Mentos used to make quirky commercials for its mints that everybody liked. What I mean is: The spots were popular. The candy, not so much. Now, to launch Mentos Gum in Canada, the company (with help from Cossette) is staging stunts everyone can hate. In Toronto and Montreal, kids and grownups dressed in what appear to be HazMat suits and rode big red bouncing balls down the streets. There was also break-dancing in paint. They're Canadians, so it's no use trying to fathom their frosty, black-bacon-fueled ways. When I was 5, I wanted a big red bounce-toy, but my parents wouldn't buy me one. "You'll just fall off and hurt yourself," they said. They were probably right. I was an uncoordinated little freak, but psychological scars are worse than skinned knees. Maybe Mentos is giving those bouncy things away as part of this promotion. Even if they sent me one, I'm too old to ride it now. In public, at least. Also: that Michael Mooney song in the spot super sucks, but man is it stuck in my head!

—Posted by David Gianatasio