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Food

'Stranger Things' Is Making Americans Go Crazy for Retro Chocolate Pudding

Following its appearance in the show, enthusiasm has been so great for Snack Pack pudding’s retro look that ConAgra is considering bringing it back to appease fervent fans.
Hilary Pollack
Los Angeles, US
Stranger Things

"Hey, have you watched Stranger Things yet?"

"No, seriously, it's really good. It's like The Goonies meets Twin Peaks meets E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial meets Alien!!!"

If you haven't already had this conversation with your friends upwards of ten times, consider yourself either a hermit or the type of person who doesn't seem interested in interdimensional travel, nightmare-inducing monsters, government conspiracies, suburban ennui, an especially unhinged Winona Ryder, and 80s nostalgia.

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After being released on July 15 on Netflix, Stranger Things has become so wildly popular that it threatens to overtake Game of Thrones in terms of viewer demand. In addition to capturing the wonder and obsession of viewers who long for the glory days of Stephen King horror and Ridley Scott sci-fi, the series has stoked a resurgence in interest for the lighter-hearted aesthetics of the Reagan days, from Dustin's trucker hats to the boys' Dungeons & Dragons obsession to Foreigner's "Waiting for a Girl Like You." And among these excavated cultural treasures is a particular US brand of chocolate pudding: Hunt's Snack Packs.

Now known simply as Snack Packs (Hunt's was purchased by Chicago-based packaged foods company ConAgra some time ago), the individual chocolate pudding cups make a brief but memorable appearance in the series' eighth episode, which has sparked an increase in demand among American viewers, according to TMZ.

After accusing the school lunch lady of hoarding the chocolate pudding for herself, Dustin and Lucas raid the fridge for dozens of little pop-top cans of the stuff.

Here's what they used to look like, as seen in the series:

chocolate-pudding-snack-packs-stranger-things-1

Image via ConAgra

And here's what they look like now:

Enthusiasm has been so great for the pudding's retro look that ConAgra is considering bringing it back to appease fervent Stranger Things fans.

"Snack Pack pudding has been a family favourite for years, and we're thrilled it was featured on the show," ConAgra Foods' Director of Brand Communications Lanie Friedman tells MUNCHIES. "We're always looking for ways to better connect with our consumers, so if they want throwback packaging we'll certainly consider it. Stranger things have happened!" (See what she did there?)

Gaten Matarazzo, who plays Dustin in the series, tells Broadly: "I love pudding. Pudding is amazing! Pudding is delicious and I love chocolate pudding—especially chocolate. Chocolate pudding is the best."

Damn straight, Gaten.