Fruit by the Foot
Fruit by the Foot is a snack made with General Mills (GM) in the brand line Betty Crocker.[1] It was introduced in 1991 in North America and is still in production.
Fruit by the Foot is very similar to GM's Fruit Roll-Ups in its presentation of being rolled up within itself, but differs in taste, dimension and consumption methods. The similarity in name and concept is such that many people sometimes mistakenly refer to Fruit by the Foot as "Fruit Roll-Ups" and vice versa. Current marketing slogans include "3 Feet of Fun!" In the early 1990s, Fruit by the Foot came with stickers that kids put on their lunch boxes to show they had eaten Fruit by the Foot. It is also very similar to Kellogg's Fruit Winders sold in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Sugar, in multiple forms, is the major ingredient of Fruit by the Foot, as it makes up 9 grams of each 21 gram serving. Of the top four ingredients in each Fruit by the Foot, 3 of them are sweeteners (corn syrup, maltodextrin, and ordinary sugar). Artificial colors and flavors are used to synthesize the various flavors that Fruit by the Foot offers; for example, the strawberry variety contains no actual strawberries. Meanwhile, the British equivalent, Kellogg's Fruit Winders, contains real strawberry purée and uses plant-based colorants.
Since the 1990s, the paper backing has been printed with games, jokes, or trivia facts – though not all flavors have it, such as 'Rippin Berry Berry', and 'Berry Tie-dye'.
Promotions
In early 1999, Nintendo and General Mills worked together on a promotional television advertising campaign costing $5 million. The advertisement by Saatchi began on January 25 and encouraged children to buy Fruit by the Foot snacks for tips to help them with their Nintendo 64 games. Ninety different tips were available, with three variations of thirty tips each.[2]
References
- "Fruit Snacks". General Mills. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
- "Promotions: Mills Gets Foot Up with Nintendo Link-up." BRANDWEEK formerly Adweek Marketing Week. (January 18, 1999 ): 277 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. Date. Retrieved 2013/07/24.