Sam Amico
Back in the 1980s, it was more than just big hair and the Rubik’s Cube that was all the rage. Does anyone remember chocolate soda?
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Believe it or not, it was a pretty big thing back in the day. And we’re not just talking Yoo-Hoo, which remains in circulation today.
Instead, we’re talking mostly about Canfield’s Diet Chocolate Fudge Soda, from the AJ Canfield Company. It really rose to prominence in 1985, back when it was the “in” thing to try out new carbonated beverages.
Yes, this was the era of New Coke and Jolt, the highly caffeinated predecessor to Red Bull and others. But for at least six months, it seems soda drinkers could only focus on the diet chocolate fudge.
Canfield’s Diet Chocolate Fudge Soda
How crazy was it? Best Glitz described the scene:
“Canfield received over 500 calls daily from businesses and individuals asking for more of the drink,” the website wrote. “So they started running their factories 20 hours a day, seven days a week. Grocers sent empty trucks to Canfield for the vendor to fill with soda and then rationed supplies on the shelves — one case per customer — to make sure there was enough for everyone. The fudge fever had started.”
Ah, yes. Fudge fever. And when one company has success with something, you can be sure others will follow suit. Isn’t that always how it works?
Sure enough, Royal Crown and even Famous Amos began bottling up some chocolate sodas of their own. “One soft drink brand, RJ Corr Naturals, used real chocolate and charged $ 2.99 for a six-pack – $ 1 more than their artificial-flavored competitors,” Best Glitz wrote.
Yoo-Hoo also got in on the act, releasing their own brand of carbonated soda. (Anyone who likes the original Yoo-Hoo already knows it’s not carbonated.)
Eventually, though, people either got tired of the drink or perhaps learned a cold, hard truth — it’s really not that good.
Either way, there is still chocolate soda floating around today. The fad, though? Yeah, that bubbled over a long time ago.
