During the final episode of Season 27’s “Hot Ones,” Sean Evans grilled Macaulay Culkin on everything from Home Alone lore to his top four retro games while diving into some of the hottest wings you can find. At one point, Evans asked what ’90s snack Culkin would love to see brought back. Although not the technical definition of a snack, Culkin said he’d love to see a return of Hi-C’s “Ghostbusters”-themed drink, Ecto Cooler.
Culkin made the point that he didn’t know why that was his first choice, but he randomly thought about it one day out of the blue. He said, “I was staring at my kids in the backyard and I go, ‘Yeah, they could really use an Ecto Cooler right now.'” Culkin did grow up in the ’80s, so it’s no wonder he remembered this drink so abruptly.
When explaining his answer, Culkin noted that his association with Ecto Cooler was that it had Slimer from “Ghostbusters” on the package, which he found cool. He went on to say that he couldn’t afford it at the time, so he stuck to the cafeteria’s milk instead. Maybe it was a sudden rush of nostalgia for a long-gone beverage, or perhaps it was the heat from the iconic Hot Ones sauce lineup doing the talking, as Evans pointed out.
Read more: 17 Discontinued Sodas We Aren’t Getting Back
Ecto Cooler’s Storied History On Store Shelves
The label for a bottle of Hi-C Ecto Cooler from 1996 – Hi-C
Ecto Cooler is a staple in the zeitgeist for the ’80s and ’90s, officially launching in 1989. The drink had existed before then, but was initially known as Citrus Cooler since its introduction in 1969. Even then, it was green and citrus-flavored, but it was changed to promote “The Real Ghostbusters,” a show that ran from 1986 to 1991. The two drinks were almost identical, although when it became known as Ecto Cooler, Hi-C added a tangerine flavor, which set it apart.
In 2001, Hi-C rebranded Ecto Cooler once again, removing Slimer from the container and replacing him with a green set of lips that appeared to be made of the drink itself. The name was changed to Shoutin’ Orange Tangergreen, which it remained for the next five years until being rebranded again to Crazy Citrus Cooler before being officially discontinued the year after. Little did people at the time know that the discontinued Hi-C drink would keep making comebacks.
In 2016, Ecto Cooler became available for purchase once again to promote the new “Ghostbusters” film. Even though these cans didn’t feature the classic image of Slimer, Hi-C still made them special by introducing a thermal ink-can that changed to an ectoplasm green when thoroughly cooled. This only lasted until December of 2016, and the last time the beverage was seen was in 2021 as part of a limited, not-for-purchase promotion for “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.”
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