Kool-Aid

Kool-Aid
Product type Powdered drink mix, pouched beverage and liquid
Owner Kraft Foods
Country

United States

  • Invented: United States
  • Manufactured: Mexico
Introduced 1927
Markets Worldwide
Website www.koolaid.com

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

History

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

Kool-Aid was invented by Edwin Perkins in Hastings, Nebraska. 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][4]

An agreement between Kraft Foods and SodaStream in 2012 made Kool-Aid's various flavors available for consumer purchases and use with SodaStream's home soda maker machine.[5]

Production

Kool-Aid is usually sold in powder form, in either packets or small tubs. The actual beverage is prepared by mixing the powder with sugar (the packets of powder are usually, though not always, unsweetened) and water, typically by the pitcherful. The drink is usually either served with ice or refrigerated and served chilled. Additionally, there are some sugar-free varieties.

Kool-Aid is/was also sold as single-serving packets designed to be poured into bottled water, as small plastic bottles with pre-mixed drink, or as such novelties as ice cream and/or fizzing tablets.

The colors in Kool-Aid will stain, and hence the substance can be used as a dye for either hair[6] or wool.[7]

Advertising and promotion

The Kool-Aid Man, an anthropomorphic pitcher filled with Kool-Aid, is the mascot of Kool-Aid. The character was introduced shortly after General Foods acquired the brand in the 1950s. In television and print ads, the Kool-Aid Man was known for randomly bursting through walls of children's homes and proceeding to make a batch of Kool-Aid for them. His catch phrase is "Oh, yeah!"

Starting in 2011, Kraft began allocating the majority of the Kool-Aid marketing budget towards Latinos. According to the brand, almost 20 percent of Kool-Aid drinkers are Hispanic, and slightly more than 20 percent are African-American.[8]

In 2013, Kraft decided to overhaul the Kool-Aid Man, reimagining him as a CGI character, "a celebrity trying to show that he's just an ordinary guy."[9]

Flavors

Original 6 flavors[10] Cherry, Grape, Lemon-Lime, Orange, Raspberry, Strawberry[11]
Singles flavors[12] Black Cherry, Tropical Punch, Lemonade, Pink Lemonade, Cherry, Watermelon, Orange, Summer Punch
Sugar-Free flavors Cherry, Grape, Lemonade, Soarin' Strawberry Lemonade, Tropical Punch, Raspberry, Watermelon, KiwiLime
Water flavors[13] Jamaica, Mandarina-Tangerine, Mango, Tamarindo, Piña-Pineapple
Other flavors worldwide or previously available[13] Apple, Berry Blue, Bunch Berry, Blastin' Berry Cherry, Blue Berry Blast,Blue Moon Berry, Candy Apple, Cherry, Cherry Cracker, Chocolate, Cola, Eerie Orange, 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, Peach, 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, Watermelon, Solar Strawberry-Starfruit, Arctic Green Apple, Swirlin' Strawberry-Starfruit, Lemon Ice

Other Kool-Aid products

See also

References

  1. The History of Kool-Aid and Edwin Perkins.
  2. "History of Kool-Aid". Hastings Museum of Culture and History. Archived from the original on June 15, 2008. Retrieved May 16, 2008.
  3. "Nebraska takes sweet turn, names Kool-Aid state drink". Deseret News. May 22, 1998.
  4. Gustafson, Angela (August 9, 2011). "Nebraska's official soft drink celebrated at the 14th Annual Kool-Aid Days on Aug. 12-14". The Fence Post.
  5. "Kraft and SodaStream in deal for Kool-Aid". The Chicago Tribune. Reuters. July 18, 2012. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
  6. Matt Molstad; et al. "How to dip dye your hair with kool-aid". Wiki how. Wiki How. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  7. Porter, Kristi. "Dyed in the wool". knitty.
  8. Newman, Andrew Adam (May 27, 2011). "ADVERTISING; Kraft Aims Kool-Aid Ads at a Growing Hispanic Market". The New York Times. Retrieved May 27, 2011.
  9. Van Hoven, Jason (April 15, 2013). "New Kool-Aid Man: Oh Yeah! What Does The New Kool-Aid Man Look Like? [VIDEO]". IBT Media, Inc. Archived from the original on 2013-04-15. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
  10. Kool-Aid Days
  11. "The History of Kool-Aid". Hastings Museum of Natural & Cultural History. 2008. Archived from the original on February 5, 2009. Retrieved April 3, 2009.
  12. "Kool-Aid Powdered".
  13. 1 2 Shaw, Scott (October 8, 2006). "Kool-Aid Komics". Oddball Comics. Retrieved November 17, 2008.
  14. 1 2 Eric Zorn (November 18, 2008). "Change of Subject, "Have you drunk the 'Kool Aid' Kool Aid". Chicago Tribune, www.chicagotribune.com. Retrieved August 27, 2009.
  15. Krause, Charles A. (December 17, 1978). "Jonestown Is an Eerie Ghost Town Now". Washington Post.
  16. Martin Khin (December 19, 2007). "Don't Drink the Grape-Flavored Sugar Water...". Fast Company, www.fastcompany.com. Archived from the original on April 7, 2005. Retrieved August 27, 2009.
  17. Al Thomkins (November 13, 2003). "Al's Morning Meeting, "Thursday Edition: Clearing Kool-Aid's Name"". The Poynter Institute, www.poynter.org. Archived from the original on December 4, 2003. Retrieved August 27, 2009.
  18. Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple
  19. "Guyana inquest" (PDF).
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