COMING SOON: Hi-C Ecto Cooler

Ecto can and box combo copy

If you Google “list of discontinued foods we miss” and select any one of the search results, there’s a very good chance you’ll see a photo slideshow that you’ll have click through in order to see the entire list. There’s also a very good chance that the list will contain Hi-C Ecto Cooler.

For you really young people, Hi-C Ecto Cooler was a tie-in with the original Ghostbusters movies. The beverage was popular enough that it stuck around for years after Ghostbusters II hit theaters. Sadly, it was discontinued in 2001.

However, this summer, thanks to the new Ghostbusters movie, Hi-C Ecto Cooler is coming back for a limited time. It’ll be available in 10-packs of 6-ounce juice boxes and in 6- and 12-packs of 11.5-ounce aluminum cans. The exterior of the cans have thermal ink that turns slime green when the beverage is cold.

The sweet beverage will be hitting shelves on May 30, but if you can’t wait you can enter a sweepstakes to have a chance to win some before it’s available for purchase. To enter and learn more about it, you can go to Facebook.com/ectocool, Twitter.com/EctoCooler or learn more at www.ecto.cool.

SPOTTED ON SHELVES: Project 7 Birthday Cake Gourmet Gummies

Project 7 Birthday Cake Gourmet Gummies

Odd, but not surprising since Project 7 likes to get creative with their flavors. The gummies are also available in Grapefruit Melon, Rainbow Ice, Front Porch Lemonade, and Sour Caramel Apple flavors. (Spotted by Valerie P at Target.)

If you’re out shopping and see an interesting new product on the shelf, snap a picture of it, and send us an email ([email protected]) with where you found it and “Spotted” in the subject line. Or reply to us (@theimpulsivebuy) on Twitter with the photo, where you spotted it, and the hashtag #spotted. If you’ve tried the product, share your thoughts about it in the comments.

REVIEW: Hot Pockets Food Truck Spicy Asian-Style Beef

Hot Pockets Food Truck Spicy Asian-Style Beef

Food trucks are all the rage these days. (Or, you know, they were like, a couple of years ago. Tell you what—go back in time a couple of years, read this review, and vigorously nod your head at my lede. Thanks.)

In fact, there’s a good chance you’re probably eating at a food truck this very instant. So am I. But while your Food Truck Experience likely involves artisanally crafted meatballs or, say, some sort of Cajun-Korean fusion sandwich, mine was a Hot Pocket.

You know, Hot Pockets.

Bastion of the down-trodden. Savior of the late night drunkard.

Like food trucks, Hot Pockets were once a cool, exciting happening; but that era went out with the Sega, Reebok Pumps and, SNL being water-cooler conversation. Where once stood a delightful, microwavable rectangle of deliciousness now sits a flaccid box of mediocre ingredients and un-melted cheeses.

Hot Pockets, how I miss thee.

But like your Milli Vanilli cassette and your Hyper-Color shirt, there is a time and place for the HP. A quick-fire lunch. A late night when you’re legally too drunk to make it to Taco Bell. A bizarre occurrence where you’re angry at your colon. These are all prime examples of when one SHOULD pull open the plastic, insert the meat-chunk into the crisping sleeve, and prepare to wreck your toilet.

If you’re doing that, though, be wise. The optimal Hot Pockets flavors rank as such: 1) 4 Meat & 4 Cheese Pizza 2) Beef Taco 3) BBQ Recipe Beef (lol at that name, by the way—“recipe.” What??) 4) Steak & Cheddar 5) Philly Steak 6) “Hickory” Ham & Cheese 7) Meatballs & Mozzarella 8) Any of the “Breakfast” Pockets.

Hot Pockets Food Truck Spicy Asian-Style Beef 1

This new Pocket—the one I had, apparently “inspired” by a food truck—would be like, 63rd on the list.

According to the box, it was engineered in conjunction with “Komodo Food Truck” which stands for “Dangerously Good Food” and “a gourmet experience like no other.”

Per my Google searching, “Komodo Food Truck” is “a real thing,” but good lord, I’m not sure how they’d ever be okay with such a lackluster representation of their brand. (Oh, well, money.)

Hot Pockets Food Truck Spicy Asian-Style Beef 2

This thing was garbage, plain and simple. Oh sure, it looked fine from the outside—normal-ass Pocket proceedings. Inside, however, lurked an adventurous mush that appeared to be some sort of miser’s answer to beef stew. There were carrots — lots of them — and a few disingenuous peas, and some brown paste. I saw a few errant specks of “angus beef” but that seriously could’ve been my imagination. Because I didn’t taste them.

Hot Pockets Food Truck Spicy Asian-Style Beef 3

Instead, I tasted sweet, crunchy carrots and a dull hint of heat (the box brags that there are jalapenos involved). Point being, this thing tasted like a warm mass of microwaved newspaper that your grandmother spit out her mostly-eaten piece of grape hard candy into. It was grotesquely sugary and there was but a singular beef to be found.

And really, is that what we want in a Hot Pocket?

Because I thought we demanded better.

But maybe that’s today’s thinking, really. This…entitlement. Maybe I’m viewing this through the lens of a modern man who knows that Milli Vanilli was a grand disappointment, that Pumps won’t make me a better basketball player, and that SNL maybe hasn’t been funny ever. (Or, for arguments sake, it’s funnier than ever and the era we fondly remember was actually mostly pretty bad, save a handful of sketches.)

Anyway, don’t buy this Hot Pocket if you see it loitering. Holy shit, it’s bad and you’ll regret it.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 Pocket – 290 calories, 110 calories from fat, 12 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 500 milligrams of sodium, 40 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 6 grams of sugar, and 5 grams of protein.)

Purchased Price: $2.00 (on sale)
Size: 2 sandwiches
Purchased at: Hy-Vee
Rating: 2 out of 10
Pros: Um, nostalgia? Cheap. Sega Genesis.
Cons: Microwaved awfulness. 63rd best Hot Pocket. Grandma’s hard candy. Carrot City.

SPOTTED ON SHELVES – 4/28/2016

Here are some interesting new and limited edition products found on store shelves by us and your fellow readers. If you’ve tried any of the products, share your thoughts about them in the comments.

Trader Joe's Island Salsa

Trader Joe’s Island Salsa

Trader Giotto's Trofie Colore

Trader Giotto’s Trofie Colore

Colorful salsa and colorful pasta from Trader Joe’s. (Spotted by Rachel C at Trader Joe’s.)

Naples Hawaiian-Style Chicken, Sweet and Sour Chicken, and Braised Beef with Vegetables

Naples Hawaiian-Style Chicken, Sweet and Sour Chicken, and Braised Beef with Vegetables

Naples Burnt Ends Pork

Naples Burnt Ends Pork

Naples Thai Coconut Chicken and Cashew Chicken

Naples Thai Coconut Chicken and Cashew Chicken

Naples Jerk Chicken and Chicken Chile Verde

Naples Jerk Chicken and Chicken Chile Verde

So many choices, unless you don’t like chicken. (Spotted by Carla and Amanda at Walmart.)

Great Value Limited Edition Light Strawberry Shortcake Yogurt

Great Value Limited Edition Light Strawberry Shortcake Yogurt

The Year of Strawberry Shortcake continues. (Spotted by Erin K at Walmart.)

Thank you to all the photo contributors! If you’re out shopping and see an interesting new product on the shelf, snap a picture of it, and send us an email ([email protected]) with where you found it and “Spotted” in the subject line. Or reply to us (@theimpulsivebuy) on Twitter with the photo, where you spotted it, and the hashtag #spotted. If you do so, you might see your picture in our next Spotted on Shelves post.

FAST FOOD NEWS: McDonald’s Guava & Crème Pie

McDonald's Guava & Cre?me Pie

Impulsive Buy reader Kevin E sent us this photo taken at a McDonald’s drive-thru in South Miami, Florida. After searching Twitter to look for references of the new Guava & Crème Pie, it appears to be an exclusive flavor for the Florida market. It’s built similar to their Strawberries & Crème Pie and other fruit and crème pies we’ve seen before from McDonald’s. It has a guava filling and vanilla flavored crème in a sugar-coated crust.

If you’ve tried it or seen it in a state other than Florida, let us know in the comments.