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Kool-Aid

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This article is about the soft and fun drinks. For the album by Big Audio Dynamite II see Kool-Aid (album).
Kool-Aid
Product typeDrink mix
OwnerKraft Foods
Country
Introduced1927
MarketsWorldwide

Kool-Aid is a brand of flavored drink mix and coloured drinks owned by the Kraft Foods Company, and manufactured by its Mexican subsidiary.

Invention and production

The building in Hastings, Nebraska, where Kool-Aid was invented

Kool-Aid was invented by Edwin Perkins and his wife Kitty in Hastings, Nebraska, United States. All of his experiments took place in his mother's kitchen.[1] 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-Aid. Perkins moved his production to Chicago in 1931 and Kool-Aid was sold to General Foods in 1953.[2]

Hastings still celebrates a yearly summer festival called Kool-Aid Days on the second weekend in August, in honor of their city's claim to fame. Kool-Aid is known as Nebraska's "official soft drink".[3]

Advertising and promotion

File:Kool Aid Man.jpeg
Kool-Aid Man

Kool-Aid Man, a frosty pitcher filled with Kool-Aid, is the mascot of Kool-Aid. The character was introduced shortly after General Foods acquired the brand. In TV and print ads, Kool-Aid Man was known for bursting suddenly through walls of children's homes and proceeding to make a batch of Kool-Aid for them. His catch phrase is "Oh, yeah!" The Kool-Aid Man mascot has been around since the 1960s in their earlier years of production.

Flavors

Original 7 flavors[4] Cherry, Grape, Apple, Lemon-Lime,[5] Orange, Raspberry, Strawberry, Root Beer (Discontinued)[6]
Singles flavors[7] Black Cherry, Tropical Punch, Lemonade, Pink Lemonade, Rhubarb, Cherry
Sugar-Free flavors[citation needed] Double Double Cherry, Triple Awesome Grape, Lemonade, Soarin' Strawberry Lemonade, Tropical Punch, Raspberry
Agua Frescas flavors[8] Jamaica, Mandarina-Tangerine, Mango, Tamarindo, Piña-Pineapple
Other flavors worldwide or previously available[8] Apple, Bunch Berry, Blastin' Berry Cherry, Blue Berry Blast, Cherry, Cherry Cracker, Chocolate, Cola, Eerie Orange, Frutas, Frutas Vermelhas, Golden Nectar, Grape, Grape Blackberry, Grape Tang, Melon Mango, Strawberry Splash, Great Blueberry, Great Blue-dini, Groselha, Guaraná,Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade, Incrediberry, Kickin-Kiwi-Lime, Kolita, Lemon, Lemonade, Lemonade Sparkle, Lemon-Lime,Lime, Man-o-Mangoberry, Mango, Mountainberry Punch, Oh-Yeah Orange-Pineapple, Orange, Orange Enerjooz, Pina-Pineapple, Pink Lemonade, Pink Swimmingo, Purplesaurus Rex, Rainbow Punch, Raspberry, Roarin' Raspberry Cranberry, Rock-a-Dile Red, Root Beer, Scary Black Cherry, Scary Blackberry, Sharkleberry Fin, Slammin' Strawberry-Kiwi, Soarin' Strawberry-Lemonade, Strawberry, Strawberry Falls Punch, Strawberry Split, Strawberry-Raspberry, Sunshine Punch, Surfin' Berry Punch, Tangerine, Tropical Punch, Watermelon-Cherry, Shaking Starfruit

Other products

  • Kool-Aid Twists Mountain Dew
  • Kool-Aid Ice Cream Bars
  • Kool-Aid Singles
  • Kool-Aid Bursts
  • Kool-Aid Jammers
  • Kool-Aid Fun Fizz
  • Kool-Aid Pop 'n Drop


Cultural references

  • Drinking the Kool-Aid refers to the Jonestown Massacre; the phrase suggests that one has mindlessly adopted the dogma of a group or leader without fully understanding the ramifications or implications.[citation needed] The poison at Jonestown, however, was prepared not with Kool-Aid but a similar product, Flavor Aid.[9]
  • The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test is a work of literary journalism by Tom Wolfe depicting the life of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters. The book's title is a reference to an acid test in Watts, California where the Pranksters spiked a batch of Kool-Aid with the psychedelic drug LSD in the 1960s.[citation needed]
  • Family Guy have often featured the Kool-Aid guy bursting through the wall saying "Oh Yeah". This is known to happen at an inappropriate time or place, leaving him embarassed where he then backs out of the hole he made.

References

  1. ^ The History of Kool-Aid and Edwin Perkins.
  2. ^ "History of Kool-Aid". Hastings Museum of Culture and History. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
  3. ^ The History of Kool-Aid and Edwin Perkins
  4. ^ Kool-Aid Days
  5. ^ Grosvenor, Charles R, Jr. (1995). "Food of the Eighties". In the 80s. Retrieved 2009-04-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "The History of Kool-Aid". Hastings Museum of Natural & Cultural History. 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-03.
  7. ^ "Kool-Aid Powdered".
  8. ^ a b Shaw, Scott (October 8, 2006). "Kool-Aid Komics". Oddball Comics. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
  9. ^ Jonestown Suicide
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