The Kool-Aid Man used to crash through walls, wave his little stubby arms around and serve up a deep “Oh, Yeah!” whenever someone else stopped everything they were doing and yelled, “Hey, Kool-Aid!”

While Kool-Aid’s owners, Kraft Foods, still wants consumers saying “Oh, Yeah!” after sipping the fruity beverage, they are taking the brand through a modern update. After all, the brand took a 5 percent hit in revenue last year, falling to $338 million, according to the Clarion Ledger. It seems like the powdered drink mix, which has been around since 1927, is ready for a little change.Continue reading...

Hooters may be the first place consumers think of when the term “breastaurants” comes up, but a Texas eatery is aiming to change that.

Bikinis Sports Bar and Grill, which features big-breasted gals in bikinis and short shorts serving up food, hula hooping, and, wait for it—jumping on a trampoline—has armed itself in the battle of mammary-obsessed food chains. Bikinis has trademarked the term “breastaurants” and God help anybody who tries to use it without their permission. 

Take that, Twin Peaks, Mugs N Jugs, Tilted Kilt and, most specifically, Hooters!Continue reading...

Since entrepreneurs launched the "relaxation" beverage category several years ago, brands with catchy names like Vacation in a Bottle and Drank have mostly gone nowhere, at least in terms of the volume of sales that some expected. Beverage Digest has called the sector "one of the more conspicuous underperformers," with Americans seemingly less eager to kick back with such brews than they are to power up with energy drinks.

But now one relaxation player, Marley Beverage, believes that it can leverage the visage of reggae icon Bob Marley and an official association with his family to consolidate a huge chunk of the segment — and maybe even re-energize this type of functional beverage overall.

Marley sold two million cases of its ready-to-drink Marley's Mellow Mood sodas and teas last year, and Kevin McClafferty, president of the Southfield, Mich.-based brand, told brandchannel that he expects Marley to double that volume in 2013. In addition to other expansion plans, a new deal to distribute Marley's Mellow Mood in more than 2,000 Walmart stores nationwide will be key to fulfilling that goal.Continue reading...

Coca-Cola is creating "tumult" with the launch of Tumult, an adult fermented non-alcoholic drink to be served with food (great with sushi!) or as an alco-alternative before the food is served, newly redesigned by Taxi Studio, whose creative director, Spencer Buck, explains: 

We wanted to open it up to a wider audience, and by doing so, make it more accessible and light-hearted. The positioning statements are circling round the fact it brightens up and colours social moments, perhaps as a drink to be enjoyed before dinner as an aperitif.

The design is accompanied by a “sensorial cloud,” according to Casey Sampson, Taxi’s senior designer. “As it’s a fermented non-alcoholic drink it’s basically alive, so we tried to bring that to life with the swirls and swooshes. It’s got a lot of movement to it. We wanted to bring a bit more joy to the packaging and make it less austere. There’s a sense of permanence to give it a more iconic status.”Continue reading...

Gatorade, the elder citizen amongst sports drinks, is in search of its mojo.

A campaign launching two new products, G Series and G Series Pro, debuts later this month and is geared primarily to teenagers and specialized athletes. G Series targets the high school athlete, while G Series Pro caters to "business" athletes, personal trainers or elite athletes.

The brand's touted three-part regimen – pre, during, and post-workout – redefines the Gatorade athlete in a much broader terms so it now includes skateboarders, surfers, acrobats and gymnasts - and females. As part of the pre-launch, a mobile locker room has been traveling to high schools promoting the G Series.Continue reading...

To put the Coca-Cola's "disappointing" quarter into perspective: The brand's net income in the third quarter was $1.9 billion (about 81 cents per share), up from $1.89 billion a year earlier. By volume, its overall sales still climbed 2% (after a 4% rise in the second quarter and a 2% rise in the first).

But is Coke in trouble? Granted, the brand is an icon and will never be gone. But even as sales of carbonated soda drinks (like Coke) rose1% in the quarter, those snazzier drinks the kids like so much, like Vitaminwater, rose 7%.Continue reading...

Royal Bank of Scotland may be forced to sell 300 branches. [Times of London]

Ford recalls 14.3 million vehicles over faulty switches. [WaPo]

Pepsi, Anheuser-Busch form purchasing association for goods and services. [NY Times]

PepsiCo's Amp Energy drink draws anger over "pick-up artist" iPhone app. [WSJ]

Soda tax to fund health care and fight obesity could shake up beverage industry. [NPR]

P&G to focus on value-based items, emerging markets to ensure growth. [NY Times]

Kellogg's will laser-brand individual flakes Corn Flakes. [Telegraph]

(More headlines: Ivanka Trump, Michelin in Japan.)Continue reading...