There are more than two dozen auctions on eBay,
all claiming that their gum has been spit out by
Spears.
SEPT 3, 2004
Spears' chewed gum sold on eBay
NEW YORK - Britney Spears' fans don't think the pop star's chewed
gum is Toxic - they're buying wads of it on eBay.
There are over two dozen auctions of used chewing gum on eBay, each
claiming their product has been spit out by the 22-year-old singer.
Prices go as high as US$14,000, but most are for significantly
less.
Though there is no way to verify the authenticity of the various
wads, many postings include photos of a small piece of chewed gum,
a copy of a ticket stub from the place of finding and a personal
story of procurement.
One posting claiming to be the originator of the craze says the gum
for sale was spat out in anger by Spears outside her Los Angeles
home in early August. A picture of the gum, now going for US$26,
accompanies the auction.
A seller from London who is asking US$53 for a piece of gum
obtained at Spears' 2000 Wembley Arena concert, declares: 'I have
had this item for over three years and am only listing it because
of the current interest in Ms Spears' habit for discarding
gum!'
Mr Brian Johnson, 25, of Mississauga, Ontario, had a posting asking
for $1,000, claiming: 'You could take a DNA test to prove this is
the real deal.' Though he has since taken down the ad, he told The
Associated Press in a recent e-mail that he obtained the gum while
working backstage at a Toronto concert in April.
But some of the auctions are fake. One seller offered a piece of
Spears' gum from the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards that 'still has
her teeth marks in it'. The singer didn't attend the event.
The bidding is also often fake. The gum now priced at US$14,000 was
driven up by one person who bid against himself. Winning bids are
mostly closer to between US$5 and US$100. -- AP
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