Hawaiian Punch
Riding the wave of more than 60 years of fruit punch fun, Hawaiian Punch has become the gold standard of fruit punch drinks. Hawaiian Punch is made with natural fruit juices and flavors, including such tropical favorites as pineapple, passion fruit, papaya and guava.
Check out @hawaiinapunch's flavors, brand history, #quicksips & product locator from @drpeppersnapple!
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Quick Sips
Punchy’s Debut
Artist Martin Mandelblatt is credited with the creation of Punchy, who appeared as a cartoon character on television for the first time in February 1962. Punchy became an instant advertising success and brand identifier for young people.
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Quick Sips
Tagline
Punchy's "How about a nice Hawaiian Punch?" tagline personified the brand's image and advertising and was copyrighted in 1964.
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Quick Sips
A Target
Punchy was accompanied by Opie (sometimes referred to as Oaf),
who served as the target of the mascot's punch.Check out @hawaiianpunch #quicksips from @drpeppersnapple!
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Quick Sips
Live Action
In 1978, RJR began to employ television personalities Donny and Marie Osmond as Hawaiian Punch advertising spokespeople.
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Quick Sips
Presidential Aspirations
In 1992, a clever presidential promotion campaign promoted Punchy as the favored candidate ("No one else has the punch"). While Punchy didn't win the election, his
popularity soared.Check out @hawaiianpunch #quicksips from @drpeppersnapple!
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Quick Sips
Changing Names
The U.S. Patent Office gave Leo's Hawaiian Punch its trademark on June 9, 1938.
The "Leo's" was dropped several years later.Check out @hawaiianpunch #quicksips from @drpeppersnapple!
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Quick Sips
Punchy Makeover
The new, refreshed Punchy now features the hang-ten hand gesture instead of a punch and will portray a more energetic and playful personality than the feisty attitude that he first personified.
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Our History
In 1934 A.W. Leo, Tom Yates and Ralph Harrison developed the first Hawaiian Punch recipe in a converted garage in Fullerton, Calif. They wanted a tropical-tasting syrup to add to their line of ice cream toppings sold under the trade name Pacific Citrus Products Company. "Leo's Hawaiian Punch," as the brand was called at the time, was sold to area restaurants, soda fountains and ice cream manufacturers.
Reuben P. Hughes purchased the company with other investors in 1946, and renamed it the Pacific Hawaiian Products Co. Although consumers had discovered that Leo's Hawaiian Punch concentrate was a delicious drink when mixed with water, they could not purchase it directly. Hughes immediately remedied the situation by introducing quart bottles of the concentrate for sale in retail grocery stores in the West and offered a ready-to-serve red Hawaiian Punch in a 46-ounce can in 1950.
During the '50s, skyrocketing sales for the Hawaiian Punch brand and other fruit juice products catapulted Pacific Hawaiian to the middle ranks of U.S. beverage corporations. In 1955, the company introduced frozen concentrate in 6-ounce cans to grocery stores. Later in the year, Hawaiian Punch became a national brand. To take advantage of the fun tropical image of the brand, advertising agency Atherton-Privett created the familiar Punchy character in December 1961. Punchy and his frequent target Opie (also known as Oaf) remained in use through the 1990s.
In 1963, RJ Reynolds Company acquired Hawaiian Punch. In 1981, the business was transferred to Del Monte, a wholly owned subsidiary of RJR. Del Monte grew the Hawaiian Punch business and introduced several new products, such as a powder version, soft drinks and other flavors for the brand, and expanded Hawaiian Punch to new distribution channels throughout the United States.
Procter & Gamble Co. (P&G) acquired the Hawaiian Punch business from Del Monte in 1990. Then, on May 15, 1999, Cadbury Schweppes acquired all rights to
Hawaiian Punch from P&G.
Today, Hawaiian Punch is part of Plano, Texas-based Dr Pepper Snapple Group, an integrated refreshment beverage business marketing more than 50 beverage brands throughout North America.
