In April, 1997, those wacky folks in Australia held a create-your-own- Mentos commercial contest, complete with some pretty fresh prizes, including Mentos watches, T-shirts, and the chance to have your ad screened on National Television!

Seamus Byrne tells us the plot of the winning commercial (as seen through the eyes of MaintainerKev):

To get close to nature, that is all our hero wanted. For by riding his bike along this lonely road in Australia he found solace and healing, he found himself. Yes, to be close to nature was his goal, but he wound up getting a lot closer than he first wanted to, flipping his bike over and driving himself to the ground in a manner that would make Christopher Reeves wince. Physically, he had survived, but alas, his bike had gone to that great Brady Bunch Garage in the Sky. He was stranded. Then it dawned on him that he possessed the one greatest tool that could be used for survival, nature's greatest gift to the wanderer - the thumb. He extended it fully, accompanied by a bright smile, as a car drove past, but it did not stop. Fighting off the urge to extend another finger, he patiently waited for the next passerby and received a faceful of mud as the 4 wheeler mocked him, actually hitting the gas and aiming for our distraught youngin' before passing him by. Scraping the dirt from his mouth, our hero held the most bitter of tastes... his breath was rancid now. But wait! The solution to that problem could solve *all* problems! Mentos, the Freshmaker and Ride Provider! Without delay he sent a minty morsel into a swan-dive to his tongue, savoring its breath-freshening taste as he held the package, its bright, friendly letters calling out to all who could see it, and yes, if you hold it out, they will definitely come. A small traffic jam ensued as many unworthy folks vied for the favor of giving him a ride, but knowing a good deal when he sees one, our hero slid into the vehicle driven by an angel, a goddess, a mentos-babe. With a wink, a smile, and a flash of the Mentos, the newly-united couple drove off towards civilization.

Alister Graham was one of the ten national finalists in the Australian contest. His prize pack: A Mentos cap, Polo Shirt, backpack, watch, and a year's supply of Mentos (All mint!)

Mentomania is ever-expanding, proof of which can be found at SLOMOTION meetings according to Michael V Arnold 'SLOMOTION' is a film club in which the members have taken fancy to making their own Mentos commercials.

Damon Claussen writes to us, also of the "Slomotion" film club in Cal Poly. He was kind enough to send screen captures of the films and tells us that ten of the parodies exist. The screen captures will be posted on the web soon, so keep your eyes right here!
v Joshua Nash described an interesting Mentos related experience he had while attending the University of Michigan in 1995:

"One evening, I went to see an SNL-type comedy show. Half-way through, the lights dimmed, and a screen lowered from the top of the stage. I heard the beginning notes of the Mentos song. On the screen, there was a man in a blue car at one end of an empty parking lot. At the other end, was another man. The man in the car flashes a roll of peppermint freshness and begins to drive at the other man. He accelerates and we see him close the gap until we see a shot of the grille. We then see a shot of the sky...all of a sudden, a body crosses the camera's view. We then see the driver put the car in gear again and drive toward the pedestrian. Feeling even more fresh, he appears to run over the man (much in the fashion of the Toxic Avenger). We then see the man's head (and apparently the rest of his body) sticking out from under the car, his head approx. 1 1/2 feet behind the left front wheel. The driver then opens the door (hitting the man on the head) and displays the Mentos to him. We see the beloved orange bar and hear, 'Mentos, da freshmaker.'"

Stephen Falk heard a rumor a while back about an NYU film student who, for his Junior Thesis Project, made a black and white Mentos commercial about the Kennedy assassination. It features a secret service agent who arrives at the book depository a second too late. The film apparently uses some footage from the Zapruder film as well. Has anyone else seen this?

Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz, drummer with "Weird Al" Yankovic, mentioned that, being a big fan of the Dr. Demento show while he was young, he used to do some creative cut'n'paste with rolls of Mentos, making the famous block lettering read "Dementos."

According to Mike Brown, a student theater company at the University of Dayton put on a Mentos commercial. The scene is a classroom, where a student who obviously didn't study is trying to cheat on a test. The girl next to him catches on and tries to obstruct his view of her test. The boy pops a Freshmaker, gets up, and strangles the life out of her. He takes her test paper and sits back down. The teacher, horrified and shocked at what just happened is standing there, her mouth agape. The boy whips out his roll of Mentos and displays them proudly to his teacher, who clearly will not punish him now.