Bzz Agent Review: 5 Gum

So, I mentioned in a previous post that I am a Buzz Agent working on a campaign for 5 Gum. Basically, this means they send me their product for free, and I tell people what I think about it.

5 Gum. New sugar-free product from Wrigley.

Initially, I thought the idea of "Premium Gum," as 5 Gum is billed, was pretty silly. What can possibly be "premium" about gum? And why would I care?

There are two main innovations to the gum. Packaging and flavor.

In my opinion, the packaging for the gum makes it look like some sort of energy enhancement product, like, Red Bull Gum or Jolt Gum or something like that. A few of my friends said the packaging reminds them of chocolate. The gum comes in a sleek, black cardboard sleeve, with a splash of color indicating the flavor. Oh, and the package also has a "5" on the front that reportedly will glow if you place it under a blacklight (ooooooooh).

The package for the gum has been designed specifically so that it can be opened with one hand. That part works pretty well. For instance, if you are driving and you want some gum, you'll probably be able to get a stick out of the package fairly easily without resorting to using your teeth (hey, desperate times.....). Personally, I can grab a stick with one hand, but I can't unwrap it with one hand, so it doesn't really help me.

What I do appreciate about the packaging is its sleekness. This is a gum package I can carry around in my purse without it looking all ghetto and raggedy like other gum packaging. It looks cool enough to be club-appropriate, so if you are trying to quit smoking and decide to lean on this gum as a placebo, you won't look dumb when you go out dancing with friends. At least, not because of your gum.

As far as flavor, 5 currently comes in three varieties: Cobalt (peppermint), Flare (cinnamon), and Rain (spearmint). Yes, it is apparent from these names that the brand thinks entirely too highly of itself.

However, the flavors do accomplish their "premium gum" goal of being long-lasting. I am a chain gum chewer when I am working on projects, and I go through one or two sticks of this gum in an hour compared to four or five of some other brands. Hubby tried the gum, too, and he agreed that it does last quite a long time (although he said the Flare gum got a bit rubbery-feeling after awhile).

So do I like this gum? Yes. Would I pay extra for it? Probably not, but maybe a little extra. However, given this gum and other sugar-free gums at the same price, I would choose this one for the happy packaging and the long-lasting flavor.

Okay, so if you made it this far, you are probably interested in gum. Well, the first three of you to comment on this post and say "Gimme the gum!" will get some free samples of 5 plus a coupon. Be sure to enter your correct e-mail address so I can contact you about mailing the samples. Oh, and peeps in the continental U.S. only, please.

Definitely an animagus

Mystery cat takes regular bus to the shops

East Nashville Ministry Needs Food!

East Nashville Cooperative Ministries needs your help!

Eat Nashville Cooperative Ministires is a neighborhood ministry created to help people in their time of need. They partner with Second Harvest Food Bank and Nashville's Table to provide food boxes to families and boxed lunches to the homeless.

However, they are running low on food!

ENCM needs non-perishable items appropriate for boxed lunches, such as canned pork & beans or Lunchables (no items that require a can opener, please). The boxed and bagged lunches are given to the homeless Monday through Thursday, 12pm-12:30pm.

Additionally, ENCM needs non-perishable boxed and canned foods for the food boxes.

Please bring donations to the East Nashville Cooperative Ministries storefront at 807 Main Street (37206). The hours are 10am-12pm and 1pm-2pm, Monday through Thursday. They would be happy to give you a receipt for your donation!

Thanks for helping!

Good Mail Days

Yesterday and today were good mail days.

Yesterday I got a Netflix movie, some coupons, the new issue of Real Simple (sh, don't tell Lindsay), a Nashville Zoo newsletter that mentioned kitties, and some fun samples (a Kashi cookie and some, um, feminine hygiene products in a cute case).

Today I got some inventory for ghia and a BzzKit for 5 Gum.

I'm a Bzz Agent for 5 Gum, which means I get to try it for free and tell people what I think. I'll probably post a review later tonight or tomorrow. I have extra samples that I can give to people, too, so I am trying to decide if I should run some sort of contest or something like all the cool mommy bloggers do for their reviews.

I Shall Throw Cuteness in Your General Direction

A post consisting of cute things, dedicated to Ivy, Ginger, and Kat (all of whom may need a good dose of cuteness right now).

This is my Kitty Duck. I found him in the BrewPups tent at the Tomato Art Fest. He needed to come home with me.














This is a dog playing with a whale. Isn't nature awesome?




And this is a ridiculously cute piece of technology. You must watch this video. Trust me on this one. (Hat tip to Paul.)

Click To Play

Dreamer

I have weird dreams.

Most of them involve complicated plot lines and a full cast of characters. Many of them involve spies. Sometimes Nazis. Sometimes I dream Stargate episodes.

A couple of nights ago, I had a dream that Enterprise (the most recent incarnation of Star Trek) was going into syndication. However, the TV "powers that be" decided to liven up the series by adding Zach Braff. Like, they just stuck him in the existing episodes. No re-filming, just green screened him into each scene.

I'm not sure what this says about me other than confirming the fact that I watch too much TV.

I think I need to write a book of short stories based on my dreams.

Buy stuff!

Don't forget to visit me tomorrow (Saturday) at the Farmer's Market! I'll be there with lots o' cool ghia products.

On Sunday I'll be at the CRAFT event behind Lipstick Lounge in East Nashville.

I think the people at Weather.com have been consulting their Hitchhiker's Guide...

Foundation, Truth, and the American Way

So, it seems that every makeup brand has their method, their spiel to convince me to buy a certain series of products.

For Clinique, it's cleanse, exfoliate, moisturize . So I buy the soap, the clarifying lotion, and the moisturizer.

The Mary Kay pitch is that everyone needs to cleanse, moisturize, and protect.

Now I agree that skin needs protection -- SPF protection. But the Mary Kay ladies say that foundation is the way to protect skin.

(Note of explanation for the guys: Foundation is this goopy or powerdy stuff women put on their skin to make it look more, uh, skin-like.)

So, the theory goes, to keep pollution off our lovely faces, we have to put this goopy stuff on our faces to protect them. I'm not sure I buy that. I'm still not sure that smearing makeup all over my face actually helps it.

I also am becoming convinced that, while an expensive skin care regimen may help my face look better for awhile, once I stop the regimen, my face will look much worse. It's a conspiracy, I tell you.

All that said, I'm actually having a Mary Kay party at my house in a couple of weeks. Blogging ladies, if you want to participate, let me know. As long as I'm pretty sure you won't burn down my house, I'll send you an invitation.

No Craftiness This Weekend

Tomorrow's CRAFT event has been cancelled due to the threat of rain. It has been rescheduled for Sunday, September 16. So if you want to watch me stutter as I try to overcome shyness and sell things, you will have to wait until next weekend. Alas.

The nice thing is that this gives me time to bring out some new products I have waiting in the wings....yay!

Side note: My spellcheck tells me that "canceled" is the preferred way to spell that word, but I like "cancelled" so much better. It just works. "Canceled" looks like it should be pronounced kan-seald. Or kan-se-led. Kanseled. Sounds like a knight of the Round Table.

Shameful Self-Promotion

Shameful, as in, "full of shame," not "disgraceful." Yes, that is the archaic use of the word, but it fits my purposes. So :-P.

I am not a born saleswoman. I LOVE my store, and I LOVE the products I sell. Sometimes I want to keep them all for myself.

But I have such a hard time promoting the store to other people. It's just not me.

Yesterday I dropped off a "ghia gift basket" as a donation for a silent auction. The woman running the auction asked me about my store and the gift basket. I really wanted to be like, "I'm great! My store is great! Buy buy buy!" Instead, I was like, "Um, hereyougohereisthegiftbasketokaybye."

Sigh....

Same thing with The Best of Nashville. I have been asking some people to vote for ghia as Best New Retail Store and Best Place to Buy a Gift. However, despite the fact I think my store rocks, I feel ashamed about promoting it like this.

Anyways.....

Here's my next round of shameful self-promotion:

Come see me tomorrow! Assuming it's not raining, I'll be at the CRAFT event behind the Lipstick Lounge in East Nashville from 11am - 5pm. The Lipstick Lounge is at 14th and Woodland. There will be all sorts of awesome vendors there with apparel, art, candles, etc. So check it out. And buy stuff. My stuff.

Strange Treasures of the Impulse Aisle

So I was at the Inglewood Kroger today, waiting to check out with my groceries, when I noticed some interesting items positioned for the perusal of us poor souls waiting in line. These walls of product directly preceding a cash register often are termed the "Impulse Aisle," as the purpose is to convince the conveniently captive audience that they need yet another item before they end the day's shopping.

So here are my wondrous finds:











Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans

Yes, now you can taste jelly beans in the exciting flavors of worms, soap, and more! This Harry Potter-inspired candy is made by Jelly Belly, which seems appropriate to me because I think some of their existing flavors taste like worms and soap. Personally, this is not the Harry Potter candy I would pick for an impulse aisle. Chocolate Frogs, complete with collectible wizard cards, are totally the way to go.













Elvis Pez

Not only do you need an Elvis Pez dispenser, you need THREE Elvis Pez dispensers: Fat Elvis, Young Elvis, and Military Elvis. I suppose these were ordered for "Elvis Week" last month, but I didn't notice them until this week. I could be wrong, but I'm guessing this would have impulse appeal to a very limited segment of the population.