Throwback: Squeezit

By Heather Taylor

“Squeeze the fun out of it!”

If you were a child of the 1990s, or even the late 1980s, you know exactly what this tagline is for: Squeezit! Making its debut in grocery stores everywhere in 1985, Squeezit drinks came in four different flavors including red punch, orange, grape, and cherry. But it wound up standing out from the juice crowd with its portable, squeezable bottle — a fruit drink first — and the band of merry characters featured on its bottles. Grab your favorite Lisa Frank or TMNT lunchbox and join us for a throwback to Squeezit’s icons and where they are now!

In 1992, Squeezit bottles were changed to feature the faces of characters which all represented different drink flavors. The squad included Smarty Arty Orange, Silly Billy Strawberry, Grumpy Grape, Mean Green Puncher, Rockin’ Red Puncher, Berry B. Wild, and Chucklin’ Cherry.

Some ‘90s commercial spots depicted kids gulping down Squeezits and literally becoming the brand mascots — with the Mean Green Puncher allowing you to become a football star and turning into the class portrait highlight with Smarty Arty Orange.

Of the group, Chucklin’ Cherry proved to be a fruity favorite with moms and kids alike and snippets of his laugh out loud personality could be found on Squeezit packaging. In 1996, fans would discover that his real name was actually Chester Cherrytree. He loved math class, jammed on his skateboard to relax, and could be found hanging out with his BFFs, Berry B. Wild and Silly Billy Strawberry. And his favorite super saying? “A chuckle a day keeps the doctor away.”

Sadly, Squeezits were discontinued in 2001, but we have it on pretty good authority that Chucklin’ Cherry can still be spotted hanging out at the General Mills headquarters. Fingers crossed that this cool drink gets a comeback one day!

^{Photo courtesy of the General Mills Archives}