I should start off by explaining/apologizing for how, when I recently finished a thriller whose twist ending blew my mind, I was quickly informed by online reviews that I was the only person in the world who hadn’t seen it coming by the third page. Please bear that in mind when I tell you that I had no idea what to make of my first sip of Fanta’s What The Fanta Mystery Flavor. It smelled like Marshmallow Fruity Pebbles, looked like dishwasher detergent, and tasted like a sudden inability to remember a single other flavor to which I could compare it.
After a few addled attempts, I realized that it reminded me of Fresca, the zero-calorie drink known to me throughout my childhood as equally for its sparklingly synthetic taste as for its inexplicable presence at every gathering my dad’s side of the family ever held. Fresca was grapefruit-flavored, but I don’t think the same can be said of this blue beauty. I don’t drink much sugar-free soda, so that was just one of my few frames of reference for the bright, biting, and ever-so-uncannily artificial flavor that overwhelmed any other tastes I might detect here.
Still, “fruit of some sort” seemed like a promising start, and I kicked into detective mode to find more leads.
My first clue was a message on the bottle that read, appropriately, “Find Clues: #WhatTheFanta.” Attempting to follow those directions immediately led to me drowning in a sea of disgruntled Twitter users comparing this soda’s taste, with varying degrees of tact, to a rear end. (Fortunately, another recurring guess was the way more helpful — not to mention plausible — “orange creamsicle”).
Eventually, I made my way to Fanta.com, an oasis of information where, for the price of my email address and birthday, I was granted access to a secret world by way of QR code.
Spoilers ahead!
The QR code transports you to a mysterious website where you’re greeted by an array of images: first, there is just an innocuous blue Fanta bottle, which quickly reconfigures itself into an ice cream truck, a weird bluish blob that I initially parsed as an octopus but eventually realized was probably meant to be a stylized scoop of ice cream, an ice cream cone (okay, I thought I got it!!!), an ear of corn (never mind, I was confused again!!!), a carrot, a traffic cone, and finally some sort of reddish donkey-thing.
The three pieces of ice cream imagery and the two iconically orange items lend a lot of credence to the orange creamsicle theory, but I must admit I still have no idea how the corn or donkey play into it. I guess if the cerulean color for an ostensibly orange flavor is any indication, Fanta isn’t above throwing in a few red (or blue) herrings (or donkeys).
So, that’s the mystery of the flavor resolved (probably). What about the resolution of this review? Unfortunately, the tinny tang that comes along with the “zero sugar” label meant that I regrettably found the QR code caper more compelling than the actual beverage that inspired it. Drink this if you’re thirsty for a good case to crack, but perhaps not if you’re thirsty for a good soda.
Update: We also tried the Burger King Frozen What The Fanta! Click here to read our review.
Purchased Price: $2.19
Size: 20 oz
Purchased at: Wawa
Rating: 4 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 bottle) 0 calories, 0 grams of fat, 65 milligrams of sodium, 0 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.
I would try it if it had real sugar in it. I’m so sick pf companies putting that fake garbage in everything.
A bottle of regular Fanta has 73 grams of sugar. A glazed donut, for reference, has around 10-15 grams. I will happily take my occasional bottle of fake garbage.
Lol I couldn’t place the flavor. Crazy how color affects our perception to the degree that it does
@Christopher Winter. Not really. Humans are stupid.
I’m so sick of companies putting so much real sugar in products. Our obesity and diabetes epidemic didn’t happen because of “fake garbage”
that’s not how diabetes works….. & even if it did not all of it is cuz of sugar.
I’m going to need to know what book this was Jenna. TIB book club!
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Haha sorry about the test, my comments weren’t working but looks like they’re good now!
Wow, a TIB book club, how fun would that be!?
It was The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz, I would definitely recommend!!
Wow, a TIB book club, how fun would that be!?
It was The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz, I would definitely recommend!!
I read The Plot on your recommendation – that was really good, really hard to put down! Thanks for the rec, going to need more of those easter eggs in future reviews.
You are right!
I am sick of all these companies putting soooo much Sugar
In Everything! That’s what Garbage is!
Even cancer feeds on it!
As someone who drinks diet soda regularly this one tasted really good. For people who can’t drink regular soda diet it is a nice alternative.
I remember seeing this fluid in commercials.
Hahaha, “fluid”! I love it… so subtle, so accurate, and such a burn!
I get a cream soda flavor and a blueberry flavor. But I really like it and it’s zero sugar I’m looking forward to try more flavors once I find them
Definitely DID NOT get Creamsicle from this.
I was getting artifical bubblegum or cotton candy (color mind tricks).
Maybe, thinking now a Big BLUE (Soda) type vibe. Almost like Big Red but slightly different.
This is SUPER OVERLY SWEET.
Orange Creamsicle for sure! The smell gave it away for me. As a true fan of the flavor that’s for sure what it is!
You’re right on the cream part..I’m a huge orange creamsicle fan. Favorite flavor of most thing.
But my favorite basic soda is cream soda.
And that’s what this is ? just had one and was very happy
I used the same QR code and it didnt show the bottle change into anything else….
You are right!
I am sick of all these companies putting soooo much Sugar
In Everything! That’s what Garbage is!
Even cancer feeds on it!
Apparently they have different mystery flavors in different colors at different outlets. I haven’t seen the zero calorie bottles here as of yet, but I got a free frozen drink from Burger King from T-Mobile’s Tuesday deals and tried out the mystery Fanta flavor they had there and it tasted like strawberry banana despite the green color. Don’t think it was a zero calorie flavor, either.
@JANE sooooo your not human?
It’s gotta be candy corn. Tastes like it to me. Candy corn flavors are “honey, sugar, butter, and vanilla” – which does have some overlap with the cream in orange creamsicle. It explains the ear of corn in the video, as well as the traffic cone (shaped and striped like candy corn) and carrot (color). Doesn’t explain the other parts but ? I haven’t seen the video.
It’s cream soda. I won’t believe anything else. Cream soda is my favorite flavor out there.
I prefer the original orange Fanta. It really looks like a fluid from chemistry class)