What lick numbers have people reported, and how far apart are they?

Research question: What lick counts have been reported for reaching the center of a Tootsie Pop, and how do they differ?

The records show two reported counts. Purdue University engineering students used a licking machine designed to mimic a human tongue and reported an average of 364 licks to reach the center ¹. In the 1969 Tootsie Pop commercial, the owl answered that three licks were needed, while the ad itself said the world would never know ². The two figures differ by a wide margin, with the commercial's answer being a TV claim and the Purdue figure coming from a machine test ¹². The facts do not date the Purdue result, so they cannot show how recent that figure is as of October 2026 ¹.

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