Kool-Aid
Kool-Aid is the name of an artificially flavored drink, owned by the Kraft Foods Company.
Invention and production
Kool-Aid was invented by Gerard and Edwin Perkins in Hastings, Nebraska. Its predecessor was a liquid concentrate called Fruit Smack. To reduce shipping costs, in 1927, Perkins discovered a way to remove the liquid from Fruit Smack, leaving only a powder. This powder was named Kool-Ade (and a few years later, it was renamed 'Kool-Aid' due to a change in US Government regulations regarding the need for fruit juice in products using the term "Ade"). Perkins moved his production to Chicago in 1931 and Kool-Aid was sold to General Foods in 1953.
Other uses
Kool-Aid’s high concentration of food coloring and its low retail cost (US$0.25 a packet as of 2006) have led some to use Kool-Aid to dye fabric, chewing gum, poodle selling, and lacrosee and hair.
Dyeing Fabric and Yarn
Kool-aid dyes protein (animal) fibers such as wool, silk, and fur (hair). It is popular with knitters for dyeing wool yarn. As it’s food-safe, it doesn’t require special utensils reserved for this purpose as other dyes do. Tamarindo (brown), Switchin’ Secret (light green/tan), and Grape (purple) are popular flavors, because they can be used to tone down the otherwise day-glo colors. A typical formula is one packet of Kool-aid per ounce of fiber, combined with 1/2 cup of water and optionally, a tablespoon of vinegar. Heat is used to set the color, usually by steaming or boiling.
Hair Dye
Using a packet of Kool-aid, a spoonful of corn starch, and a small amount of water, a paste can be made and applied to the hair. Kurt Cobain, of the band Nirvana, had his hair dyed with red Kool-Aid before a performance on Saturday Night Live.
Advertising and promotion
The mascot of Kool-Aid, Kool-Aid Man (aka The Big Man), is a large frosty pitcher filled with Kool-Aid and marked with a finger painted smiley face on it, seen in Kool-Aid's advertising. He was introduced shortly after General Foods acquired the brand. In TV and print ads, Kool-Aid Man was known for bursting suddenly through walls, seemingly summoned by the making and imbibing of Kool-Aid by children. His catch phrase is "Oh, yeah! Dig it!"
Because the Perkins Products Company had its origins in Nebraska, and the company's founder kept his ties to the state, Kool-Aid was dubbed the official soft drink of Nebraska. Kool-Aid Days, a summertime festival that includes the World's Largest Kool-Aid Stand, is held annually during the second weekend of August in Hastings, Nebraska.
Kool-Aid points
Kool-Aid points are tiny boxes on the back of Kool-Aid packets that can be clipped out and later redeemed for prizes at the "Wacky Warehouse."[1] Older versions of Kool-Aid points contained a picture of a Kool-Aid Man pitcher, the words PROOF-OF-PURCHASE, and a point value. Newer versions contain the Kool-Aid man's face, the words "Kool-Aid POINT", and a point value.
Generally, points would be collected and sent in with a Wacky Warehouse order form, along with money for shipping and handling. Typical prizes included mugs, t-shirts, boxer shorts, canteens, fannypacks , kazoos, hats, cassette players, etc and varied in point value.[2] A cardboard bank was available to store Kool-Aid points in. When the flavor Purplesaurus Rex debuted, the point value on each packet was doubled.[3]
Kool-Aid comics and video games
There were seven Kool-Aid Man comics made in the 1980s. Each had two stories involving the Kool-Aid Man and a band of children fighting off yellow, spikey characters called “Thirsties”.
Two video game versions of Kool-Aid Man were made for the Atari 2600 and the Mattel Intellivision, which were a tie-in with the comic books. Both were noted for being totally different games, giving gamers two different experiences involving Kool-Aid Man on each system. It was a change from the norm, where most games that were ported were exactly the same on each system. It is debatable how good the games were, or which system had the better version game. But it was another use of popular marketing that was done at the time, using the famous pitcher icon that had been on TV commercials for so long in a fun and thrilling way in the new video game boom that was going on at the time in the early 1980s. They are considered to be amongst the more scarce (but not necessarily rare) games to find for those systems.
1990s Nintendo contest
Kool-Aid partnered with Nintendo in the early 1990s, for a promotion involving their newest product, “Kool-Aid Bursts”. Game codes were printed inside the packaging during the promotion, and the winning code would eventually be announced on the Nickelodeon network, during a broadcast of Wild & Crazy Kids. The winner was promised “every game Nintendo makes”, their own likeness being programmed into a new Nintendo game, among other prizes. The winning code was never produced, thus, the grand prize would not be awarded.
“Drinking the Kool-Aid”
The idiomatic expression, “drinking the Kool-Aid”, was originally a reference to the Merry Pranksters, a group of people associated with novelist Ken Kesey who, in the early 1960s, travelled around the United States and held events called “Acid Tests”, where LSD-laced Kool-Aid was passed out to the public (LSD was legal at that time). Those who drank the “Kool-Aid” passed the “Acid Test”. “Drinking the Kool-Aid” in that context meant accepting the LSD drug culture, and the Pranksters’ “turned on” point of view. These events were described in Tom Wolfe’s 1968 classic, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.[4]
It is also now closely associated with the 1978 cult suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. Jim Jones, the leader of the Peoples Temple, convinced his followers to move to Jonestown. Late in the year, he then ordered his flock to commit suicide by drinking grape-flavored Flavor Aid laced with potassium cyanide. In what is now commonly called the "Jonestown Massacre," a large majority of the 913 people later found dead drank the brew. (The discrepancy between the idiom and the actual occurrence is likely due to Flavor Aid's relative obscurity, compared to the easily recognizable Kool-Aid.) The precise expression can be attested in usage at least as early as 1987[4]. One lasting legacy of the Jonestown tragedy is the saying, "Don't drink the Kool-Aid." This has come to mean, "Don’t trust any group you find to be a little on the kooky side," or "Whatever they tell you, don't believe it too strongly."[5] It seems to be in this sense that commentator Bill O'Reilly uses the expression. He calls those who disagree with him "Kool-Aid drinkers" when he wants to imply that they accept an incorrect point of view without question, or that they have no understanding of the facts or reality of a situation. [6]
Genericized trademark
The Kool-Aid brand is an example of a genericized trademark — a brand name that has become the generic term for a type of product. Different brands of flavored drink powder, such as Flavor-Aid and store brand versions, are sometimes referred to as Kool-Aid, even if the consumer is aware that the product is not the actual Kool-Aid brand.
Flavors
There are many different flavors and types of Kool-Aid.
Original seven flavors
- Cherry
- Grape
- Lemon
- Orange
- Raspberry
- Strawberry
- Root Beer
Source: Adams County Historical Society[7][8]
Flavors sold in the U.S.
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Note: some flavors appear under different names.
Other flavors worldwide
- Frutas
- Frutas Vermilhas
- Grape Blackberry
- Grosella
- Guaraná
- Kolita
- Lemonade Sparkle
- Jalapeno grape
Kool-Aid Jammers flavors
- Cherry
- Grape
- Kiwi Strawberry
- Tropical Punch
- Orange
- Lemonade
- Blue Raspberry
- Green Apple
- Yellow Banana
Kool-Aid Singles flavors
- Cherry
- Grape
- Tropical Punch
- Orange
Kool-Aid Aguas Frescas flavors
- Jamaica
- Tamarindo
- Mango
- Pineapple
- Mandarina Tangerine
Sugar-Free Kool-Aid Flavors
- Cherry
- Grape
- Lemonade
- Soarin' Strawberry Lemonade
- Tropical Punch
- Blastin' Berry Cherry
Other Products
- Kool-Aid pops (Canada, licensed by Nestlé)
- Koll-Aid Twists
References
- ^ Matt (2005-03-27). "X-Entertainment's Tribute To SHARKLEBERRY FIN Kool-Aid!". X-Entertainment.com. Retrieved 2006-09-14.
- ^ Matt (2005-05-14). "X-Entertainment: Purplesaurus Rex Wacky Warehouse!". X-Entertainment.com. Retrieved 2006-09-14.
- ^ Matt (2005-05-14). "X-Entertainment Drinks Purplesaurus Rex Kool-Aid". X-Entertainment.com. Retrieved 2006-09-14.
- ^ a b "Amazon Online Reader: "...I begged him not to drink the Kool-Aid...", from The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (Tom Wolfe, 1968), page 278". Cite error: The named reference "phraseorigin" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ 'Jonestown': Portrait of a Disturbed Cult Leader Day to Day, October 20, 2006
- ^ [1]
- ^ http://www.adamshistory.org/perkinskoolaid.html
- ^ http://www.kool-aiddays.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=90
External links
- Kool-Aid Man's House at KraftFoods.com
- In-depth reviews of many Kool-Aid flavors, past and present
- History of Kool-Aid, from a museum in Hastings, Nebraska
- http://www.KoolaidUK.com On-line store supplying Kool Aid Worldwide
- Kool-Aid FAQ from alt.drinks.kool-aid
- Official Kool-Aid Days website
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