that I'm sure I'll be buying another pack.

(Also be sure to check out Gum Alert's review here.)



PURCHASED FROM:
Walgreens

PRICE:
$1.59

CALORIES:
5 calories per stick.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Contains phenylalanine.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
wrigley.com