• Brandweek, Friday, September 15, 2006 12:15 PM

No. 1 gum manufacturer Wm. Wrigley Jr. & Co. is making the most of No. 2 Cadbury-Adams' temporary suspension of Trident Crystal Frost and Cinnamon flavors as it ramps up production of its new recloseable packs. Cadbury-Adams launched its sugarless brand in new EZ-Close Packs earlier this summer--an answer to the convenient envelope packaging rolled out earlier by Wrigley for its Orbit line. Trade channel sources report that the company has struggled since early August with shipping Trident orders because only one plant was manufacturing the recloseable packaging. The hiccup meant less of new Trident flavors, like the sweet and sour combination in Green Apple Fusion, Tropical Twist and Watermelon Twist, reaching store shelves. Wrigley pounced by plugging in its new items, like the 60-piece Eclipse gum Big-E-Pak and Crystal Mint and Lemon-Lime flavor extensions for Orbit gum. Measured media expenditures for Orbit between January and July totaled $32 million versus $31 million for all of 2005, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus. Among the latest elements of Orbit's "Dirty Mouth" campaign is an online invitation from Snoop Dogg for visitors to plug in phone numbers that activate recorded phone calls from the rapper, urging recipients to "clean up yo dirty mouth."

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