Coca-Cola is loving the taste of nostalgia.
The world’s largest beverage company on Monday announced that this summer it will bring back Hi-C Ecto Cooler, pulling the juice brand out of the Coke’s (KO) brand vault in time to capitalize on the upcoming release of a third Ghostbusters film, which hits theaters on July 15.
“Hi-C Ecto Cooler fueled a pop culture phenomenon that is well remembered and beloved by fans to this day,” said Charles Torrey, vice president of the Minute Maid/Hi-C Brands for Coca-Cola North America.
Hi-C Ecto Cooler enjoyed peak popularity in the 1980s and 1990s after it was first launched as a tie-in with the original Ghostbusters franchise in 1987. Though Ghostbusters films stopped being produced after the 1989 sequel, Hi-C Ecto Cooler managed to stay on retail shelves through 2001, when it was discontinued.
Coke says vocal support for the brand in various media articles that highly 1990s nostalgia are partly why it decided to bring back the juice, as well as some lobbying support from the new film’s maker, Sony Pictures.
Beverage makers can turn to Hollywood for inspiration from time-to-time—an ideal way to generate marketing buzz for items that often end up being sold for a limited time. Another recent example is PepsiCo’s (PEP) recent limited edition bottle under the brand name “Pepsi Perfect,” emulating how the brand appeared when it was briefly featured in the 1989 film “Back to the Future Part II.”
