When the Bubblicious bubbled (Bubble Gum Weekend)

Remember when bubble gum bubbled?

It's called bubble gum because people bubble with it.

A strange thing that bubbling habit was. It didn't seem to serve any practical purpose. Unless maybe you're a professional actor looking to portray Pete Rose in a biographical movie. Then again, bubbling didn't serve any practical purpose when Pete Rose did it either.

The frivolity of bubbling wasn't lost on bubble gum ad campaigns of old. And it's international in scope. Peep this 1978 Bubblicious commersh - which apparently aired in Britain, as the person who posted it is based there:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L0pZdC8fxI

That ad is amusing on several fronts. Notice around :06 that the piece of gum seems to be able to fly into people's mouths. Similarly, notice around :24 that the pack of Bubblicious seems to have a mind of its own, as it jumps up on its side without anyone telling it to.

This was also in the days when the Bubblicious logo appeared to be blowing a bubble. This was also back when gum makers made a big issue of their brand being "soft." Like other brands were just made out of rocks?

I also notice in this ad that British fashions seemed to be 5 years ahead of what they were in my part of America.