There is one thing I wish I could find at a book store, and that is a gigantic book featuring logos of some of my favorite items throughout the years. Advertising gets a bad rap from time to time, but every now and then there are some great images forever drilled in my head reminding me that I do indeed need that diet alternative soda in the pink can. After searching through eBay and the Internet for images of my favorites, I gathered five that are the most loved by my retro loving mind.

Pringles

Sure he looks like the poster child for every hipster sporting a full moustache, but the Pringle’s guy was very memorable for me. He represented a whole new way of eating chips. The presentation was so revolutionary! Forget eating chips out of bags, I could actually eat curved chips out of a can like a sophisticated human being. He just seemed so happy. I wanted those chips. Some of my favorite flavors were of course the original, but I also liked Ranch and Sour Cream and Onion. Those were always a good time, until Pringles got crazy on us and created a whole assortment of strange flavors including cheeseburger and seven layer dip. The taste of powder olive is pretty grody.

I have a funny story to mention about the vintage Pringles logo I grew up with. (Actually this story might reek of desperation.) A couple years ago Pringles released special edition cans marking the vintage logos from the 80’s. I had to buy one of course and after polishing off the chips I… kept the can. I liked having that old logo as a reminder of, I don’t know… happier times? I still don’t know why I held onto it, but after hauling my belongings back home following the end of my marriage, my brother found the can and was like, “Why do you have this?”

Lying through my teeth, I replied, “Oh, it’s just some chips. I might get hungry.” My brother may be younger than me, but he is not a dummy. He opened the can, saw there were no chips and upon smelling the decomposing scent of Pringle chip oil in the can, shouted, “You’re an effing hoarder! Throw this away!” I did dear readers. I did. But don’t you see why a publishing company needs to make a book with images of all the great logos of yesteryear? No one wants to collect old chip cans. No one.

Kool-Aid

I’m a very simple person. Slap a face on a pitcher of a sugary mixed drink and I’m in love. Was there ever anything cooler than the colorful packets of Kool-Aid drink mixes? I could devote an entire article to all the great images from various Kool-Aid packets from the 80’s and early 90’s. But I won’t since I’m afraid I already lost half of you from the Pringles incident. Either way, this version of Fruit Punch was one of my favorites. All the colors on that packet stood out to me while the Kool-Aid pitcher was more a pitcher before growing into the man we all know and love.

Dunkin’ Donuts Cereal

Did anyone else completely geek out over this cereal when it came out? My mom was not super excited about sugary cereals, but she would buy them and they’d essentially be treated like a dessert. We rarely had sugary cereals for breakfast; they’d usually get eaten as a snack after school or after dinner. Dunkin’ Donuts cereal was simply everything a person could want for a sugary cereal. They came in two flavors (that I recall) which were glazed donut and chocolate donut. Let’s put aside the greatness that was this cereal and just marvel at the lovely bubble logo. The pink and orange makes a great combination and now that a Dunkin’ Donuts has finally opened down the street from me, I will feel like I’m reuniting with a long lost friend.

Tab

Soda in a pink can? My goodness Coca Cola really knows how to tug at my heart strings. Technically a diet drink for aerobic 80’s moms, Tab has been on the soda scene for a long time. Growing up I was always enamored by the 80’s font as well as that striking red and pink striped can. I remember begging my mom to buy a six pack of Tab. I had to know what mystery flavors were inside that can. She relented for the longest time because she didn’t like the idea of her five year old daughter drinking a diet drink, but in a bid to shut me up, she bought a six pack for me. After the first few sips I thought it was the most disgusting beverage known to the universe. Lesson learned.

However through the years my tastes changed and I learned how to embrace that artificial soda. Still to this day I will indulge in a Tab six-pack every now and then. It tastes weird at first but then becomes strangely addictive. I say it’s because the can is pink. (See how easy it is for companies to get me?)

Head and Shoulders

A quick search on eBay can yield many results. Apparently someone can actually buy new and unused bottles of Head and Shoulders… from the 80’s. While we all try to process that, let me tell you all another story. I was essentially a weird kid. For a few years I found myself attached to bottles with pretty colors. It was not uncommon to find me clutching an empty bottle of Head and Shoulders while running errands with my mom. There was something about that pink and purple wave on the front of the bottle that just sucked me in.

Sure managers at the grocery store thought I was stealing the bottle of Head and Shoulders, but after my mom carefully explained to them that the bottle was empty and that I simply liked carrying bottles of shampoo around, they left us alone; for the most part. Some people thought my mom was being irresponsible for letting her child walk around with an empty bottle of hair care product. My scalp was clean as a whistle though. Actually I was too young to use Head and Shoulders, never too young though to carry the bottle around like a protective blanket.

All right. I’ll leave it at that. I could go on further about some more of my favorite logos, but my goal is not to strike fear into the hearts of men. I’m already on the fast track to becoming a true blue Ms. Havisham, which is why there really needs to be an encyclopedic-sized book that shares every advertising coup possible.

What are some of your favorite logos? Does anyone else suffer from these images overstaying their welcome? I surely can’t be the only one, though I suppose I am ok if that is the case. Either way, I hope everyone is doing well. Take care everybody!