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

Invention and production

[[File:|thumb|right|250px|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

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

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

Kool-Aid is also used by many as artificial dye for hair coloring and tie dying.

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]}

References

External links

• KoolSpace at KraftFoods.com
• History of Kool-Aid from a museum in Hastings, Nebraska