 | |
 | |
| Product type | Candy |
|---|---|
| Owner | Mars, Incorporated |
| Produced by |
|
| Country | United States |
| Introduced | 1912 |
| Markets | North America |
| Previous owners |
|
| Website | www |
Life Savers (stylized as LifeSavers) is an American brand of ring-shaped hard and soft candy. Its range of mints and fruit-flavored candies is known for its distinctive packaging, coming in paper-wrapped aluminum foil rolls.
Candy manufacturer Clarence Crane of Garrettsville, Ohio[3] (father of the poet Hart Crane) invented the brand in 1912 as a "summer candy" that could withstand heat better than chocolate. The candy is so named due to its shape resembling that of a traditional ring-style life preserver also known as a "life saver".
After registering the trademark, Crane sold the rights to his Pep-O-Mint peppermint candy to Edward John Noble for $2,900. Instead of using cardboard rolls, which were not very successful, Noble created tin-foil wrappers to keep the mints fresh. Noble founded the Life Savers and Candy Company in 1913 and significantly expanded the market for the product by installing Life Savers displays next to the cash registers of restaurants and grocery stores. He also encouraged the owners of the establishments to always give customers a nickel in their change to encourage sales of the 5¢ Life Savers. The slogan "Still only 5 cents" helped Life Savers to become a favorite treat for children with a tight allowance.[4] Since then, many different flavors of Life Savers have been produced. The five-flavor roll first appeared in 1935.
A series of mergers and acquisitions by larger companies began in 1956. Life Savers is currently a property of Mars, Incorporated. In recent decades, the brand expanded to include Gummi Savers in 1992, Life Saver Minis in 1996, Creme Savers in 1998, and Life Saver Fusions in 2001. Discontinued varieties include Fruit Juicers, Holes, Life Saver Lollipops, and Squeezit.
In 1995, a Life Savers drink was introduced to compete with Snapple and Fruitopia, but it was quickly discontinued.[5]
- ^ "Life Savers" pops at Nestle Canada (10 Aug 2021).
- ^ "Sweet deal: Darrell Lea buys Life Savers". Australian Food News. 2018-07-17. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
- ^ "Clarence A. Crane". Ohio History Central. Archived from the original on 2012-10-27. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
- ^ "Life Savers Memorable Moments". Archived from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
- ^ "Top 12 Discontinued Sodas and Soft Drinks from the 1980s, 1990s, and Early 2000s". Verbicide. 13 March 2013. Archived from the original on 2019-05-31. Retrieved 2018-12-08.