TikTok influencers have helped many unique articles go viral, often featuring food or products with compelling testimonials or turning merchandise into trends.
The latest craze to hit the platform is the Walgreens “Nice!” brand's Gummy Mango candies, which went viral several times after content creators realized that you could peel off the candy, like a real mango, and find a chewy, gobbled-up center to eat.
Now, Walgreens can't keep the $1.99 bags of candy in stock.
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“Literally in about four to five days after we launched it, we sold almost all of the product,” Marty Esarte, Walgreens vice president of owned brands. said CNN. “If we had waited for that to happen, maybe we would have had more.”
In January, the influencer credited with creating the initial buzz (@trinhdoesthings), posted a clip of himself peeling and eating candy that has since garnered over 8.9 million views.
@trinhdoesthings Mango chewing gum that peels? #mimiza #mango #candy #snack ♬ original sound – trinhdoesthings
“I work at Walgreens, the amount of people coming in looking for these is crazy,” commented one viewer.
On TikTok, searching for “peelable gummy mango” will bring up thousands of videos; the most liked video to date was posted by content creator @linder_surprise, garnering over 804,000 likes and 8.3 million views.
@linder_surprise Replying to @Azula Found it at WALGREENS!! ?? (introductory video belongs to @xo-deliciousfood) #fyp #mangopeelinggummy #shell #mangopeeling candy ♬ original sound – Linda
“The interactivity of it is really cool and it's what makes peeling candy really fun,” Esarte told CNN. “It also raises a point of discussion: Is the outer layer better than the inner tire or are they better together or apart?”
And for those obsessed with the mango craze, a new flavor is expected to hit the shelves soon.
“We're going to launch a peelable banana gummy,” Esarte said. “Banana is a popular flavor favorite in the US and around the world, and we think it's another great item to add to the peelable rubber mix.”
Esarte noted that the new flavor will launch next month at approximately 5,000 Walgreens locations.
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Walgreens reported an approximate one Q1 2024, where the company cut its quarterly dividend by nearly 50% in an effort to “strengthen (its) long-term balance sheet and cash position.
“We are evaluating all strategic options to drive sustainable long-term shareholder value, focusing on quick actions to right-size costs and increase cash flow, with a balanced approach to capital allocation priorities ,” CEO Tim Wentworth said at the time.
Walgreens Boots Alliance was down up 48% year over year as of Monday afternoon.