Starburst Had A Much Different Name When It Was Invented In The '60s

Starburst is definitely not the weirdest candy you can buy, or even close to zany or kooky. In fact, there's something nostalgic and comforting about these individually-wrapped squares of chewy, fruity candy, and most of us love them dearly. Yet it may surprise you to know that the history of Starburst candy, which is owned today by Mars Wrigley, is one long name game, with multiple moniker changes tied to the rise and fall of sugary fortunes and behind-the-scenes product development.

The story of Starburst starts with Opal Fruit candy, which was first created and launched in the U.K. in 1960. Note that this was 10 full years before the forgotten '70s candy ZotZ made its debut. Meanwhile, overseas, the American research team for M&M's Candies was responsible for rolling out a new product every single month, as M&M's fought to increase its share of the confectionery market. One month's attempt was a rebrand of Opal Fruit, which was dubbed Starburst. Before it hit the shelves, however, word came down from above: corporate wanted to change the name to "M&M's Fruit Chewies." It turned out, however, that consumers were confused when the candy contained no actual chocolate, and so the candy was rechristened Starburst.

Just to make matters more confusing, the candy still went by Opal Fruit abroad, right up until 1998. That's when the Mars company decided to dub the British candy Starburst as well, eliminating any confusion for consumers who might seek out a beloved sweet while traveling across the pond. Luckily, today, Starburst is going strong with 30 consecutive years of avoiding further name changes.

The first packs of Starburst candy featured strawberry, orange, lemon, and lime flavors. Today, the lime has been swapped for cherry when it comes to the classic assortment ... but four-flavored fruit chews are far from the extent of the Starburst stable. Today, the chews have expanded to different flavor lines like Tropical and Sour, while you can also buy Mini Starburst, Starburst jelly beans, and even branded ice cream bars. Other comers like Starburst hard candies and Juicy Bursts have joined the ranks of discontinued candy bars and other similar products that we might have forgotten about. Yet memories live on as these products are enshrined on the World Wide Web, where users love to yammer about Starburst — good, bad, and otherwise.

On a Reddit thread asking for the best Starburst flavors ever, strawberry was the overwhelming winner. Elsewhere on the site, however, amidst many comments where the pink Starburst chews were being widely glazed, another commenter took a different approach: "All starbursts [sic] are exactly the same level of goodness. They are a pile of sugar that have some slightly different flavourings added." A thread on r/unpopularopinion, however, lived up to the name of the subreddit and pooh-pooh'd the format: "[S]tarburst would be a top 5 candy if they weren't all wrapped in paper. like, why? [...] the fact that i have to unwrap every single one impacts my decision making on if i want to get them or not." Yet, whether they are Opal Fruits or Starburst, it seems these candies have staying power in the zeitgeist, wrappers or otherwise.