X is for Airheads Xtremes

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X is for Airheads Xtremes Sour Belts, next in the 90sNibbles series! I remember Airheads Xtreme being delicious. Just the right amount of sweet and sour for me! But I love any candy that is fun to look at, and these colorful sour belts get an A+ for presentation! I couldn’t find much while researching Airheads Xtreme, but I did find some alarming Reddit posts from disappointed consumers questioning a change in its recipe. I don’t know if I would trust my taste buds to tell the difference after all these years. There is no proof that the recipe indeed changed. It remains a scandalous rumor.

Steve Bruner was responsible for the graphic design, the name, and intellectual property of Airheads in 1985. He never earned a penny on royalties because he was under contract with the Van Melle Company that they owned anything he developed while working at the company. So sad! And that’s why, kids, unless you’re getting excellent benefits, don’t ever create original ideas under a “work for hire” agreement!

The Airheads name came from a brainstorming session with Steve’s kids. He asked them what they would call a friend that did something “silly.” The word “airhead” stood out in a slew of monikers they offered. The next thing Steve did was doodle the name with a balloon face. The rest is history. Thirty-six years and sixteen flavors later, the tangy and chewy candy is going strong nationwide.