Chappies is a brand of bubblegum introduced in South Africa in the late 1940s. In part because of its iconic "Did You Know?" facts printed inside every wrapper, Chappies has been

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

’s best-selling bubblegum for more than 50 years with about 2,5-billion pieces being sold each year.

Overview

Chappies was developed by Arthur Ginsberg, head of marketing at

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

-based confectionery manufacturer, Chapelat Sweet Factory, from which the brand derived its name. Chappies was intended as a competitor for the well-established Wicks bubblegum, priced at two pieces for a penny versus Wicks' piece for a penny. By the late 1970s the brand had spread to

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

, the Congo area, and

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

(now

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

), and held a local market share of 90%. Chappies initially came in five flavours: lemon, orange, strawberry, cherry, and pineapple. 70 years later the remaining flavours are spearmint, assorted fruit, watermelon, grape, and cool cherry. The Chappies brand was sold to

Cadbury Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mar ...

in 1989, which is currently under

Mondelēz Mondelez International, Inc. ( ), often styled Mondelēz, is an American multinational confectionery, food, holding and beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual revenue of about $26 billion and operates in ...

International.

Popularity

Chappies is a

genericised trademark A generic trademark, also known as a genericized trademark or proprietary eponym, is a trademark or brand name that, because of its popularity or significance, has become the generic term for, or synonymous with, a general class of Good (econom ...

. The brand name became synonymous with the word bubblegum in part because shopkeepers used it in lieu of coins to give change to patrons, and because of the inclusion of "Did You Know?" trivia. The original-flavour wrapper has had a distinctive yellow wrapper with red and blue stripes since launch. The striped wrapper, bright colour squares of gum, logo and cartoon chipmunk character are synonymous with the Chappies brand and have been used in collaborations with brands such as Shelflife, the unreleased Reebok range and with rapper Emtee for a music video.

Marketing

Chappies facts

The Chappies "Did You Know?" facts were initially a way to make the bubblegum more appealing to children. The first 'Did you Know?' facts were sourced from the "Three Wise Men" on

Springbok Radio Springbok Radio (spelled ''Springbokradio'' in Afrikaans, ) was a South African nationwide radio station that operated from 1950 to 1986. History SABC's decision in December 1945 to develop a commercial service was constrained by post-war financia ...

's "Test The Team", a popular quiz programme featuring Eric Rosenthal, Arthur Blexley and Dennis Glauber. Chappies later approached academics from Ginsberg's alma mater, Wits University to come up with lists of interesting facts, resulting in an estimated 5,000 facts.

Brand refresh

In early 2008, marketing firm Berge Farrel was contracted by Cadbury to rejuvenate the now almost 50-year-old Chappies identity. Their changes included redesigned packaging as well as an updated yet still recognisable mascot, the Chappies Chipmunk. He was made to look younger and lost his walking cane.

2012 national campaign for new facts

In 2012 Chappies gave fans the chance to submit their own ‘Did You Know?’ facts for inclusion in the famous Chappies wrappers which resulted in over 50 000 submissions entered through various digital channels. After a validation process, 170 facts, and accompanying illustrations by Jaco Hassbroek, were selected to be printed on millions of wrappers. Competition finalists received a year's supply of Chappies and a framed wrapper with their submitted fact.

Edible Street Art

Chappies launched an Edible Street Art campaign that turned six user-submitted facts into artworks made out of thousands of real Chappies bubblegum pieces. The largest of the six murals took 177 681 pieces of Chappies to create and 15 hours to complete but just 15 minutes to disassemble thanks to help from the public.

References

{{Mondelez Chewing gum Cadbury brands Mondelez International brands