Licking Tootsie Pops

j0j0c0uchp0tat0 · October 5, 2001, 1:18am

How many licks does it really take to get to the center of a tootsie pop? Now don’t go 1, 2, 3ing on me.

Scarlett67 · October 5, 2001, 1:22am

The world may never know.

nineiron · October 5, 2001, 1:31am

I’ve never seen anyone actually lick them. Everyone I know tends to suck them. (We are still talking about Tootsie Pops here.)

bibliophage · October 5, 2001, 1:59am

http://www.tootsie-roll.com/FAQ.html
http://www.tootsie-roll.com/memoriesLicksMachine.html

As such, this isn’t really a GQ. Off to MPSIMS.

bibliophage
moderator GQ

Bad_News_Baboon · October 6, 2001, 1:47am

whew.

I made this my mission.

I stayed home from work even…it is THAT important.
it is exactly 87,368 and 3/4 licks.

Odieman · October 6, 2001, 1:49am

Cite!!!

Crunchy_Frog · October 6, 2001, 1:56am

I did this experiment with 4 different Tootsie Pops and got the following results:

Orange pop: 54,218
Cherry pop: 60,872
Grape pop: 56,940
Orange pop again (I like the orange ones): 55,853

Average licks to get to the center: 56,970 and 3/4 licks.

Way less than yours. Maybe my tongue is bigger or I have a more efficient licking technique.

Angkins · October 6, 2001, 2:00am

1 lick
2 licks
3 licks
4 licks
5 licks
6 licks

CRUNCH!!!*

DAMN! Now I have to start all over again

Bad_News_Baboon · October 6, 2001, 2:01am

maybe your tongue is lumpier?

Crunchy_Frog · October 6, 2001, 2:03am

That’s just a bizarre thought.
Crunchy Frog’s tongue: ribbed for her pleasure.

Fern_Forest · October 6, 2001, 5:07am

If you ever do manage to get all the hard candy licked off you can then throw the soft part against the wall and try and get it to stick.

On a side note for how long have they been running that “Mr. Owl? …” commercial. Is this the longest running commercial or what?

Shera · October 6, 2001, 5:47am

I did this when I was a kid. I did it in shifts, though so my result were probably affected. I still remember that it took me 90,237 licks to get to center. What can I say, I lived in a small town and there really wasn’t much else for me to do.

Iguana_Boy · October 6, 2001, 4:06pm

HEY! I got the patent on that!

As to the OP - Tootsie and I are just goods friends…

Crunchy_Frog · October 6, 2001, 9:25pm

How can you patent my tongue?

Swampwolf · October 6, 2001, 10:01pm

It took you in the 50-60 thousand range? Maybe they’re different now, but when I was younger (about 7 or ) I tried it and was completely freaked out by the number I got (I swear to any and every god you care to suggest, this is completely true!) – 666 licks.

Crunchy_Frog · October 6, 2001, 10:10pm

So were you licking on just one side of the Tootsie Roll or all around it? I think it’s a matter of varying licking styles.

Anubis · October 6, 2001, 10:21pm

Hmmm… None. I hat Tootsie pops. I like tootsie rolls and lolliepops, just not Tootsie pops. Just like me and chocolate milk. Love chocolate, love milk, hate chocolate milk. Wonder why that is? [sym]lahblahblahblahblahilovethisthing![/sym]

Bad_News_Baboon · October 6, 2001, 11:29pm

how does one hat a tootsie pop?
doesn’t it get all over your hair?

mobo85 · October 7, 2001, 12:25am

Well, let’s ask a form letter I found on Usenet that Tootsie Roll was sending out to people in the late 1960s. Form letter?

Dear Friend,

We received your letter about Tootsie Pop licks,
And now we are in a most terrible fix.
The reason, dear friend, is easy to see.
Out of thousands of letters no two lickers agree!

Said one, ‘Tell your Tootsie Pop TV commercial inventor
That I carefully licked to the Tootsie Roll center.
From first lick to last the taste was just fine,
And the licks totalled three thousand seventy-nine.’

But another said, ‘Sirs, when my licking was done,
I had counted to only four hundred and one.’

Can we say to the world that your number is right?
If we did, we’re afraid we’d be in for a fight.

But what made the differences do you suppose?
Was it partly the Tootsie Pop flavor you chose?
Was it the length of your tongue? The shape of your knees?
Your color of hair? The way that you sneeze?

Whatever the reason that no licks agreed,
The lickings say something which all kids should heed.
And that is, your answer is good, just as good as can be.
As good, my friend, for you … as my answer’s for me!

Thanks for your letter. We hold it most dearly.
Believe me, I speak from my heart, Most sincerely,
Albert H. Lewis, Consumer Relations

mobo85 · October 7, 2001, 12:31am

Also, to answer another question that came up, according to Tootsie Roll Industries’ web site, Mr. Owl has been pondering the answer to this question since 1970.