SunnyD fans go wild as brand releases alcoholic beverage 

SunnyD fans are going wild online after the brand announced it is set to launch a new alcoholic drink. 

The sugary fruit concoction became one of Britain’s top ten best selling brands within a year of its launch in 1999, however sales plummeted after a campaign by health and consumer groups alarmed by its high sugar but low juice content. 

And now Harvest Hill have announced the tinned vodka drink will hit stores across the US from March 11 – though there is no date set for a UK release as yet. 

The new drink, which will retail in a pack of four for $9.99 (£8.44), contains real fruit juice, sparkling water, natural orange flavor, and vodka.  

Many social media users reacted to the news with joy, with one writing: ‘They’ve got my attention as well. Millenial nostalgia marketing has proven a success! I heard McDonald’s is rolling out Happy Meals for adults.’ 

Another wrote: ‘I definitely used to mix sunnyD with vodka many years ago, and add a splash of cranberry when I was feeling fancy. Broke 18-year-old days.’

A third added: ‘The perfect drink doesn’t exi….’

A fourth wrote: ‘I’m shook!’ 

Another commented: ‘I used to mix SunnyD and vodka! My friends were impressed at how well it hid the alcohol.’

‘I have had SunnyD a long time but not this lol,’ one commented. ‘Interested in trying it though lol.

‘Probably tastes like a screwdriver if I were to guess.’

One wrote: ‘I’m hoping it tastes like it should. I mix vodka and sunnyD all the time.’ 

Another commented: ‘I’m actually here for this.’    

Ilene Bergenfeld, Chief Marketing Officer, said they’d decided to launch the alcoholic drink because fans had been ‘asking’ for the product. 

Ilene told Unilad.com that many people said they had been enjoying SunnyD as a ‘mixer’.

Many fans of the brand went wild on social media over the news, with one even hailing it the ‘perfect drink’ 

She said: ‘So, we looked at the hard seltzer category, and thought, good, but we can do better. And SunnyD Vodka Seltzer was born.’

Ilene added she had ‘developed something adult SunnyD fans will be proud to enjoy.’

The drink has around 4.5 percent alcohol, and will be sold in a 4-pack of 12oz (354ml) cans.

Sunny Delight burst onto the British market in the nineties with a series of TV commercials critics dismissed as a cynical attempt to exploit children’s ‘pester power’ over their parents.

The ads featured happy youngsters in sun-lit kitchens enjoying the drink with the slogan ‘the great stuff kids go for’.

Sunny Delight burst onto the British market in the nineties with a series of TV commercials critics dismissed as a cynical attempt to exploit children’s ‘pester power’ over their parents

The product was stocked in super-market chiller cabinets – although this was unnecessary – which helped give the impression that it was a healthy fruit juice.

In fact, it contained just 5 per cent juice, plus a whopping 10 per cent sugar.

Sales in its launch year totalled £48.3million.

The campaign against Sunny Delight was spearheaded by the Health Education Authority, which urged parents to view it as a sugar-sweetened fruit drink rather than a juice.

The watchdog advised limiting consumption to mealtimes and diluting the product for under fives to protect their teeth.

After the campaign, the brand was relaunched in the UK in 2009 as SunnyD.