While Fred Starkey was making his wad with do-it-yourself gum (p. 27), another entrepreneur quite independently invented a gimmick to turn yourself into a walking gum dispenser: the patented Candy T-Shirt. It accepts pennies in a buttonhole slot (an inside pocket collects the change) and, when squeezed, emits gumballs from another refillable pocket.
"I was afraid people would think it was another obscene underwear gimmick," admits the developer, Frank Nemirofsky, but he proudly contends, "T-shirts have lost their image as underwear, and now they command respect." They can even be, uh, in good taste. One of his designs whets the appetite, depicting a juicy hamburger and dispensing dill-pickle-flavored gum. There are five other models (all $5.95), including one which displays a foot-high jelly bean and reads SQUEEZE MY TEENEE BEANEE BELLY BUTTON.
Nemirofsky, 32, who lives in Lafayette, Calif. with his wife, Marie, and 3-year-old daughter Nicole, ("my greatest guinea pig"), calls his company Body Media Creations. He started it in 1976 after a fling at advertising and the bicycle business. His principal line is promotional shirts for major league teams and companies like Burger King and Diet Rite Cola. His breakthrough came during the holiday season when Candy T-Shirts began to be marketed in major department stores. Promotion will be easy—Rip Taylor plans to wear one on TV's syndicated $1.98 Beauty Show. There has been only one problem: a gooey streak which tends to form on the pockets. Nemirofsky thinks he has solved it, though, with a warning on the package: "Remove gumballs when not in use."
Your Reaction
