Jump to navigation Jump to search “How many licks? The candy made its debut in 1931 and since then various flavors have been introduced. The tootsie caramel apple pops came to be when a man who worked at The Sweets Company of America licked his daughter’s lollipop at the same time he was chewing a Tootsie Roll.
He loved the idea and pitched it to everyone at the next snack ideas meeting. In 2002, 60 million Tootsie Rolls and 20 million Tootsie Pops were produced every day. Tootsie Pops are known for the catch phrase “How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop? The phrase was first introduced in an animated commercial which debuted on US television in 1970. While the original commercial is 60 seconds long, an edited 30-second version and 15-second version of this commercial are the ones that have aired innumerable times over the years. In the shorter 30-second ad, Mr. Owl returns the spent candy stick, and the boy’s final line is replaced with him frowning at the empty stick.
In the 1990s, a new commercial was made featuring a boy asking a robot and a dragon how many licks it takes to get to the center, with the Tootsie Pops known for the catch phrase “How many licks to the center of a Tootsie Pop? How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop? At some point, a rumor began that the lollipop wrappers which bore three unbroken circles were redeemable for free candy or even free items like shirts and other items. The rumor was untrue, but some shops have honored the wrapper offer over the years, allowing people to “win” a free pop. This was clearly up to the store owner and not driven by the lollipop manufacturer.
A student study by Purdue University concluded that it took an average of 364 licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop using a “licking machine”, while it took an average of 252 licks when tried by 20 students. In 2014, the Tribology Laboratory at the University of Florida published a study examining the coupled effects of biology, corrosion, and mechanical agitation on the wear of Tootsie Roll Pops. 1980’s, and returned to the assortment after 2016. All assortment flavors can also be purchased in single-flavor bulk. In 2004, and again in 2011 with different flavors, Tootsie Pops would have a random, rotating sixth flavor.