• by Erin Everhart , Yesterday

Like many kids, I was convinced that if you swallowed gum, it would sit in your stomach for seven years. That myth sat right alongside the other greatest hits of '90s parenting. Wait 20 minutes after you eat before swimming. Keep making that face and it'll stick like that. 

For the record, none of it is true. Gum passes through normally, but frankly seven years in my stomach was the least of gum’s problems. The bigger one? Nobody could figure out what it actually was. Is it candy? Is it a mint? Is it dental hygiene? C'mon, gum. Pick a lane.

For most of its life, that lane was fresh breath. Then 2020 happened and suddenly nobody was close enough to smell anything. The job gum was built for just disappeared. What didn't disappear was the pressure, and everybody needs a release valve. Turns out, chewing is also a highly effective way to relieve stress, and that’s exactly the bet that Trident is marketing with its latest campaign. 

Trident is owning something no mint or candy or toothpaste ever could: the chew itself. The result is the brand's first regional campaign across Latin America. Twelve months. Thirteen countries. Three languages. One global superstar. 

It's a big swing. Because asking a legacy brand to let go of the thing it's always been known for? That's a whole different level of pressure.

How do you reinvent the role of an entire category? How do you build one campaign for 13 countries without losing local nuance? And how do you convince an entire generation to care a little less and chew a little more? 

We sat down with Lauren Flanigan, Head of the Global Brands Refreshment Category at Mondelez to find out.

Listen to the full episode here.