Tastes too good to contain carcinogenic sweeteners! (Bubble Gum Weekend)

Artificial sweeteners are feared and shunned by a majority of the American public.

Aspartame (NutraSweet), an artificial sweetener linked to lymphoma and brain cancer, appears in various brands of sugar-free gum today. But Care-Free has long been associated with saccharin - which the Canadian government banned because it causes bladder cancer. Reports from this decade show that some (if not all) formulations of Care-Free in the good ol' U.S. and A. still contain saccharin.

Despite the dangers of these toxins, Care-Free and other brands have long touted the fact that they are sugarless. They assume consumers would rather get cancer than cavities. This selling point appears again in this commersh from the early 1980s:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfa9Fq4GAYM

I wonder if Care-Free was sued for false advertising for making people think the gum turned them into Miss Universe?

My fondest memory of this ad though isn't from when it first aired. Rather it's from only a decade ago when an Internet cult sprang up around the ad. A fella began posting in the comment section of various websites demanding to know if anyone had an old videotape of this commercial. He was especially enamored by the actress in the second scene who bubbled.

Heated arguments broke out as to whether or not the actress was anyone famous - and if so, who. These discussions eventually gave way to fanfic involving the Gum Fighter (of Hubba Bubba fame) and Spider-Man.

Gum. The energy source of the 21st century!