THEY were made to make your mouth water. Even though now called Starburst, many hardcore old school consumers (myself included) still call them Opal Fruits. In this retro post, I take a fond and swift look back at some of their television adverts.
Family getaways
The 1974 advert featured a family of four stuck in traffic. The two kids in the back of the car are jaded and bored but the mood changes to excitement when mum pulls out a bag of Opal Fruits. They become energised when they chewed into the fruit flavours of lime, lemon, strawberry and orange. Opal Fruits had some kind of magical powers oozing out of those four fruit flavours that transformed a miserable situation in a very jolly experience.
We have a similar scenario ten years later: the family of four are waiting for their luggage at an airport arrival lounge – they’re jaded and bored until mum pulls out a packet of Opal Fruits. The mood lifts and the family have an amazing time on their holiday… Opal Fruits to the rescue once again!
The chimp vote of approval
A 1998 television advert pre-warned of the name change. During the advert, a chimp was given three choices for the new name:
- Jungle drops
- Chimpey Chompies
- Starburst
The chimp enthusiastically chose starburst after clocking the security guard with a banana!
The aliens approve
Again, we were given the heads-up of the forthcoming name change – this time with the help of aliens! The three choices for the name change were:
- Lazerlicks
- Sodasuckits
- Starburst
The aliens bowed in approval for Starburst after clocking the green spiked haired cleaner wearing headphones in the background.
Exit Opal Fruits, enter Starburst
After 28 years of making our mouths water, this was the end of the Opal Fruits naming. When I see Starburst, we pull out the imaginary correction pen and replace with Opal Fruits. RIP Opal Fruits: 1960 – 1998.
Don’t forget to share this fun retro post with the hashtag #Keepitretro. Follow me here on X
