The 90s are making a hell of a comeback. It’s no surprise, really, since people born in 1990 are approaching 30 and starting to dominate the national conversation. Shows like Everything Sucks are certainly helping usher in the 90s nostalgia train. The decade of Drop D guitars, stolen sunshine, and oh-so-many puka shell necklaces with Oakleys dangling from them is about to be in every corner of pop culture. Are you ready to go?
Over at Ranker, they took a dip back into the 90s to explore our favorite food and drinks from the era that went away too soon. It’s an Ecto-Cooler-Shark-Bites trip down memory lane. An exploration of the power and beauty of our 90s youth, if you will. Surprisingly, Surge didn’t crack the top ten and landed at 13th. Poor Crystal Pepsi ended up at 23rd. And the bowel destroying WOW! Chips ended up at 44th … which seems just about right.
To be fair, many of these products have made a comeback in one or another over the years. Let’s dive in.
10. FRUITOPIA
Fruitopia was on the market from 1994-2003 with a definite peak in the late 90s when it was in every vending machine and 7-Eleven across the country. The dyed sugar water drink leaned into its “fruit” juice roots and delivered a high-fructose punch. If you were old enough in the 90s, Fruitopia was the best vodka mixer out there. Well, after Lemonade Snapple anyway.
You can still try it! A couple Fruitopia flavors were rebranded under Minute Maid. Just look for a Minute Maid Strawberry Passion (not to be confused with Thug Passion) and you’ll be taking a trip straight back to the Fruitopian 90s.
9. FRENCH TOAST CRUNCH CEREAL
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The combination of crunchy little french toast cubes with ample cinnamon and plenty of sugar was a massive hit back in the day. Then again, so was spiky gelled hair and Lit … so take that for what it’s worth.
French Toast Crunch hit that sweet spot of being both a perfect kids’ breakfast and a stoner’s dinner. It was so beloved that fans convinced General Mills to bring the product back after being discontinued in 2006.
8. DORITOS 3DS
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Doritos 3Ds were the Candlebox to Nirvana’s classic Nacho Cheese Doritos. Doritos decided they needed to mash up Buggles and Doritos to make 3Ds. It was the quintessential product nobody asked for before the “x nobody asked for” meme became a thing.
The product did last about a decade from the mid-1990s to mid-2000s. Doritos brought back a “Jacked” version of the 3Ds a couple years ago, which kinda feels like the Staind of the anology above.
7. RICE KRISPIES TREATS CEREAL
Rice Krispies treats are the marshmallow fluffy dreams from many a 90s childhood. So it was sort of a no-brainer that Kellog’s cashed in on that with Rice Krispies Treats Cereal. What’s amazing is that as the 90s turned into the aughts we lost interest enough for the cereal to be discontinued. Luckily, outrage ensued and the breakfast sugar bombs were brought back and everyone was able to get that seven am sugar high again.
6. MELODY POPS
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Whoever decided to combine a straight dope sugar candy with a whistle probably has a special spot waiting for them in hell. Afterall, that’s all a kid in the 90s needed; a sweet candy that they could make an ear-piercing whistling sound just when that sugar high kicks in. This one kinda never left. You can still find “Whistle Pops” and even Melody Pops to an extent, but mostly at old pharmacies where there’s probably still a soda fountain selling root beer floats in the back.
5. MICKEY’S PARADE ICE POPS
Since Disney has become the house of Star Wars and Marvel, we almost forgot that Disney used to be about Disney characters. Back in the late 1980s, they introduced fruit flavored popsicles shaped like Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy onto the masses and they were an unbridled hit for 90s kids.
That lasted well into the early 2000s before Disney shifted focus. The mouse hasn’t really looked back.
4. HI-C ECTO COOLER
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HI-C’s Eco Cooler has the blinding neon of a Green Day video from Dookie and the unsettling otherworldliness of the 2010’s Tom DeLonge. Ecto Cooler was branded to support all things Ghostbusters in 1987 and lasted until to 2001. Then the reboot happened and we all got to taste Ecto Cooler again — except this time, we were old enough to mix it with vodka. Win, win?
3. BUTTERFINGER BB’S
Butterfingers and The Simpsons were inseparable in the 90s. Butterfingers truly tapped into one of the biggest, longest lasting 90s zeitgeist moments with The Simpsons and started experimenting with a lot of new product ideas. Enter Butterfinger BB’s. Yeah, they’re exactly what you’re thinking — little BB sized Butterfinger balls.
They lasted from 1992-2006 before being taken off shelves. We’re pretty sure Homer Simpson is crying in a corner somewhere about it right now.
2. SHARK BITES
Shark Bites were the Swedish Fish of the 90s. They were in every lunchbox and brown bag lunch across the country. Remember the excitement of finding the elusive “great white” shark? You really couldn’t get away from these things between 1988 and 2000.
They’re still around… technically… but the recipe changed and they are reported to taste nothing like they used to.
1. SQUEEZIT
If Squeezits don’t immediately remind you of Offspring albums, puka shells, and bucket hats, then you don’t know how to 90s, playa. The “fruit” juice you had to squeeze out of a dodgy plastic bottle (with a twist off top) dominated kid’s diets 1990s. If you want to argue about it, Troppi Tropical Punch was the best. Come @ me.
Squeezeit was discontinued, but it has popped up again in 2006 and 2012. So, if you do see it again, be sure to put on your favorite Incubus album and squeeze some sugar straight into your gob!
