Whatever Happened To The Once-Popular Stride Gum?

Stride gum may be a name many haven't heard in a long time, but it quickly snaps an entire generation back to a time when cable TV commercials were a marketing team's main time to shine. The brand quickly rose in popularity with its playfully ominous public service announcement-style commercials which warned people to spit out their gum and start a new piece or "We'll find you." 

Well, it doesn't seem that Stride is finding anyone these days, and it's nearly impossible to find the gum. So what happened to Stride gum?

The parent company of Stride gum, Mondeléz International, discontinued the sale of Stride gum in the United States, Canada, and Europe to focus on other confections like chocolate and baked goods. However, Stride remains on the shelves in other countries, including China, where it has been a high-performing brand since it launched there in 2012. 

Stride gum can still be found in North America on sites like eBay, (though you may want to think twice about eating gum that old) but finding it in stores is highly unlikely in the United States. The fall of Stride gum is shocking to some who remember the brand's witty advertising, but the company's entertaining ads didn't seem to be enough.

Stride was launched in 2006 by Cadbury before the company was acquired by Kraft (now Mondeléz International) shortly after in 2010. By 2018, Mondeléz's gum brands as a whole were struggling, though gum sales in emerging markets like China, Mexico, and Brazil were strong.

According to a 2023 report by the National Confectioners Association, gum sales have remained on a decline since 2018. While the sales of both chocolate and non-chocolate candies have been on the rise despite inflation price increases, gum hasn't seen the same success.

Why is nobody buying gum anymore in the U.S.? It's difficult to say, but it could be a lingering side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumers weren't going out like before, the number of remote workers skyrocketed, and fresh breath may have dropped significantly on the priority list. Maybe, in a few years, fresh breath will make a comeback, and gum will rise again.

Stride gum lives on through its legacy of unique commercials, and unexpected, yet fun brand deals. In 2011, Stride partnered with Olympic Gold Medalist, Shaun White to launch special edition flavors and a new twist on the brand's marketing tagline, which changed to "Yeti will find you." 

In 2013, Stride gum partnered with another icon, Sour Patch Kids. The gum and sour candy collaboration included new flavors and a digital game in which consumers were challenged to track down escaped Sour Patch Kids so they could be turned into gum. The 2016 stunt Stride Gum Presents Heaven Sent was possibly the most unique marketing campaign of all. Stride sponsored pilot and skydiver Luke Aikins (pictured above) for a 25,000-foot jump in Southern California without the security of a parachute. 

Consumers who haven't forgotten the brand still ask about it on social media sites like Twitter, though no official Stride account seems to exist anymore. Stride utilized extremes to gain a spot in the minds of consumers through sports, sour candy, and quirky advertising, but it didn't seem to be enough to keep the gum around in America.