Cactus Cooler

Cactus Cooler is a fruity beverage. Released originally by Canada Dry, Cactus Cooler has become a fan favorite for its refreshing flavor[1]. The drink was inspired by a drink seen on the popular TV show, The Flintstones, and was directly inspired by Fred Flintstone's favorite drink[2], a fictitious drink titled, “Cactus Coola”[3] (or at least that’s what Fred Flintstone called it!). The flavor of the drink is your classic Fanta-type Orange drink but with a special co-flavor, Pineapple.[4] Cactus Cooler was first released in the 1960s by Canada Dry. Cactus Cooler had a new, unique flavor composition[5]. It was your standard Orange Crush-style Orange flavor but with a co-flavor of Pineapple titled Orange-Pineapple blast![6] It is only available in the one flavor[7] though. Once discontinued, Canada Dry passed the helm to Keurig Dr. Pepper to continue production for the drink on a smaller scale[8], which is who continues production to this day[9].

The soda is composed of mainly artificial flavors[10], some of the ingredients include, citric acid, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners and flavors, sodium benzoate, acacia gum, and ester gum[11]. The sugar content is worth 79% of the daily recommended sugar intake sitting at 39 grams per serving[12]. The sodium is worth 3% of the daily recommended sodium intake[13] and the drink contains 0 fat[14]. The drink will give you 150 calories[15], however contains no caffeine[16]. In fact, the drinks high sugar content is dangerously high[17], which means that multiple of the drinks in a row could not be healthy and for those with health risks[18], steer away from multiple of these. Some fans in the Southwest are even advocating for a Zero-Sugar version of Cactus Cooler.[19]

Cactus Cooler is plentiful in the deep southwest like Southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico[20], but cannot be easily found all throughout the Nation[21]. No-one really knows exactly why Cactus Cooler has been discontinued[22] but the popular theories are, rising cost with decreasing demand, or simply not being able to keep up with the giants like Coca-Cola[23]. If it was because of rising cost, it would be because the ingredients were becoming more expensive and so then the drink has to be more expensive.[24]

The can features two brightly-colored Saguaro Cacti in front of a bright sunset in a desert resembling California, Arizona, or New Mexico[25]. In an episode of the show, Agents of Shield in 2015, the character SkyeQuakes gets very angry but calms down once she sips her favorite drink, Cactus Cooler[26]. Audiences thought that this reference was a hint toward a possible un-discontinuation of the drink but were left empty handed.[27]