Donald Duck Orange Juice Squeezed Out of the Picture

Everyone's familiar with Walt Disney's famous cartoon character Donald Duck. Thanks to his comical temper tantrums, during which he quacks angrily (and unintelligibly), the sailor-suit-wearing waterfowl is arguably more popular than Mickey Mouse.

Well, here's something that's really going to ruffle Donald's feathers: his same-named orange juice – first introduced in 1940 – has been quietly discontinued. 

It disappeared from shelves in the Lorain area more than a month ago – first the cartons (available at Fligner's) and then the small bottles at Dollar Tree. An online search showed that it had been available at Walmart, but was out of stock.

Since Donald Duck Orange Juice was my favorite, I contacted Florida's Natural Growers, the manufacturer, to ask where I could find it.

A Consumer Affairs representative responded. "Unfortunately, we have discontinued our line of Donald Duck products, including the Donald Duck Orange Juice No Pulp, Donald Duck Orange Juice with Pulp, Donald Duck Orange Juice with Calcium, Donald Duck Apple Juice, Donald Duck Kiwi Strawberry Juice Cocktail and Donald Duck Fruit Punch Juice Cocktail. 

"This elimination of Donald Duck products was undertaken in order to focus on our flagship Florida’s Natural brand of juices, lemonades and drinks as well as other existing and emerging brands in our portfolio," she concluded.

Ah, there is no joy in Duckburg tonight.

Anyway, I first wrote about Donald Duck Orange Juice here and here. It had been one of the longest running products featuring a popular, licensed character. Most of all, it tasted good. But for Florida's Natural, eliminating the product was probably a way to save a lot of money. 

And so a mighty brand ducks out.

In happier times, when a statue of Donald Duck
greeted visitors to the orange juice plant

****

Do you start your day with a glass of orange juice? I do, but it wasn't always like that. 

When I was a kid, orange juice was something we only had on Sunday mornings, along with a Sara Lee coffee cake or Hough Bakeries küchen. And it was always the frozen, canned variety. But later, after I came home from Ohio State (where we had it every day at breakfast in the dormitory cafeteria), Mom started buying it regularly for me. And she and Dad drank it everyday from then on.

I've had house guests who preferred freshly squeezed (something I only did once in my life). I actually like the concentrate version better myself. As long as the container has a picture of an orange on it, I'll drink it. 

Guess I'll have to find another brand now. Hey, maybe I should consider the longtime choice of Der Bingle.