We Were Nostalgic For This Classic Chewing Gum, But Now We Wish We Had Left It In The Past

Nostalgia makes us do funny things. Advertisers recognize it as a powerful tool and use it to get us to spend money by playing songs from our youth in commercials. Even fast food chains recognize the power of this strategy by digging into the past for menu gold. Foods we grew up with call to us until we finally try them again, hoping to relive the good old days when something as simple as bubble gum could chase away all our cares. But sometimes, that journey back in time leaves us filled with disappointment and regret rather than bringing us the temporary joy we're looking for.

When Chowhound ranked several chewing gums, it became painfully obvious that some things are better left in the past. Hubba Bubba Bubble Tape, a type of chewing gum that comes rolled up in a brightly colored round plastic container, didn't fare well. In fact, it came in dead last because it simply didn't have a flavor or texture that could live up to those high expectations that nostalgia creates. Our reviewer found that Hubba Bubba Bubble Tape started out tasting like pure sugar, rather than having the anticipated bubble gum flavor, and quickly lost its taste (though this is common among other gums on the list). Unlike the other products considered, Hubba Bubba Bubble Tape started out soft and got progressively softer, so much so that our reviewer worried about accidentally swallowing it.

Bubble Tape may be a nostalgic fail, but old school bubble gums are always popular — especially when their flavors are a bit outrageous, even by sugary candy standards. But the reason these throwbacks disappoint us rather than make us feel like kids again may actually be biological. In other words, don't hold our reviewer's disappointment in Bubble Tape against Hubba Bubba.

Kids definitely love sugar, and while adults love to indulge, our taste buds get a little more discerning as we age. There is research supporting the idea that liking sugar is hard-wired into our brains from the start. Biology not only causes children to prefer more intense sweet flavors than adults, but it also makes them have a physiological response that makes them feel good when they get it. While this may create an inherent love for overly sweet things for children, studies also show that it starts to fade post-adolescence, so it's no wonder that super sugary products, such as Hubba Bubba's Bubble Tape, are marketed toward children. When we try to recreate the enjoyment we got from something we liked as kids, thinking it will be as fabulous as we remember it, our mature taste buds tend to disagree and leave us wondering what we were ever thinking.