Funny Face (drink mix)

Funny Face was a brand of drink mix originally made and publicly sold by the Pillsbury Company,^[A] from 1964 to 1994.[5] and in limited productions (mainly in the Midwestern and New England regions of the U.S.A.) from 1994 to 2001. The brand was introduced as competition[6] to the similar (and more familiar and better-selling)[5] Kool-Aid made by Kraft Foods.

Original packages for the two Funny Face flavors deemed offensive and soon replaced. "Injun" was a slang alteration of "Indian" (in reference to Native Americans), extant from the 17th into the 20th centuries, and now considered racist. [1] "Chinese Cherry" displays the exaggerated epicanthic fold and buck teeth typical of stereotypes of East Asians in the United States, extant in the 20th and into the 21st centuries,[2] particularly seen in American World War Two anti-Japanese propaganda,[3][4] and now considered racist as well.[2]

The product came in assorted flavors and was intended to be mixed with water. The product name "Funny Face" was based on the packaging and advertising created by Hal Silverman of the Campbell Mithun advertising agency.[7][8]

The mix was sweetened with calcium cyclamate. Cyclamates and its salts (including calcium cyclamate and sodium cyclamate) were banned in the United States in 1970;[9] it was briefly replaced by saccharin, which proved unpopular, after which the product was offered unsweetened.[10]

Various promotional tchotchkes were offered as premiums in support of the brand, such as mugs and pitchers bearing the likeness of the various cartoon faces associated with each flavor.[10][11][12][13] A series of children's books such as "How Freckle Face Strawberry Got His Name" and similar titles were published.[11]

The brand's tagline was "Funny Face is Fun To Drink!"[14][15]

The Funny Face brand was purchased by Brady Enterprises in 1980, and continued to sell nationwide until 1994.[16] A limited production relaunch (albeit with some modifications for the 21st century) was briefly sold in selected areas from 1994 to 2001. On November 28, 2012, Decas Cranberry Products out of Carver, Massachusetts re-relaunched the Funny Face drink mix product and currently has resurrected a total of four of the original characters; this includes Rootin' Tootin' Raspberry, Freckle Face Strawberry, Choo Choo Cherry, and Goofy Grape. Once again, they received updated packaging designs for more modern times. A line of flavored dried cranberry and fruit snacks was also introduced using the four reprised characters.[17]