Is Chewing Gum All Marketing? And What My Choice Says About Me

I bought a pack of Orbit peppermint gum (at Best Buy of all places) but I realized while standing there looking at my various options, that I really didn't have much of an option at all...peppermint gum just seemed to be, well, peppermint gum. Was I voting for which gum then had the best marketing?

Others will argue that every purchase is a marketing vote, but I want to believe that isn't entirely the case -- there certainly are more options within other products to make a decision more complicated (think of those typical Best Buy products like MP3 players, computers, televisions and cell phones). I also like to think I'm/we're not just puppets being manipulated by marketing, though maybe my choice of Orbit gum over a cheaper alternative (didn't even look at prices) reveals my strings.

Anyway...back on topic.

What's exactly the difference between:
Peppermint Dentyne
Peppermint Orbit
Peppermint Trident
Peppermint Stride
...and so on?

Is there a need for all these peppermint gums? Are the peppermint flavors really any different? Is one peppermint actually better than another? Can I type "peppermint" one more time? I didn't purchase one of each for testing, but I'm guessing any difference is negligible.

So why, or how, do we choose one peppermint gum over another? I don't think I even could tell the flavor difference between the peppermint chewing gums.

If it's all marketing, then why did I choose the gum I did? What does that say about me?

Did I go with Orbit because of the odd commercials reminiscent of old airline ads (seriously, the wink and smile are spot on), and I like a little odd humor?

Was it the snazzy blue box because I appreciate a well-thought-out design (I know, the design of this site needs work)?

I rarely chew gum and hadn't had Orbit before, so it wasn't based on past experience. Whatever they did, it worked for at least one sale.

My 16 year-old would have gone with 5. I'd venture to guess because either he likes the slick black box

...at some point he saw a friend with a pack of it, or because it ties into online music...it looks to me like they are pretty on target since a 16 year-old has bought in.

Maybe that's Wrigley's plan. They own a ton of brands (on their website they list 5 gum, Altoids, Big League Chew, Big Red, Creme Savers, Doublemint, Eclipse, Extra, Freedent, Hubba Bubba, Juicy Fruit, Life Savers, Orbit, Winterfresh and Wrigley's Spearmint), and gum is gum and cheap to produce, so they make it in different shapes and market them differently to reach a broad spectrum of people who may not otherwise spend $1.40 on gum.

What gum would you have chosen, and more importantly, what does that say about you?