Foo Fighters ‘Freshmaker’ Single “Big Me” Minty Fresh After 30 Years

If people didn’t know about Dave Grohl’s new project Foo Fighters in 1995, they certainly did by March of 1996. “Big Me” was everywhere on MTV, thanks to its charming music video in which the band helps strangers out of everyday jams using packages of “Footos,” the “freshmaker.” The whole thing was a playful send‑up of the wildly popular Mentos commercials of the era, complete with their upbeat jingle ending in “Mentos, fresh and full of life!” followed by the iconic voiceover: “Mentos—the freshmaker.”

Foo Fighters were still establishing themselves with early singles like “This Is a Call,” “I’ll Stick Around,” and “For All the Cows.” All three performed well, but “Big Me” stood apart. Its video was instantly memorable, and the song itself was a breezy, lighthearted pop tune—completely unlike the louder, more aggressive tracks that made up most of the debut album.

Lyrically, the song is about Grohl’s first wife, Jennifer Youngblood. The phrase “big me” is a tongue‑in‑cheek way of pretending confidence in the relationship while actually wrestling with self‑doubt. Despite the uncertainty, he knows the love matters most—“it’s you I fell into.” Grohl’s warm, almost sunny delivery gives the song a sweetness that softens the more vulnerable sentiment underneath.

“Big Me” didn’t dominate the charts, peaking at #3 on Modern Rock and #18 on Mainstream Rock, but it had staying power. It was catchy, endlessly replayable, and the video became a staple—so much so that it seemed to air as often as the Mentos commercials it parodied. By the end of 1996, it was the 14th most‑played alternative rock song of the year, and the video won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video.

It also set the tone for Foo Fighters’ long tradition of humorous, self‑aware music videos—a refreshing contrast to the darker, more brooding visuals common among their post‑grunge peers. The band was easy to root for, and fans still grieving Nirvana’s end found something uplifting in Grohl’s new direction. At the time, many still saw him primarily as Nirvana’s drummer, but “Big Me” was the moment it felt like the Foo Fighters were truly here to stay. Three decades later, they’re still going strong, with a new album, Your Favorite Toy, arriving in April.

The video itself plays out like a series of Mentos‑style vignettes: a woman watches someone dent her car in a parking lot, pops a Footo, and the band appears to lift the offending vehicle out of the way. Grohl eats a Footo to navigate a traffic jam by climbing through a limousine. A kid uses Footos to sneak into a Foo Fighters concert and ends up onstage playing guitar; the band looks ready to toss him off until he takes another Footo, and they break into smiles and let him stay. Just like in the Mentos ads, the candy solves everything.

“Big Me” was once a live staple, but after fans began pelting the band with Mentos at shows, they retired it for a long stretch. Though it’s since been overshadowed by later hits, the song remains a key turning point—one that helped launch Foo Fighters from a promising new act into one of rock’s most beloved bands.