Tim Samoff // Weblog (old)

May 05, 2006

Personal letter to Wrigley Gum...

Dear Wrigley,

I am writing to tell you how your Extra brand gum (particularly the Classic Bubble flavor), has changed the lives of my wife and I.

During most of the past year, my wife and I were expecting a child (a boy, Josiah, who was born on April 17, 2006). Throughout my wife’s pregnancy, one of her biggest issues was with acid reflux. I, on the other hand, have been dealing with indigestion and acid reflux (even some ulcers) for years now. So, as you can imagine, trying to cope with this much reflux became a big job for us.

We tried everything: Pepto-Bismol, Rolaids, Mylanta, Gaviscon, Zantac… Everything worked to some degree, but it all took time to act and the effects didn’t last for long (with a possible exception to Zantac). My wife had many sleepless nights due to her pregnancy-induced reflux (which, in turn, gave me many sleepless nights as well).

My wife and I are gum chewers. We like many different kinds — a lot of which are made by Wrigley — so we often try different types and flavors. One day, we decided to purchase the Extra Classic Bubble flavor gum. We had tried a number of bubble flavored gum up until this point and nothing had flavor that lasted for any substantial amount of time. So, being fans of some of the other Extra flavors, we decided to try it.

On this particular day (which was common), both of us were suffering a bout of acid reflux. And, surprisingly, after popping a piece of the Extra Classic Bubble flavored gum into our mouths and beginning to chew, our reflux (yes, for both of us) was almost completely diminished! We were pleasantly shocked by this, but thought it might only be a one-time thing. But, after testing this “cure” on several different occasions, we came to find that our long-time search for a reflux remedy had landed us on the Extra bubble gum!

Since finding this out, I decided to do a Google search on “bubble gum” and acid reflux. I came to the interesting find that chewing gum helps people with acid reflux. This may be true for some, but it sure wasn’t for my wife and me… As I said, we are gum chewers, so we have had plenty of opportunity to test this theory. It wasn’t until trying Extra Classic Bubble flavor gum that our reflux was helped.

I can’t lie. Extra bubble gum is only temporary relief and only works while it is being chewed. But, personally, I have never come across a remedy for reflux (commercial or otherwise) that works as quickly. And, I have never come across anything that I have been so willing to tell people about (my wife and I tell anyone who will listen!).

So, thank you Wrigley. Whether you knew it or not, you helped two people cure a problem that was driving them insane. Now, whenever I feel any reflux coming on, all I have to do is chew a piece of Extra Classic Bubble flavor gum in my mouth!

Sincerely, and with much gratitude,
Tim Samoff

Posted at 10:39 am

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