Chupa Chups It is perhaps one of the best-known candies, not only in Spain, but also throughout the world. This patriotic invention is more than just a trinket, it is quite an icon. But do we really know everything about him? We tell you the anecdotes and curiosities about this product.
A revolutionary Spanish invention
It was the decade of the 50s of the last century in Catalonia. A member of a family of confectioners, Enric Bernat Fontlladosa, had the idea of selling his sweets with small forks. His idea was that children do not stain when eating these sweets. This curious idea was quickly transmitted from mouth to mouth. That is why Bernat decided to give his invention a spin.
After thinking about it a few times, the confectioner decided to introduce small wooden sticks to replace the forks. Thus was born the Chupa Chups. The name given to this new product was Chups, which derived the current name due to his first ad campaign, whose motto was "Suck a candy, suck, suck a Chups". This slogan made people start calling the candy as it is known today.
The impulse to Chupa Chups in the sixties
Without a doubt, the sixties were the takeoff of the Chupa Chups. In this decade, Enric Bernat decided to replace the wooden sticks with plastic, as it has come to this day. In addition, new flavors began to be introduced that delighted children and not so children. At this time it began to be commercialized in a more serious way, crossing the Catalan borders.
Due to this new strategy, the ideologue decided to give this new product a logo and a new image. After several studies, the 1969 and with him, tree absolute. Bernat decided to contact the painter Salvador Dalí to take over the design. The genius of Figueres did not hesitate for a minute in accepting the commission. An hour was enough for Dalí to create the logo. A colorful image with psychedelic overtones, clearly visual and attractive.
Some very popular ambassadors
Although the Chupa Chups a gap was already being made, in the following decades the advertising campaigns increased, whether they were contracted or spontaneous. Many well-known characters did not hesitate to pose with the candy in their mouths, becoming a true icon. From Mariah Carey to the Spice Girls, passing through Harrison Ford or Giorgio Armani, they have not hesitated to pose with this product.
But if we have to associate this sweet with one person, that is Johan Cruyff. The image of the culé legend sitting on the bench of the Camp Nou with the Chupa Chups in the mouth It has become an icon, inside and outside, of the football world. The Dutch footballer and coach decided trade the cigarette for lollypop after suffering a health accident. This made many people decide to quit smoking and change it for this sweet.
A Chupa Chups in space
There are many curiosities that surround this bauble, but one of the most curious is that it bears the honor of having traveled into space. And it Chupa Chups It was the product chosen by the Russian MIR astronauts as a substitute for tobacco. It was in 1995, clearly influenced by Cruyff. This made the company decide to launch a powerful advertising campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of smoking.
Established in many countries around the world, every day more than twelve million are manufactured of this lollipop. We can find flavors of strawberry, cola, lemon, strawberry-cream or apple. It is currently, together with Trident, Sugus and Haribo, the brand of sweets best seller in Spain. There is an official fan club of the brand worldwide, in which more than seventy thousand people are registered.
Finally, write down one of the craziest curiosities of this product. In Singapore there is a street artist who sculpt your face in a Chupa Chups with the mouth. For around fifty bucks and some awkward time, you can have a portrait of yourself. Definitely, a bauble which has become a authentic symbol during decades. What fact of all these do you find the most curious?
