Publication date December 13, 2021
10 OG Foods That 80’s Kids Loved Then and Miss Now!
In all the hoopla about Boomers Vs Millennials Vs Gen Z, the forgotten 80’s kids were actually the ones with the best childhood. Our favorite TV shows came out in color, technology like computers and video games started entering our homes for the first time but we would still go out riding our bikes with friends till the moon came out. The beautiful simplicity of the 80s came with some memorable foods that will forever be etched in our brains and our gut lining.
Here’s a trip down memory lane for those 80s kids, and for others to see what food 80s kids ate.
1. Slice Soda
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The consumers of today have a million options to choose from, even if it’s a lemon-lime soda. But back in the 80s, the OG was Slice Soda. It belonged to the PepsiCo company and came in different fruit flavors. It is not surprising that only 10% of the drink actually had any fruit flavoring. The rest of it was just sugar and soda. But nothing beats a cool drink of Slice soda after an evening of biking in the streets, does it? The drink was later discontinued in 2006 only to be replaced by other sodas from the company. Your Sprites and 7ups can come and go but there is nothing quite like a sip of Slice soda to quench that evening thirst.
2. Cool Ranch Doritos
Doritos has been around since the 1960s but the product that revolutionized the brand came out in 1986. The Cool Ranch Doritos are a crowd favorite anywhere in America and you have us, the 80s kids, to thank for that. We created a demand that was met by Doritos and now, there is no looking back. I mean, whoever thought of turning ranch into a seasoning that can be coated on Doritos deserves a Nobel Peace Prize, if you ask us, 80s kids.
3. The Country’s Best Yoghurt
The 80s were also the first time that frozen yogurt became widely popular. Before its second burst of fame in the early 2000s, we made frozen yogurt a household name across the country. Especially The Country’s Best Yogurt, which was the go-to brand for yogurt back then. It was a refreshing dessert that required an acquired taste and if you had to show off on your first date, that is what you would order to give off a sophisticated vibe.
4. Dairy Queen Blizzard
If there was one thing common across the coolness spectrum of the American high school back in the 1980s, it was the Dairy Queen Blizzard. Whether you were the prom king/queen, the nerd, the sports jock, or anyone else in between, The Blizzard was the comfort food for all kinds of issues. It was new, it was cool and it had candy chunks in it! I mean, no wonder it’s still iconic, right? Back in 1985, DQ employees would hold the thick shake upside down just to show us how dense it is, packed with all the goodness (not really), of candy.
5. Totino’s Pizza Roll
Man, the 80s were truly legendary when it came to food! They took the pizza, packed them into a roll, and made them easier than ever before to consume as a snack. The pizza roll was actually around from the 1960s. But it was in the 80s when the company sold the product to Pilsbury. They packaged and remarketed it to our favorite Pizza rolls that we all still enjoy today.
6. Pepperidge Farm Star Wars Cookies
While the meme creators of today know Pepperidge farm from the memes, the brand was the first one to properly capitalize on the Star Wars craze. They created iconic cookies to pay homage to the iconic series in peanut butter, vanilla, and chocolate flavors. Once you opened a packet of America’s favorite Pepperidge farm cookies, you will find cookies in the shape of your beloved characters, even Jabba the Hut made a rare appearance. While Star Wars has thousands of merchandise, this one was by far the tastiest of the lot.
7. Care Bear Waffles
Back when all of us naively trusted brands, this one did not fail to disappoint us. Care Bear Waffles promised a bear hug in every bite and it truly was the edible equivalent of emotional support (did we start the concept of stress eating, guys?). Their breakfast treats came with specs of berries of different colors and gave us the sugar rush needed to start the day off on a high.
8. Fat Frog Ice Cream
This famous 80s food made its way to America all the way from Ireland. It was called just the ‘fat frog’ - it is a fruit-flavored ice pop in the shape of a frog. To make it even more appealing, the frog came with bright red gumball eyes. Now, who could say no to that? You could not only get this at supermarkets but also get them from ice cream trucks on the weekends when you would binge watch Double Dare.
9. Smurf Berry Crunch Cereal
The Smurfs was one of the most popular animated shows that we 80s kids enjoyed. You’re welcome, rest of the generations. So, naturally, when Post came up with the cereal version of our favorite show we literally ate up the idea. The cereal was throughout the 80s and was, in fact, a very popular topic of discussion when it first came out.
10. Dr. Pepper Gum
If you want signs to show that the 80s couldn’t have gotten weirder, look no further than the Dr. Pepper Gum. It was not enough for us to drink the soda. Our craze for the flavor made the brand come out with a gum that had the same flavor. The gum’s center was filled with a liquid that came with the standard spicy soda flavor of the Dr. Peppr drink.
Now, how was that trip down memory lane? Did we miss out on any other iconic foods of the 80s? Let us know in the comments below.