Fruit Stripe gum, a treat since the late 1960s that showcased brightly colored sticks and an erratic zebra mascot named Yipes, is being discontinued.
The gum, which was invented in 1969 by James Parker and originally distributed by Beech-Nut, featured several five striped flavors and a slogan “Yipes! Stripes!” that was chanted by its characters during commercials.
The gum’s current manufacturer, Ferrara Candy, said it was a difficult decision but it was time to sunset the product, a move that “was not taken lightly,” CNN reported.
“We have made the difficult decision to sunset Fruit Stripe Gum, but consumers may still be able to find the product at select retailers nationwide,” a Ferrara Candy spokesperson said in a statement. “The decision to sunset this product was not taken lightly.
“We considered many factors before coming to this decision, including consumer preferences, and purchasing patterns -- and overall brand trends for Fruit Stripe Gum.”
The first official news about the product’s demise was posted by OldTimeCandy.com.
“We are sad to announce that Fruit Stripe Gum has been discontinued by the manufacturer,” the site wrote. “We are disappointed too.”
According to Food & Wine, the gum was passed from Beech-Nut through various acquisitions and mergers with Nabisco, Hershey and Farley & Sathers Company.
Farley & Sather merged with Ferrara Pan Candy to create the Ferrara Candy Company, the website reported.
The five flavors are Wet n’ Wild Melon, Cherry, Lemon, Orange and Peach, according to CNN. Each pack of the gum came with a temporary tattoo of Yipes the Zebra.
Yipes was mentioned in a 2016 ”Jeopardy!” question, which asked the contestants what kind of animal he was.
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