A gigantic red-and-yellow plastic jug bearing the McDonald’s logo and used to dispense an ultra-sweet, non-carbonated, orange-flavored soft drink is embedded in the minds of generations of customers, the containers being ubiquitous at restaurants or events throughout the 1980s and 1990s. While rarely clearly displayed, the beverage inside was Hi-C’s Orange Lavaburst flavor, available not just in a rented jug at a soccer game or birthday party, but on McDonald’s soft drink taps, too. Or at least it was available. After decades on the menu, McDonald’s discontinued the item in 2017, slowly phasing it out of its stores over a period of three months, according to Business Insider. However, customer protests were so loud and pointed (including a Change.org petition) that they were effective — according to CNN, McDonald’s restored Hi-C Lavaburst to its stores’ beverage fountains in early 2021.
Many other soft drinks have come and gone from McDonald’s over the years. According to History’s Dumpster, Coca-Cola’s root beer brand Ramblin’ was distributed to fountains until 1995, when the company introduced Barq’s Root Beer and favored that variety.
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