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Kool-Aid

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This article is about a soft drink. For the album by Big Audio Dynamite II see Kool-Aid (album).
The Kool-Aid logo.

Kool-Aid is a brand of artificially flavored drink mix owned by the Kraft Foods Company.

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, USA. 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. A few years later, it was renamed 'Kool-Aid', due to a change in U.S. government regulations regarding the need for fruit juice in products using the suffix "-ade"[citation needed] [dubious – discuss]. Perkins moved his production to Chicago in 1931 and Kool-Aid was sold to General Foods in 1953.[1]

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.

Advertising and promotion

The mascot of Kool-Aid, Kool-Aid Man is a large anthropomorphic frosty pitcher filled with Kool-Aid (usually cherry, though other flavors have been used). He was introduced in Kool-Aid advertising 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!" For many years, the Kool-Aid Man was portrayed by a live-action actor in a giant pitcher suit; starting in the mid-1990s, the character was computer-generated. The most recent Kool-Aid commercial, however, features a new actor in a whole-new pitcher costume. [citation needed]

Genericized trademark

The Kool-Aid brand is an example of a genericized trademark — a brand name which 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. As such, many uses of Kool Aid now are labeled as Kool Aid brand.

Flavors

Original 6 flavors[2] Cherry, Grape, Lime (discontinued)[3], Orange, Raspberry (discontinued), Strawberry[4]
Singles flavors[5] Cherry, Grape, Orange, Tropical Punch
Sugar-Free flavors[citation needed] Double Double Cherry, Triple Awesome Grape,Lemonade, Soarin' Strawberry Lemonade, Tropical Punch
Agua Frescas flavors[6] Jamaica, Mandarina Tamarindo, Mango, Pineapple, Tangerine
Other flavors worldwide or previously available[6] Apple, Berry Blue, Black Cherry, Bunch Berry, Cherry, Cherry Cracker, Chocolate, Cola, Eerie Orange, Frutas, Frutas Vermelhas, Golden Nectar, Grape, Grape Blackberry, Grapeberry Splash, Great Bluedini, Groselha, Guaraná, Incrediberry, Kickin-Kiwi-Lime, Kolita, Lemon, Lemonade, Lemonade Sparkle, Lime, Man-o-Mangoberry, 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

Other products

See also

References

  1. ^ "History of Kool-Aid". Hastings Museum of Culture and History. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
  2. ^ Kool-Aid Days
  3. ^ 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)
  4. ^ "The History of Kool-Aid". Hastings Museum of Natural & Cultural History. 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-03.
  5. ^ "Kool-Aid Powdered".
  6. ^ a b Shaw, Scott (October 8, 2006). "Kool-Aid Komics". Oddball Comics. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
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