HAWAIIAN PUNCH

Sometimes the drink was basically just “the red stuff,” and everybody knew what you meant. Hawaiian Punch brings birthday-party, cookout and giant-cup energy into a bracket full of lunchbox drinks. That makes it a useful troublemaker. It doesn’t need a pouch gimmick or chocolate flavor to separate itself—the loud fruit-punch identity does the job. Its nastiest matchup is obvious: Hawaiian Punch vs. Kool-Aid. That’s the kind of pairing where people suddenly remember exactly what their family bought and refuse to hear another argument. Yoo-hoo creates the opposite fight: fruit punch against chocolate, two completely different childhood cravings. If somebody hands you the red cup again, are you taking it?