Between the Reitman family featurette and the return of Dan Aykroyd to the franchise, the ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ promotional rollout is leaning heavily into nostalgia. We don’t mind it, especially this latest bit of news: Hi-C’s famed Ecto Cooler will make its return! There’s some fine print, though.
The familiar face of Slimer and the green boxed drink won’t be hitting your grocery store’s shelves this fall, unfortunately. Word is that Ecto Cooler will be exclusively rolled out at promotional events for ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ with no wide production planned by Hi-C as of yet.
Fansite Ghostbusters News reported that supplies of Hi-C’s Ecto Cooler will be “HIGHLY limited,” only making an appearance strictly as a promotional item at ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’-themed events.
This latest Ecto Cooler news adds to the storied history of the famous slime-green drink. The ‘Ghostbusters’ tie-in began in 1987 in promotion of ‘The Real Ghostbusters’ animated series, debuting as rebranded version of Hi-C’s Citrus Cooler drink. Ecto Cooler retained its popularity for years, surviving even ‘The Real Ghostbusters’ before the ‘Ghostbusters’ branding was removed from the drink. The beverage was then renamed ‘Shoutin’ Orange Tangergreen,’ then ‘Crazy Citrus Cooler,’ before being pulled from store shelves entirely in 2007. Ecto Cooler had a brief return for the 2016 ‘Ghostbusters’ reboot, but due to new advertising restrictions, could not feature Slimer in its updated Hi-C packaging.
According to an advertising display shared on Instagram by a fan, it looks like this highly limited return of Hi-C’s Ecto Cooler will indeed feature the original packaging. We’ll all have to keep an eye out for the vintage Slimer packaging at special events for ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ in the coming weeks.
‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ directed by Jason Reitman, hits theaters on November 19th.
