Stride gum lasts long enough to be passed through generations

Here's a heartwarming scene from the folks at JWT Puerto Rico and Stride gum that, it should be noted, is completely in Spanish. A boy is going away to college, but before he departs, the father has something to impart. It's an heirloom that was passed down from his father to him. What is it? Well, before you start recalling Christopher Walken's "gold watch" speech from Pulp Fiction, remember this an ad for Stride gum. The object in question turns out to be a piece of gum that all the men in the family have been chewing for decades. (Never mind that Stride only came out three years ago—maybe this is some kind of Lost thing where someone time-traveled and gave Grandpa the gum.) The boy takes the gum, starts to chew it and seems appreciative. Scoff if you will, but this is kind of a touching moment. One question, though: How does Stride get away with this? It's making an obviously false claim about the gum for comedic effect, but it's still false, right? Isn't this, in a way, sort of like what Powerade has done in its Gatorade comparison ads? Chew on that for a while.

—Posted by Todd Wasserman