by Darrin Vindiola
It's inevitable. This time of year I end up watching Home Alone about a hundred and fifty times. Home Alone had some incredible product placement throughout the movie, and.. every time I see those products, it gets me missing them. Here they are..
1.) Crunch TatorsIn the scene when Kevin is eating junk and watching rubbish i.e.; 'Angels With Filthy Souls', you can see a bag of 'Crunch Tators' sitting on the end table next to him. Made by Frito-Lay and sold during the late 80s and early 90s, these chips were incredible! I absolutely loved these super crispy potato chips! While I was actually more partial to the jalapeno flavored version, the Mesquite flavor was good as well. They had an incredible crunch and we're pretty much the precursor to kettle-cooked potato chips. I really miss these chips and have wished for years that Frito-Lay would bring them back for the masses to enjoy.
2.) Micro Machines
I got married at nineteen years old.. and had a son when I was twenty. Therefore, I actually kind of grew up with my son. I bought him all manner of toys that we both played with over the years, one of which was micro machines.
There were so many cool designs of these teeny tiny cars, I found myself buying special editions and models for myself at times. Some even had working lights if you can believe that. I think I was more disappointed than my Son once the line was discontinued. We both collect toys to this day, and if Micro Machines were to be re-released, I'm sure we'd both be throwing our money at any new incarnations.
3.) Old School PepsiJust like Kevin's cousin Fuller.. I was a Pepsi addict at one time in my life. I miss the old school Pepsi made with real sugar, the old logo, the marketing, pretty much everything about this brand that I grew up with.
Granted.. it was 1984 when they stopped making Pepsi with real sugar, but seeing the clever product placement of the old Pepsi cans in Home Alone always gets me to reminisce. While Pepsi doesn't taste exactly like it used to, I can at least find special editions and bottles from Mexico that are still made with real cane sugar. They also get me feeling that retro nostalgia with special edition packaging they release every once in awhile complete with throwback logo, and old corn syrup free recipe. Ah.. the good ol' days.