27 Jun 2001

OK Cola: “It’s hip to be brainwashed.” I never bought into the whole marketing ploy of this failed soft drink, but I dug the taste (and the kooky artwork). I drank several cans a day during the summer I worked at a prison outside the Twin Cities. Fruitopia was also test marketed that summer, but I never thought it would catch on (via The Stuffed Dog).

Miss the taste of OK Cola? Try this recipe — lately I’ve been drinking a mixture of 50% root-beer / 50% orange juice, which tastes remarkably like an orange cream soda.

31 responses so far (Respond)

I’m with you on the Frutopia. Whenever I see a vending machine for it or realize it’s still on the shelves, I wonder who’s drinking it. Does anyone remember Rondo? It was an Australian soft-drink “lightly carbonated” that was marketed in the late seventies (why yes, I *am* a hundred years old). The soda was okay, but the commercials were sexy, with all sorts of rugged dudes hang gliding, rock climbing, rowing and of course, quenching their big thirsts with light citrusy taste of Rondo!

fell for fresca | 28 Jun 2001

I think Fruitopia was launched the summer I moved cross-country. I know I tried a different flavor everytime we stopped for gas.

Shasta | 29 Jun 2001

RONDO! Yes! Loved the commercials…”It goes down smooth!” No one I know remembers it at all. Thank you for validating my memory.

cunninghamster | 24 Aug 2001

I have been trying to find anyone who remembered Rondo too!! I loved that shit!!

david | 29 Nov 2001

Rondo… Lightly carbonated so you can slam it down fast.
( Zoom to macho fist crunching now empty can )

Doesn’t get much better than that

David | 14 Dec 2001

Here’s visual confirmation of Rondo’s existence.

waesa | 12 Jan 2002

Rondo was THE BEST! It was light flavored, Citrus soda–I would chug the stuff all day when I was around 11 or 12. I think CITRA is close to the same stuff.

I still remember the commercial with the grass-skiing dude who then chugged a can and crushed it therafter.

“Rondo: The Thirst Crusher” ::CRUNCCCHHH!!!!::

Hank Lewis | 26 Feb 2002

Hey Rondo fans. A 30sec commercial from 1979. in Real Player format (580Kb)…
http://www.geocities.com/~aheiden/rondo.rm

Al | 26 Feb 2002

I was able to veiw the Rondo commercial listed below (it was great – Oriental Stick Fighting!). When I went back to show my wife, the page was not found! Does anyone have a copy of it?

Chris S | 7 Apr 2002

After finding that the Rondo commercial was no longer on the web, I found Al’s email address and sent him a message asking where the missing commercial was. Within an hour, he responded and had restored the file to its original place! Thanks Al!

Chris S | 7 Apr 2002

As kids growing up in Nothern Ireland (I now live in TX) we would each buy a can of Coke and a can of Fanta Orange and mix the two together. We called them Muddy Ducks. I couldn’t believe it years later when I first tasted OK soda. It’s a fecking Muddy Duck!! Shame they took it off the market. And a Coke & Minute Maid Orange mix is just not quite the same as Coke & Fanta 🙁

I did find Fanta Strawberry at a local 7 Eleven. Tastes just like Cremola Foam. *sigh*

Axel from N Ireland | 26 Apr 2002

I can’t believe I found others who remember it…I loved that stuff and think about it off and on and even crave it now and then and I can’t have been more than 8 last time I had it! At one point it was still on the market in Denver long after it had been removed from around here…I remembered the guy crushing the can against his head too, but couldn’t remember much about the rest of it!

danielle | 5 Jun 2002

I loved Rondo and i liked Like.

Dana | 20 Jun 2002

Man! I am 35 and I remember slamming many Rondos down when I was 12 or so. It was the BEST! For years I have quizzed people my age and older about it and NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON even remembers the stuff, let alone the asian dude kicking imaginary ass with a large stick in a stream before power-reefing a Rondo down.”RONDO…Lightly carbonated so you can slam it down fast.” Good stuff.

greg | 19 Jul 2002

I have heard rumors that OK Cola was masterminded by BILL KRISTOL (former Dan Quayle advisor, etc.) in an effort to manipulate the minds of Gen-X. Seriously!
Is there any truth to this?!

Yens’ son | 22 Jul 2002

I really liked Rondo it’s not to often that you can brag that you have a drink named after you….. & get slammed down fast…

Rondo | 22 Jul 2002

viands followeth
hetman generated straws
monk potential

Haiku Man | 28 Jul 2002

Oh, my gosh I can’t believe that I actually found others who remember Rondo. I Rocked!!!

Tyster | 6 Aug 2002

At one point, didn’t Rondo offer a T-shirt in a can? “You may get lucky and get a T-shirt on your nest purchase of Rondo” I vaguely remember this. Anyone? Anyone?

Drew

Andrew Rivera | 11 Aug 2002

Rondo – the thirst crusher!

I don’t recall that, really, but I do have a mini-flyer (small frisbee) that has the Rondo name on it, somewhere. Though I always rememebred it as being “the thirst quencher,” which means I got confused when Gatorade used that. Anyway, I got the frisbee when I was a kid visiting the Coke plant in Dallas, TX. It was a favorite drink of mine.

jason | 28 Aug 2002

can ok soda be found anywhere now? i want to try it…

mogley | 14 Oct 2002

For all of you remembering RONDO, it is alive and well (in a way). I don’t know if CITRA is close to the same stuff – but SOLO is the exact same stuff! It is still very popular in Australia.

Look here:
http://www.cadburyschweppes.com/company_information/brands/beverages/australian_brands.html

Cricia | 21 Oct 2002

For all of you remembering RONDO, it is alive and well (in a way). I don’t know if CITRA is close to the same stuff – but SOLO is the exact same stuff! It is still very popular in Australia.

Look here:
http://www.cadburyschweppes.com/company_information/brands/beverages/australian_brands.html

Cricia | 25 Oct 2002

rondo schmondo,if i dont find some cremola foam my fiance will render me knackerless. please, please help. roert cormack

robert cormack | 31 Oct 2002

Oh Robert, I do hope I’m not too late. Nestle, the manufacturers of Cremola Foam ceased its production in 1998. There is rumoured to be a German product of a similar nature, said to be found in certain Lidl stores across the UK.

Failing that you could try a 3:2:1 combination of icing sugar, cream of tartar and tartaric acid. I didn’t have any to hand but got a reasonable result from icing sugar, bicarbonate of soda and citric acid. You may want to up the sugar ratio a bit though. It’s not a patch on the original but it’s a start. Good Luck

Daniel Amos | 24 Jun 2003

Rondo ruled! I found an original 12 oz glass bottle. I proudly display it in my kitchen today. Also bought on eBay a Rondo belt buckle. I called Coke and asked if Citra was the saem recipe and the girl answering the phone never heard of Rondo. I rmember too that I got in toruble in 4th grade (1979) for bringing it to school as the nuns thought the yellow and black can looked like a beer can.

john | 25 Jun 2003

I was just remembering my childhood and did a search on Rondo. Wow! I’m glad there are people that still remember the soda. Whether my friends and I were playing hockey, football, or baseball we’d run to the local corner store and get a Rondo afterwards. It ruled!

CV | 30 Jun 2003

I am finally not alone! NOBODY I know remembers those Rondo commericals. Then again, I work with a bunch of kids who don’t even know the Billy Dee Williams Colt 45 commercials either! UGH!!!

Jason Stone | 12 Aug 2003

Does anyone remember “Kickapoo Joy Juice”? I think it may have been bought out or re-released as Mountain Dew (or kept hidden and used as a recipe for Citra).

ss | 15 Aug 2003

I’m glad to hear of others who remember Rondo. I have never found others who remember the soda until now!

We often rode our bikes to the store to buy a can.

I also remember a commercial where some guys were grass skiing working up a Rondo thirst.

It is great to come to the site and find others who remember!

Amy | 15 Sep 2003

27 Jun 2001

31 responses so far (Respond)

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