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The history of Starburst dates back to its 1959 debut in the UK. The chewable candy was made famous in the height of the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Opal Fruits: Starburst was invented and introduced in the United Kingdom by Mars Inc. in 1959.
It was first named Opal Fruits.
Naming Contest: The original name was created by Peter Pfeffer (also known as Peter Phillips) in 1960. Peter won a naming contest held by Mars.
He received a modest £5 for suggesting the name “Opal Fruits.”
Opal Fruits came in four flavors:
An English hit: Opal Fruits quickly gained popularity in Britain due to its unique chewy texture and bursting (giving the future pun) fruity taste.
Though the name was eventually changed, the British people have fond memories of the original candy and flavors. There are rumors of its eventual return to its original form. Name and all.
Fruity M&Ms: In the United States, Starburst was the first marketer in 1967 as “M&M’s Fruit Chewies.”
M&Ms was already a popular brand, and Mars looked to leverage its popularity to quickly gain market share.
And in the early 1980s, Mars took the tarty lime flavor out of the mix and replaced it with cherry.
Space race: Mars Inc. rebranded M&M’s Fruit Chewies to “Starburst” in 1968. The name was inspired by the Space Race and the branders were looking to convey the message of a burst of flavor in each piece.
Opal Fruits was also phased out in the UK and Ireland in 1998, as Mars was trying to standardize the product globally. There was some public resistance, but the people of Britain would soon get used to the new name.
On an interesting note, in 2008, the UK supermarket chain Asda temporarily revived the original Opal Fruits name for about 12 weeks.
Mars Inc. acquired The Wrigley Company on October 6th, 2008.
After the acquisition, all non-chocolate candy brands from Mars were transferred to Wrigley as a subsidiary.
This included Starburst.
It was an integration that allowed for enhanced distribution and marketing strategies under the Wrigley umbrella. Who were already experts in manufacturing, marketing, and disturbing non-chocolate candies.
Starburst has been known for its memorable advertising campaigns featuring catchy slogans like “Unexplainably Juicy.”
Make your mouth water: Its first hit was under the UK advertising slogan for Opal Fruits in the 1970s: “Opal Fruits—made to make your mouth water!” The slogan was penned by Murray Walker, who later became famous as a Formula 1 commentator.
Get Your Juices Going: In 2002, Starburst created a song called “Get Your Juices Going” for the Australian market. The song was released as a CD single attributed to a fictional pop group also called Starburst.
Little Lad Dance: In 2007, a commercial for Starburst’s Berries and Creme flavor went viral. It featured the “Little Lad Dance.” The song even gained a resurgence in popularity on TikTok in 2021.
New flavors: Starburst has launched many new flavors throughout the years; these flavors include:
The brand even launched Starburst Jellybeans to compete with Jelly Belly.
Starburst goes healthy: In 2016, Mars removed artificial colors from Starburst products in response to growing consumer demand for healthier candy options.
The formulation is different between countries, US Starburst for example are not not vegan while their UK counterparts are vegan grade.
Discontinuation: Starburst was discontinued in New Zealand in April 2021 and in Australia in June 2022 due to poor sales.
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