Soft Swirl

Jell-O sales began to slide for the first time in the late 1960s, from a high of 715 million packages per year in 1968 to 305 million by 1986. footnote An mix of cultural forces contributed to the brand's decline: amid the rising counterculture movement, Jell-O came to be seen as "The Man," a symbol of the establishment and a representative of corporate America; Jell-O's bright artificial colors and flavors no longer fit in with consumer appetites that had begun to favor natural foods; and with increasing numbers of women entering the workforce, time-intensive gelatin recipes began to disappear from the nightly dinner table. footnote After nearly 80 years, gelatin was finally falling out of style.

It was around this time that Jell-O released a number of spinoff products with varying success, including Jell-O Cream Pie, Jell-O Pastel, Whip 'n Chill, Spoon Candy, No-Bake Cheesecake, and Soft Swirl (note: many of these will be coming to the museum!). Available from 1972 through the 1980s, footnote Soft Swirl was marketed as an instant pudding that was upscale yet ideal for the everyday family dinner. "Treat your family like company" was the slogan of Soft Swirl's advertising campaign, which included celebrity commercials featuring The Brady Bunch's Florence Henderson and Willy Wonka's Denise Nickerson (Violet Beauregarde).