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WeDriftEternal t1_iujd4rp wrote

Product testing. Product testing. Product testing. Then more product testing.

These companies do lots and lots of tests with people, surveys, and all sorts of stuff before they ever ever put a product out on the shelf-- in other words, they tried a ton of stuff and the flavors you see out there are the ones that worked the best.

Mint tends to have a "refreshing" feel, flavor and smell, so is often used to indicate something being clean and fresh.

Lets just take an example. Would you want brownie flavored toothpaste? Probably not, you'd feel like it didn't clean because you just had a whole brownie and its full of chocolate and sugar, that doesn't feel like your mouth is clean. Or would you want banana flavored? Well some people HATE banana flavor, so no luck, you just lost a big audience and others may not want to have banana in their mouth for a few minutes every day, if they did they'd eat a banana.

As an aside, cinnamon used to be around a little bit but has fallen off. Bubble gum flavor (generally meant for kids) can still be found!

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LilJourney t1_iujdc4o wrote

And after being literally raised on ad after ad after ad talking about "minty fresh breath" - we now are conditioned to believe mint is, in fact, "refreshing" - whether it is to us personally or not.

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LochFarquar t1_iujee9t wrote

>Mint tends to have a "refreshing" feel, flavor and smell, so is often used to indicate something being clean and fresh.

Right it's the alcohol-like burn of menthol from the mint that feels cooling and refreshing. The slight burn feels like its cleaning.

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[deleted] t1_iujgm7c wrote

>so no luck, you just lost a big audience and others may not want to have banana in their mouth for a few minutes every day

Hehehehe 😏

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craftyixdb t1_iuji0df wrote

“Because people like it” is not a particularly useful answer in my opinion. The question to me is “why do people like this”

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MOS95B t1_iujj5xt wrote

Same reason like vanilla. Or chocolate Or cold drinks. Or hot drinks. Or lots of popular flavors. Sometimes "because people like it" is the only real answer.

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WeDriftEternal t1_iujl5wg wrote

Well. How they decide it is they test and see what people like.

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craftyixdb t1_iujq00l wrote

I work in market research. What people like or don’t like is a fine finding, but usually we try to go deeper - what are the specific aspects and drivers for that behaviour. “I like this” is not that useful for informing business decisions.

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WeDriftEternal t1_iujq3c5 wrote

Yeah for sure. I’ve done it too. Just keeping it easier to understand

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umassmza t1_iuje2di wrote

Also we’ve been ingrained to associate mint with freshness, gum, literal breath mints, mouthwash, etc.

I can’t even eat mint food because I associate it with stuff you spit out.

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Mrtorbear t1_iujelpj wrote

I smoked menthol cigarettes for nearly a decade. Thought my breath was always fresh and kissable. I was not correct.

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DaringDomino3s t1_iujfhu1 wrote

I mean compared to other cigarette smokers, maybe you got the edge up.

I thought the same with cloves, btw.

Still miss those and black and milds.

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Earguy t1_iujgyno wrote

I dated a menthol smoker. Can affirm.

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ADDeviant-again t1_iujgeb3 wrote

Mint won the flavor wars, over years and years.

Some of the first flavored chewing gum was... pine-flavored. Cloves, licorice, cinnamon, and more got tried. I used to love cinnamon flavored toothpaste as a kid. Somehow, peppermint, regular mint, spearmint, and wintergreen sold best.

In Taiwan, I saw a lot of odd flavors like green tea, but mint was still most popular. And kids' brands come in bubblegum and citrus, etc, so there are some other flavors put there.

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MOS95B t1_iujiub3 wrote

I remember Miss Piggy bubblegum flavored toothpaste

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Excellent-Practice t1_iujgoua wrote

Licorice used to be a fairly common flavor but mint has taken over. If you're lucky you might find unflavored

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