Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.
(312) 644-2121

Wrigley moves beyond gum into the mints sector with the launch of Eclipse sugar-free breath mints. The Eclipse peppermint and winterfrost mints — sold in packages of 50 — have a suggested retail price of $1.49. Wrigley is supporting the rollout with an integrated marketing effort that includes television, digital, cinema and out-of-home advertising, as well as a public relations campaign and celebrity placements. The marketing effort includes a Spanish-language campaign. In addition, Wrigley is partnering with United Airlines and Delta Airlines to distribute samples on several domestic flights.

The Topps Co. Inc.
(212) 376-0530

"The most delightfully disgusting candy ever made," which imparts a "glorious feeling of squishing a bug between your teeth and feeling the warm guts ooze and cascade through your mouth," is how The Topps Co. touts its new introduction, Juicy Bugs. These insect-shaped, see-through, fruit-flavored gummies are filled with liquid "guts" that gush out when bitten. Filling flavors are strawberry, watermelon or sour blue raspberry. Individual pouches of eight Juicy Bugs contain scorpions, slugs, roaches and grubs. Suggested retail price is 55 cents. They will be widely available at major retailers including Wal-Mart, Walgreen's, 7-Eleven and Sam's Club.

Kidsmania Inc.
(562) 946-8822

This new item from Kidsmania is an oversized lollipop of translucent hard candy mounted on top of a mini-sized flashlight handle. When the switch on one end of the handle is twisted to the on position, a color-coordinated blinking light illuminates the candy to a bright glow every time it flashes. Each Blink Pop is packed with a transparent cap that can be used as an ice-pop mold, allowing one to create a blinking ice-pop of fruit juice after the candy is consumed. Blink Pop comes in three flavors: Sparkling Strawberry, Glimmering Green Apple, Twinkling Blue Raspberry. The suggested retail price range is 99 cents to $1.29.

Nestlé Brands Company
Confections & Snacks Division
(818) 549-5817

Laffy Taffy Mystery Rope is an .815-ounce taffy rope with two different flavors and colors swirled together –- which two are a surprise until the rope is eaten. NERDS Novelty Straw is a 1-ounce rainbow of tiny, tangy, crunchy NERDS candy in a 21-inch clear straw. On-the-Go Cups filled with either 5 ounces of SweeTarts or 3.5 ounces of Buncha Crunch come in resealable containers. On-the-Go Tubes, already available with Raisinets and Goobers, are now also available with Chewy Runts and Mini Chewy SweeTarts.

Kraft Confections
(800) 451-6760

Apple Sours is the newest "curiously strong" hard candy from the makers of Altoids, joining Callard & Bowser-Suchard's candy line-up of Citrus Sours and Tangerine Sours. In addition, the company introduces Ginger Altoids to its mints line-up. Both are available nationwide in grocery, drug, convenience and mass merchandise stores. Tart Altoids Apple Sours are packaged in distinctive round, silver and red tins with a pop-up lid. Tins weigh 1.76 ounces, contain approximately 40 sour candies and retail for $1.79 to $1.99. Ginger Altoids have the same weight and price.