Fred Flintstone's favorite drink inspired a real-life soda pop

Cactus Cooler showed up in the late-'60s, after Barney and Fred guzzled down Cactus Coola.

A kid could survive on Flintstones-branded foods alone. A bowl of Fruity Pebbles and a few Flintstones Vitamins have plenty of nutrients. Okay, that might not be the healthiest diet. Especially if you threw in some Flintstones Push Up Pops. Plus, what would you have to drink?

Well, it might be a subtle nod — and in no way officially licensed — but a regional soft drink does exist for the Flintstones fanatic.

First, let's rewind to the fifth episode of the cartoon, "The Split Personality." Barney heads over to his neighbors and raids the Flintstone fridge. He pulls out a stone bottle.

"Mmm! A tall, frosty Cactus Coola," Barney proclaims. Cut to an insert shot of his hand holding the drink.

Cactus Coola popped up throughout the series as Fred's favorite beverage. In the late 1960s, around the time that Flintstones vitamins were taking off, Canada Dry launched a new soft drink called Cactus Cooler. The orange-pineapple soda came in a somewhat psychedelic desert can with green cacti against a backdrop of yellow and orange waves. 

Yeah, it resembled the environments around Bedrock a bit, no?

But the packaging also served the market. Cactus Cooler was — and remains — a regional product of the Southwest, especially California and Arizona. You can still buy it today from Target.

The Dr. Pepper Snapple Group manufactures the modern product. The vintage Canada Dry cans seen up top disappeared long ago. 

It may not have Betty and Wilma on the can, but those who love '60s television can pick up a six-pack and show off their deep knowledge of TV trivia.

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25 Comments

nightshade 21 months ago
to me cactus cooler tastes like those orange-flavored "baby"aspirins
Moverfan 59 months ago
Okay...I tap on a link for a Batman quiz and get a story about Fred Flintstone and Cactus Cooler. Then they say Canada Dry made the stuff. I can't prove they didn't, but I remember Hi-C making Cactus Cooler in the late 60s/early 70s. I may have the exact name wrong, but I am sure it was green--and it was good (of course, I was only eight in 1970).
EmBee Kelle 59 months ago
You are thinking of CITRUS Cooler.
RobCertSDSCascap EmBee 59 months ago
Followed by Ecto Cooler. Hi-C was the best!
Geronimo 59 months ago
Wait a minute! What about the Batman henchman quiz?
JamesNichols 59 months ago
Cactus Cooler was one of my favorites as a kid!

daDoctah 59 months ago
When it comes to regional fruit-flavor soft drinks of the past, don't you wanna, wanna Fanta?

(I swear they had that in El Paso years before they got their own spokesdancers.)
dth1971 59 months ago
Remember when Fred mixed up Pebbles' birthday party having dancing girls instead of a clown? That's where Cactus Juice rather than soda pop was served.
RobCertSDSCascap dth1971 59 months ago
Intercepted by Fred at the last second, while fellow Water Buffaloes
get cups of soda pop. Frank Nelson was dynamite as "the only caterer
in town!"
Lantern 59 months ago
I'm in the LA area - drink this all the time.
bpacha77511 59 months ago
i love orange pineapple sodas!!! faygo orange pineapple was my fave
TVFF 59 months ago
I could have sworn I drank that as a kid in Seattle, but from the article it was only sold in the Southwest.
TCKirkham TVFF 59 months ago
No, you didn't imagine it. When Canada Dry had it, it was a nationwide beverage - I used to drink ti when I lived in Washington (it was always in the soda machines) and In Ohio as well. It's only become regional recently.
TVFF TCKirkham 59 months ago
Then I'm not going crazy....haha. Thanks for that info.
RobCertSDSCascap 59 months ago
Here's another Flintstone beverage, from Orangeco.

MrsPhilHarris 59 months ago
I'm not a big fan of pop but I'd drink it. Sounds yummy!
cperrynaples 59 months ago
That episode may not have been a good advertisement! As i recall, Fred mixed up bottles and got poisioned, then he got clunked on the head and reverted to a baby ["Tell me a story, Mommy!"]! Not the show's finest hour IMHO!
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Yep, a lot of stupid episodes! And as far as i'm concerned, Pearl is a BLABBERMOUTH...LOL!
Wiseguy cperrynaples 59 months ago
The final season was mostly fantasy episodes including Gazoo, Samantha and Darrin, dreams (Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm singing, Fred sleeping for 20 years), stories (Rocky's Raiders). Very few episodes dealt with Bedrock reality. By then the show was geared towards children anyway, not the "adult" program of the first couple of seasons.
cperrynaples Wiseguy 59 months ago
Yep, and let's not forget the Gruesomes [on second thought, maybe we should...LOL]!!
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