Plenty of press releases cross the desk. Most of them get read and deleted. Some get filed, a few get responses. But once in a while, there's a giggler.
Such was the case a few days ago when a release for Mentos candy mints arrived. Specifically, it regarded Mentos Singapore and its new advertising campaign. Singapore has been concerned about its dwindling population for a number of years. Aside from a government that's known for worrying about chewing gum, it's a prosperous city-state and a paradise for eaters if they can take its climate, which, being about 85 mies north of the equator is, to be polite, warm and moist.
So Mentos has decided to mark Singapore's National Day, August 9, by encouraging a Mento, presumably to freshen the breath, on the Day's night, and kissing one's partner. Then, they go on, the kissing should proceed to, well, making a baby. Out of civic duty, of course. There's a You Tube music video (no photos, just the lyrics dancing around) that has some local Singaporean references, some obscure, like the one about the government's baby bounty, and others more comprehensible. For instance, dim sum fans may grin at the phrase "a bao in the oven", bao being a word for "bun".
I've heard of Pepsi babies, and Margaux Hemingway said her name referred to her being a Chateau Margaux baby. But Mentos babies? The video, by the way, mentions nothing about it, but its Facebook page puts, in small type, "financially secure adults in stable, committed long-term relationships".
Here's the Facebook link, and for just the video, here's the link for that. Just watch out for strange guys offering you Mentos Wednesday evening.