Double your laughter at this ad! (Bubble Gum Weekend)

Man, am I glad to find this one!

I'm so excited about this find that I'm not even going to wait until Saturday like I usually do with this feature! (I also didn't want to wait until after someone got the clip pulled because gum hurt their feelings.)

I had a hard time locating this Doublemint gum commersh on YouTube because I couldn't remember anything it actually said. All I remembered is that the actors appeared against a white background. But when I accidentally found a link on YouTube featuring a still from the ad, I excitedly asked myself, "Could it be?!"

Well, they got the year right: 1994. I knew it aired in late 1994 because I was a junior in college, and I was required to take a literature class (which had nothing to do with my major) that was frankly impossible to pass. To voice my frustration, one of my term papers made reference to (in my approximate words):

"The guy in the Doublemint commercial who chews a piece of gum and makes a funny face."

Yes, I tried using that as a complete sentence - even though it isn't.

(Coincidentally, this was the same semester that the "Burn gum! It melts!" craze began.)

Here's the commersh in question (at long last):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODBK_RzLNl8

The gent I referred to in my term paper is the aging man who appears halfway through the ad.

The man's role in this ad isn't particularly remarkable until after he places the stick of gum in his mouth. But as soon as he puts the gum in, his behavior takes on uproarious changes!

Pre-gum, he is stoic and passionless. But the gum seems to suddenly make him laugh uncontrollably - which is exactly what I did when I saw this preposterous commercial. I distinctly recall watching TV at my mom's house and doubling over in helpless guffawing because of the man's reaction to the gum.

I had no idea Doublemint contained laughing gas before I saw this ad!

Also, does anyone else think the singer in this commersh sounds just like that who sang the old "Thriftway is the place" ads?