Hawaiian Punch

Hawaiian Punch is the name of a brand of fruit punch drinks (containing 5% fruit juice) owned by Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. (DPS). It was created in 1934 by A.W. Leo, Tom Yates, Ralph Harrison as an ice cream topping; customers later discovered that it made an appealing drink when mixed with water.

The name comes from the source of the original recipe's main ingredients. The original formulation of Hawaiian Punch was composed of 7 fruit flavors: apple, apricot, guava, orange, papaya, passion fruit, and pineapple.

Punchy, Hawaiian Punch's mascot

In 1963, the animated character of "Punchy" was introduced in a commercial for Hawaiian Punch, eventually becoming the product's mascot. The character of "Punchy" was originated by artist/cartoonist Joe Malerba, animated by Jan Svochak, and the voice provided by Len Maxwell. "Punchy" has evolved into the loveable character as seen today. His long-time catch phrase is "How about a nice Hawaiian Punch?" which would then be followed by Punchy literally punching his unsuspecting cohort. The victim of Punchy's shenanigans in the initial commercials was a tourist character named Opie (sometimes referred to as Oaf), who always answered "Sure!", only to receive a wallop from Punchy. [ cite web |url=http://www.tvacres.com/admascots_hawaiian_punch.htm|title =TV Acres: Advertising Mascots - Punchy] The Punchy and Opie characters and tagline remained in use until the 1990s. [ cite web |url=http://www.drpeppersnapplegroup.com/brands/hawaiian-punch/ |title =Hawaiian Punch: Riding the Wave of History] The punch returned in a 2003 advertisement that saw Punchy knocking people into walls at a party.

Some believe that the idea of Punchy came from a Hawaiian named Josefa Moe (1933-2006). [ [http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Nov/11/ln/FP611110350.html Josefa Moe, 73, storied Islander - The Honolulu Advertiser - Hawaii's Newspaper ] ]

Punchy was animated primarily by Jan Svochak of J.J. Sedelmaier Productions. He was head animator of the character from the 1960s through the 1990s.

Fruit punch drink flavors

* Fruit Juicy Red: the original flavor
* Green Berry Rush: strawberry and kiwi
* Mazin' Melon Mix: melon
* Bodacious Berry: berry
* Orange Ocean: orange
* Wild Purple Smash: grape and berry
* Jakarta Berry Licious:pineapple
* Lemonade: old-fashioned lemonade
* Berry Blue Typhoon: blueberry

Hawaiian Punch in the future

Dr Pepper Snapple Group announced that Hawaiian Punch's sugar-free variant, called Light Hawaiian Punch, will eventually expand to up to 6 flavors. Unlike the original line, however, the "Light Hawaiian Punch" line will be sweetened with Splenda-brand sucralose.

References

External links

* [http://www.hawaiianpunch.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.drpeppersnapplegroup.com/brands/hawaiian-punch/ History of Hawaiian Punch]