Anyone who has tried salty watermelon Pepsi, yogurt-flavored water or whitebait ice cream can tell you that the Japanese love weird flavors. If it’s new and outlandish, the Japanese market wants to get a taste.
I can only assume that’s what confectioner Lotte was banking on with their newest creation, because there surely couldn’t have been that many voices clamoring for hot cola chewing gum!
The company announced that it would be adding the special new flavor to the lineup for its popular Fit’s brand starting on November 3. One pack will retail for 130 yen (US$1.08). In addition to the cola flavor, the gum has an element that gives off the feeling of heat, so you can enjoy an effervescence that gradually grows warm in your mouth. Mmmm!
To be fair, there are actual hot carbonated beverages on the market here in Japan, so the idea is not completely out of left field, but none of them are colas. And they’re also mostly revolting.
I imagine a conversation at Lotte headquarters that went something like this:
Scientist: We’ve perfected the cola flavor, but the chemical reacts with saliva and puts off heat. We’ve tried everything, but we can’t seem to fix it.
Intern (joking): Well, we could just call it hot cola then.
Executive: Son, you just earned yourself a full-time position. Someone get marketing in here!
Hot cola just puts me in mind of exploding cans left too long in the car, or the flat, watered down dregs left at the end of a meal. Neither image exactly screams “REFRESHING FRESH BREATH” to me. But I suppose you can’t knock it till you try it and something tells me the editor will be commissioning a taste test as soon as it hits the shelves [Yup! – ed.], so stay posted, Rocketeers. We’ll try it so you don’t have to!
H/T and image: Nari Nari
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