Kool-Aid Pop Culture? Oh, Yeah!



Far more than a mere quencher of thirst, the Kool-Aid man has infiltrated deep into our collective pop culture consciousness. In the battle of Western pop culture versus Islamic extremism (and, apparently Cobra) the Kool-Aid man was a loyal (if confused) foot soldier, alongside the Steve Erwin, Waldo, The Fonz, Mr. T, Robocop and Rodney Dangerfield. This, according to pop artist Joseph Griffith's painting The Surrender, commemorating the 225th anniversary of the Battle of Yorktown. (Link via culture kills)




Of course the Iranians my see things differently, as they too enjoy a cold glass of sugar water, as judged from this package. Though the Kool-Aid man's smile admittedly a little creepy. (Link via BoingBoing)




The Kool-Aid man also has a surprisingly long history. The Great Wall of China kept the Mongols out for over 1000 years... until one fateful day when some parched Chinese soldier disastrously called out "Hey Kool-Aid!" Spiked Punch from Threadless designer Andy Gonsalves. (Link via Super Punch)





Centuries later, he was still busting down walls. Wanted from Scott VanDenPlas and Joe Van Wetering in Chicago. (Link via Neatorama)



Dane Cook's Kool Aid Skit - Celebrity bloopers here

While I am loathe to spread Dane Cook any further on the interweb, he does capture the oddity of the Kool-Aid man's home destroying ways. And really, why would you want to drink out of an anthropomorphic jug's head?




Oh, no! I would never drink that man's Kool-Aid. Or maybe Kool-Aid ever again. (Link via LOL Factory)




Yep, the Kool-Aid man had his own comic book — in the 80s, naturally. His superpower appears to be the ability to break through walls (naturally) and quench thirst. Still, it beats Aquaman. (Link via Forces of Good)




Even more bizarre, there was also an origin story, "The Hasty Smear of My Smile...", purportedly written by Alan Moore that talks about his birth, his beginnings as a spokespitcher and his eventual meetings with Ken Kesey (The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test) and Jonestown death cult leader Jim Jones. "I wish to Christ I could stop grinning."

I don't know if this was really done by Moore, but the the full four panels posted at Again With The Comics are hilarious. (Link via Super Punch)




Sure, he denies being present when the phrase "Drink the Kool-Aid" took on it's deadly meaning, but with those glasses the Kool-Aid man does bear a striking resemblance to Jim Jones. Get Kult-Aid at Loiter.



5 Most Awkward Koo-Aid Ads

While it is great having the ability to break through walls, not knowing what is on the other side can have some very serious repercussions.



Family Guy Kool-Aid

In TV ads, kids all love it when the Kool-Aid man comes bursting through the wall, but in reality it's kind of annoying.




Of course if you keep smashing down people's walls, at some point someone is going to make you fix it back up. Community Service available at AntiClothes. (Link via Adventures of Accordion Guy)



You'd figure being made of glass and hanging around kids, this sort of thing would happen more often.

6 comments:

  1. Amazing! Is there anything he can't do?

    ReplyDelete
  2. One of my favorites:

    http://video.adultswim.com/robot-chicken/kool-aid-in-space.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. I had a hell of a time finding Robot Chicken clips that I could watch (Comedy Central is another Canadian geo blocker) or that wouldn't autoplay when I posted them. Why can't we all just get along?

    Thanks for the link love, as always.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hmm. Is that you can't post Adult Swim videos from Canada, or that you can't view them? Or both?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I can see the embed code, but when I can't see the result I am loathe to do so. I suppose it shouldn't matter as more of my readers are U.S. than Canadian, but I like to wave the flag of inconvenience.

    If there was a clip that I absolutely felt I needed to post I would, but until then I'll just complain in the hopes that things will change.

    ReplyDelete

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