The Cultural Significance Of Sunny D Commercials (And Purple Stuff) Explained

Commercials are usually the bane of TV viewers' existence, but occasionally, an ad comes along that people become nostalgic for like a good movie. That's precisely the case for the classic "Purple Stuff" Sunny D commercial, which can still be found on YouTube. Originating in 1991, the ad sees a group of friends head over to one boy's house. He searches through the refrigerator for drinks, listing them off, "We got some soda, O.J., purple stuff, Sunny D." His buddies light up when he mentions "Sunny D," and the rest is pop culture history.

The company would utilize the same formula again throughout the 1990s, including one from 1996 you may have forgotten about starring a young Seann William Scott. As for the enduring legacy of the ad, one could attribute it to being a pure distillation of the '90s or the sheer random hilarity of referring to something as "purple stuff." However, a good amount of credit deserves to go to Dave Chappelle. In 2004, at the height of "Chappelle's Show" ubiquity, he released a stand-up comedy special on Showtime called "For What It's Worth." After discussing differences in what white and Black people drink, he describes the aforementioned Sunny D commercial, pointing out, "Watch the Black kid in the back. If you ever see that commercial again look at that Black kid. He be like, 'I want that purple stuff.'"

The joke caught on, and now, many people reference Chappelle in the YouTube comment section for the ad. User @firstofall1078 stated as much, "As a black man I can confirm that I wanted the purple stuff long before Dave Chappelle made it a joke." These days, Sunny D awareness remains alive and well with minimal advertising on the company's part.

The influence of Dave Chappelle on the legacy of the Sunny D commercial can't be overstated. However, the drink remains in so many people's consciousnesses thanks to numerous other pop culture properties that have paid tribute to the ad or simply incorporated Sunny D into a plot in a fun way. YouTube user @SidNightWalker pointed to another influence, "When Stewie does this whole bit on Family Guy it still to this day cracks me up, and I've seen it like a hundred times." The joke comes from the "Family Guy" Season 3 episode, "Emission Impossible," where Stewie (Seth MacFarlane) recreates the classic ad before landing on delicious Sunny D. 

But "Family Guy" is known for its jokes referencing potentially obscure pop culture moments. To really get a look at the cultural significance of the Sunny D commercial, one has to look at all the other properties that have paid tribute to the orange drink. In "The Simpsons" Season 30, Episode 4 — "Treehouse of Horror XXIX" — Lisa (Yeardley Smith) drugs her brother, Bart (Nancy Cartwright), and his friends by lacing their Sunny D with "Special K," a.k.a. ketamine, before recreating the plot of "Split." The beverage has also been featured on the Gallagher breakfast table in "Shameless."

However, Sunny D really had a renewed heyday in the 2000s between Dave Chappelle's stand-up and a prominent placement in 2007's "Juno." Early in the film, Juno (Elliot Page) drinks large quantities of Sunny D to urinate more for pregnancy tests. Sunny D (and by extension, purple stuff) has become an integral component of the pop culture lexicon. And with people who grew up in the '90s now making art, it's only going to pop up more in unexpected places.