The origins of the Gobstopper, to most people may seem unworthy of scrutiny or investigation. The horrible truth is that the Gobstopper was not simply created as a long lasting candy for the sugar loving masses.
In 1971, the Wonka candy company was facing increasing pressure from labor law groups who had been pressing for him to adopt more modern labor and wage practices. Recent riots and walkouts in the Italian and French candy industry brought the candy-labor problem to international attention.
Mr. Wonka, under pressure from his sugar/chocolate supplier Breaker Confections, was being forced to suppress the growing dissent among his rank of workers. At the time Mr. Wonka used Goblin labor almost exclusively in his candy factories. Breaker Confections, worried that the recent unrest in Europe would spill over into America and allow the Goblin laborers to unionize, insisted that Mr. Wonka fire all Goblin employees and hire a little known group of immigrants called the Oompa Loompa's. The Loompa's were a fringe ethnic group from southern Albania which Breaker Confections had been smuggling illegally into the country to work at their factories.
After being fired the Goblin workers did organize and started massive protests in front of all Wonka and Breaker factories. In 1972 the Wonka candy company, at the urging of Breakers CEO Gunter Slugworth, started an anti-goblin campaign seeking to marginalize the goblin protest groups and spread rumors to curb support for their pro-labor efforts.
The centerpiece of this campaign was the release of the Everlasting Gobbstopper. The candy along with the ad's for the candy portrayed goblins as greedy, self serving and seeking only to control the hard earned wealth of the American people. The anti-goblin campaign was a success, with the goblin protests being prohibited by state ordinances throughout the country. The Everlasting Gobbstopper became one of Wonka's best selling products, and their profits increased dramatically with the use of illegal Albanian Oompa labor.
