Stumbled upon in the 50’s, the Slurpee
was created to provide ice cold refreshment to the masses.
The Slurpee’s ‘love to hate’ elements
include staining tongues blue and red,
containing ridiculous amounts of sugar/additives and inducing painful brain
freeze.
It’s the epitome of artificial
and unsophisticated, but that’s part of the Slurpee’s charm.
Although, the reason the Slurpee holds
iconic status is because it represented a small (but important) exploration
into fun and excess when I was young.
Walking into shops as a child and
seeing the mystifying plastic tanks of blue and red slush never failed to amaze
and draw me in.
It was essentially like the iced
drink equivalent of ‘The Pied Piper of Hamlin’.
From its luminous colours to its
almost psychedelic-looking packaging, the Slurpee knew it was the brash candied
devil in disguise and it simply didn’t care.
You should ask my parents as its immense
sugar content usually ‘entertained’ them to some casual after-school
hyperactivity from me.
Like many children though, I never learnt my lessons (and to
be honest I didn’t want to!).
Instead, I’d buy another and embark giddily on my next risky adventure into the land of ice cold and saccharinely sweet.
