‘The perfect drink!’ SunnyD fans go wild when the brand releases an alcoholic drink (but bad news for British fans!)
SunnyD fans are going crazy online after the brand announced that it is ready to launch a new alcoholic drink.
The sugary fruit concoction became one of Britain’s top ten best-selling brands within a year of its launch in 1999, however sales plummeted after a campaign by health groups and consumers alarmed at its high sugar content. sugar but low juice content.
And now, Harvest Hill has announced that the canned vodka drink will be hitting US stores from March 11, though there’s no set date for a UK release yet.
The new drink, which will be sold in a four-pack for $9.99 (£8.44), contains real fruit juice, sparkling water, natural orange flavor and vodka.
Many users of social networks reacted to the news with joy, writing: ‘They have also caught my attention. Millennial nostalgia marketing has proven to be a hit! I heard that McDonald’s is launching Happy Meals for adults.
SunnyD fans are going wild online after the brand announced it is launching a new alcoholic beverage
Another wrote: ‘I definitely used to mix SunnyD with vodka many years ago, adding a hint of cranberry when I felt like it. I broke days of 18 years.
A third added: ‘The perfect drink doesn’t exist…’
A fourth wrote: ‘I’m shocked!’
Another commented: ‘I used to mix SunnyD and vodka! My friends were impressed with how well it hid the alcohol.
“I’ve had SunnyD for a long time, but not this one lol,” one commented. ‘Interested in trying it though lol.
‘It probably tastes like a screwdriver if I had to guess.’
One wrote: ‘I hope it tastes like it should. I mix vodka and SunnyD all the time.
Another commented: “I’m actually here for this.”
Ilene Bergenfeld, marketing director, said they had decided to release the alcoholic beverage because fans had been “asking” for the product.
Ilene said Unilad.com that many people said they had been enjoying SunnyD as a ‘mixer’.
Many fans of the brand went wild on social media over the news, with one even hailing it as the “perfect drink.”
She said: ‘So, we looked at the strong mineral water category and thought, good, but we can do better. And SunnyD Vodka Seltzer was born.’
Ilene added that she had “developed something adult SunnyD fans will be proud to enjoy.”
The drink has around 4.5 percent alcohol, and will be sold in a 4-pack of 12 oz (354 ml) cans.
Sunny Delight burst onto the UK market in the 1990s with a series of TV commercials that critics dismissed as a cynical attempt to exploit children’s ‘power to tease’ over their parents.
The ads featured happy youngsters in sunlit kitchens enjoying the drink with the tagline “the cool stuff kids like.”
Sunny Delight burst onto the British market in the 1990s with a series of television commercials that critics dismissed as a cynical attempt to exploit children’s “nuisance power” over their parents.
The product was stored in supermarket refrigerators, although this was not necessary, which helped to give the impression that it was a healthy fruit juice.
In fact, it contained just 5 percent juice, plus 10 percent sugar.
Sales in its launch year amounted to £48.3 million.
The campaign against Sunny Delight was spearheaded by the Health Education Authority, which urged parents to view it as a sugar-sweetened fruit drink rather than juice.
The control body advised limiting consumption to meals and diluting the product for children under five years of age to protect their teeth.
Following the campaign, the brand was relaunched in the UK in 2009 as SunnyD.
