Stride Shift: It's Fruity! No Wait, It's Minty!

You know that scene in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" where Violet Beauregarde snags a piece of the three-course dinner bubblegum that's still in testing mode? She starts chewing and tastes tomato soup, roast beef and then finally blueberry pie, before she, herself, turns into a giant blueberry.
You have to wonder how long real gum companies have been working on creating a taste-changing gum. Well, now Cadbury has apparently achieved that with their new Stride Shift, "the first-ever flavor changing gum." The two flavors are Berry-to-Mint and Citrus-to-Mint. I definitely had my doubts about this. I figured it was like so many other fruit-mint products that combine the two different flavor profiles, usually resulting in something awful.
Well, I have to admit, they did succeed with this challenge. The gum starts off with a berry (or citrusy) taste and then evolves into mint. I'm sure this was much more exciting to the focused taste testers than it is to the general public, who don't pay quite as much attention to what they're chewing. The fruity flavor seemed to be strong during the first ten or so chews, and then the mint started to kick in. I suspect some of this flavor technology has to do with the little gritty bits in the gum (not unlike the scrubby stuff in apricot facial cleansers). Over time the texture gets softer and the flavor turns into a sweet, not-too-strong mint. It's pretty good stuff. I'll be curious to see where they take this technology. You know what I think would be cool? A triple-mint gum: peppermint, spearmint and wintergreen. Now that would impress me.