Kool-Aid Pineapples Are Having A Viral Moment
You may or may not have seen them on social media: giant jars of brightly colored Kool-Aid packed with pineapple spears.
The sugary treats have started popping up across neighborhoods throughout the South and Midwest, usually sold by young entrepreneurs and local snack vendors. They’re colorful, fruity, loaded with sugar, and increasingly difficult to scroll past.
One of the biggest names behind the trend right now is Instagram creator @lilktye, owner of Wilmington, North Carolina-based Drip Jars. He recently went viral after posting a video of a customer trying one of his jars and delivering an instant review:
“Dat bih tuff. Dat bih gah.”
For anyone unfamiliar with Gen Z Southern slang, that’s roughly the equivalent of saying, “This is really good.”
The clip racked up more than 11 million views and earned attention from major streamers, including DDG. Lilktye later brought the customer back for a follow-up video, recreating the moment with the same outfit and the now-famous catchphrase.
Drip Jars sells flavors like Strawberry Kiwi, Pink Lemonade, Cherry, Blue Raz, and Peach Mango. And while Lilktye may be one of the faces most associated with the trend, he’s far from the only one selling Kool-Aid pineapples.
I came across vendors like Baton Rouge-based Exotic Fruits, Tallahassee’s KO Spicy Bowls, and even Fatima’s Grill, which has rolled out Kool-Aid pineapples at locations in Cleveland, Ohio and Livonia, Michigan.
As for who started the trend, that remains unclear. What is clear is that Lilktye’s viral video helped introduce Kool-Aid pineapples to a much larger audience.
According to reports, a single jar can contain as much sugar as six Coca-Colas, which probably explains why the trend has found such a strong following among younger consumers. To me, they feel a lot like the quarter-water juices many of us grew up drinking as kids. Nobody bought them because they were healthy.
Sugar content aside, it’s hard not to respect the hustle.
