Bubble Yum was the first soft bubble gum to hit the market, making its debut in 1976. It was an instant success and sales of the candy quickly soared.

Prior to Bubble Yum, bubble gum was hard and took a fair bit of vigorous mastication to render it into a suitably soft bubble-blowing state. Bubble Yum was a breakthrough, a gum that was ready for bubble blowing after being chomped only a few times. As to how soft it was, even a little tyke could squish a block of Bubble Yum between his fingers.

Any confection that revolutionary is going to spawn speculation among the younger set. “Why is it so chewy?” was the question on everyone’s lips. It didn’t take long for kids to invent a plausible answer. There had to be something chewy in there. What’s more chewy than spider eggs? By the spring of 1977, sales had slipped noticeably. Rumors that Bubble Yum contained spider’s eggs or was made from their webs abounded.