The X-Entertainment Blog

11/07/2004: Lymon.

It was called “Lymon,” or perhaps “Limon,” depending on who you were talking to. Coca Cola’s Sprite brand was said to include this mysterious ingredient, in fact the only soft drink who could boast that claim. Represented in the commercials as a half lime, half lemon mutant fruit from the sacred isle of forbiddance, I spent my childhood under the very false notion that Lymon was indeed a real fruit. Rare, yes, but perfectly real. Every time I was forced to go to the supermarket on a tagalong, I’d excavate the produce section, carefully hunting for the elusive Lymon which was certainly hiding beyond some tripled bunches of celery. Sprite was not my drink of choice, but I was sure that pure, concentrated Lymon could be juiced into a citrus porridge so right even the bears wouldn’t blame you for drinking it.

I’ve since smartenered up. I know Lymon cannot possibly be orchestrated, not even by Wisconsin native John Trinsino, who in 1957 invented the cranberry. This doesn’t mean Lymon isn’t the greatest idea in the history of progressive thought, and should anyone out there be able to dish the magic seeds that’ll lead me to the magic sourbulb, I will make you breakfast and play the harp while you eat it. I’ve tried cutting lemons and limes in half and mashing ‘em together, but it’s not the same. Lymon, you’re everything but love.

Posted by Matt. E-mail me!

Y’know what I miss? Cherry 7-up commercials. Very pink, very 80’s. Still have the stupid song stuck in my head, and it makes me feel tragic every time I think about it. Not sure why.

Ooh…that’s quinisenntial 80’s. To me, that decade was an acidic blur of jems and an irritating rash.

Lymon, it reminds me of tomacco from simpsons. Which someone actually genetically made by the way.

I used to believe that everything I saw in commercials, including the exsistance of the Lymon. Those drug PSAs really screwed me up.

I believed a lot of stuff I saw on TV back then. I thought Mypos was a real country.

Lymon just looks… refreshing. On a totally unrelated note, props for re-posting the Peanuts inspired Thanksgiving meal post. The original cartoon still boggles my mind, as they dinner they create borders on absurd… and your article articulates that in a way nobody else has, or will probably ever. Viva la colored cheese puffs!

Are the Thanksgiving articles supposed to open up in that little small window? They are readable that way, but it just doesn’t seem right. I can open the link in a new window and it looks fine, but otherwise it opens where the articles are listed.

I always dreamed of finding a product that combined Lymon AND Retsyn, the magical mystery ingredient of Certs. Unfortunately, I later found out that Retsyn is real, and all it does is make those sparklies in the breath mint. That did not stop my dream, and I hope Matt continues to pursue his.

Oh, real nice, Matt. Just put Thanksgiving ‘04 on there and everything’s OK, right? Wrong. By the way, I’m plastered right now, so I’m laughin’ my ass off. I hope I don’t wake up the other guys in the dorm. Good thing my roomie ain’t here. Now I’ll read thne article.

I live in a town called Limon. lol Limon Colorado. We must have invented it. My logic is so full of holes : (

Anyway, I think I remember thinking that Lymon was a real fruit during my childhood tooo. Not sure, I’m a little too hammered.

This article reminds of a song that has been unfortunately stuck in my head for the last, oh, 12? years. Yes, its the Kriss Kross sprite commercial song. Wish someone could find an audio version, so maybe i could put a ghost to rest. Did a bit of research, and here are some lyrics I found:

A yo Kris
What up love?
What’s that in your hand?
It’s the S to the P-R-I-T-E can
Understand the flow, Kris
Dig the crazy crazy mix
Of unexpectedness that you can never miss
So what’s your name?
Daddy M-A-C
And what’s your drink?
S-P-R-I-T-E
Why?
Cause it’s the life-saver
When you need thirst quencher
Like a kiss with a lymon twist
And you know that’s (something)
So drink up, drink up is what you gotta do
Why?
Cause I like the Sprite in you

Wow… I completely don’t remember those at all. It must’ve been a little before my time, as I’m sure I would have done the same thing as a kid had I seen the ads, heh.

ah, limon. that takes me way back. also, the picture of that can takes me back, too… back when everything was so squarish and all the drinks had normal, smaller mouths as opposed to the big mouth that they all have now…

God bless technology and the big mouth cans…where would I be if I couldn’t get more soda in my mouth at a faster rate?

I was sorting through my library of "taped off the air" GI Joe episodes the other day and ran into a Moxie commercial.

Honestly…a Moxie commercial. Shown during GI Joe. At 7a.m. The very concept makes my brain hurt.

Isn’t it coooool, in Pink?
Isn’t it coooool to think
what the others miss when it comes to this, Cherry 7up

sorry for the gratuitous oooo’s but since i am using them let me just say COOOOOOOOOOORs CUTTER!
(anyone remember that? w/ the non-alcoholic (or light) beer can sliding down the bar….bet that tasted like piss!) Happy November!

Well reading some of the postings on here. I am glad I wasn’t the only one who went looking for the Lymon in grocery stores. I don’t know for how long I’d look through the lemons to find a half lemon half lime….but the day will come…then they will have to pry it FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS!!

All kidding aside, Matt I am looking forward to any and all new articles…thanksgiving or not! I am also looking forward to seeing my first Playmobil advent calender (found out about this site Jan-Feb 2004)

Wow… you know it’s old when the can sports the less-than-sleek design… notice it’s not tapered near the top or bottom. Wonder if it also has a pull tab? Mmm… Tab.

And I prefer the "lymon" spelling… too close to literal lemon when spelled "limon" (Gracias, Nate.) Plus, it also suggests lemon mixed with lye. That’s a fun combination… Lyemon.

Wasn’t Lyman Jon Arbuckle’s gay roomate in the early Garfield comics? I was always suspicious of Jon and Lyman’s relationship….

Speaking of Sprite, they hired soe great talent to promote it in the past. I mean I wonder how many people faught over the right to have Kid n’ Play in their commercials. And who could forget Kriss Kross?

I can’t remember the othr lyrics but I know he rapped them too fast for me to care. If they only got Anther Bad Creation or maybe the Boyz to promote it they might’ve started a revolution…

Ahhh, Lymon. Still brings in a Pavlovian response (even though I never liked SPRITE).
This may be the first time ever where I am excitied to see Christmas stuff out early. I usually want more of a crescendo, but this year, it seems approriate….somehow.

While working in the restraunt I have come across lemons that were half yellow and half green. Are they Lymons or just really disgusting lemons? oh and Matt, I love the thanksgiving backdrop.

Moxie’s only available in limited areas around New England, but every year there’s a festival in Maine where they have a parade and sell memorabilia and share funky Moxie recipes (thank you Food Network). I’ve never tried it, and it sounds horrible, but the fact that it has such a following after all these years is fascinating.

Awww, how could you forget the commercial featuring Earnest P. Whorrel (sp?) and Verne? Verne appears to be taking a bath, when Earnest appears from behind the shower curtain holding a Sprite. "Hey, Verne! It’s Ly-mon! Oh, and Verne…I like your little duck!"

Luap & phunqsauce - You both beat me to it. Yes, Lyman was Jon’s old roommate in the earlier Garfield comic strips. And yes, he was Odie’s original owner. Then for wheatever reason, he just disapeared. I read an interview with Jim Davis a while ago where he said he’s constantly being asked what happened to Lyman. His answer: "Just don’t look in Jon’s basement."

Wow, maybe I shoulda looked at the earlier posts before i posted. Not only did someone supply the ENTIRE Kriss Kross lyrics but also mentioned that moutached bastard Lyman from Garfield. God, Garfield looked hideous back in the late 70’s and Odie looked disturbing too. On the other hand I think Garfield’s original design was better suited for his personality and GOD was he ALOT fatter then. Odie looked like some kinda alien. Shit everyone looked like fuckin aliens!! I never understood why Jon’s nose was never fully drawn but his upper lip was the size of Montana. I know, Iknow it just a comic strip….
In more unrelated news I watched most of the first season of MacGyver today. I must admit the first season is pretty good and is highly recomended.

I also have spent alot of time with the website http://www.jumptheshark.com where people discuss when their favorite shows started to go downhill. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!! its hilarious!!!

I.N. — I’ve tried Tropical Sprite Remix. I didn’t like it much. Though I haven’t had it in years, the comments way up above reminded me of my long ago love of Cherry 7-UP. Felt so high class on the rocks.

I was sort of fond of the 7Up commercials with the obnoxious little red dot people. I’ve got some on tape (offered ‘em to Matt along with some Christmas specials, so maybe they’ll show up some day).

THe 7-UP Spot dudes can be found buried in last year’s Advent Calendar, with commercial download.

And in regards to the Sprite Remix, I don’t really like it, but for some reason keep drinking it because THIS time the taste is going to change.

Behold, "Garfield’s Scary Scavenger Hunt," a flash game on the Garfield website. It’s an amusing and engrossing game along the lines of Nightshade for the NES.

Why do I mention it here? Because it is the PROOF that Lyman is in fact chained up in the basement!

Wow, I’m not the least bit surprised that Lyman screams like a woman when you pull the shower curtain in that game…it was a fun game though.

Hey Matt, will you accept a tape that is only from 1998? I know that’s pretty recent but when i was watching a south park marathon i taped the other day I saw some commercials I wish I hadn’t seen again…and some i just forgot about totally. Like the commercials with Jason Mewes talking about nike shoes for Champ’s Sports sporting goods store. And of course for the "new" AOL version 4.0…."And now with 56k you can surf EVEN FASTER!!!!!"

It just looks like a lemon half painted green with that acrylic paint that most of us used in elementary school art classes.

1) What is Moxie? I’m from the south and have never heard of it. I’m willing to trade information on The Piggly Wiggly for this.

Don’t look at me, I’m still on the search for the elusive "UnCola Nut." Lady trajeal probably knows what I am talking about.

http://www.dictionary.reference.com/search?q=moxie&db=*
mox·ie n. Slang
The ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage.
Aggressive energy; initiative: “His prose has moxie, though it rushes and stumbles from a pent-up surge” (Patricia Hampl).
Skill; know-how.

Matt, congrats on your Halloween countdown. I’ve been away for a couple of weeks, and I just got the last of it in one big gulp.

Now, I imagine you are ready to tackle Christmas stuff, and I have this TMNT tape all packed for you.

I’m from Maine. In Maine we have Moxie. Moxie is a foul, bitter soda probably made from and unholy mix of non-alcaholic beer and that stuff used to make root beer/cream soda.
Only burly males, jocks and beer drinkers seem to become accustom to the taste.

Actually, I like Moxie. It’s an aquired taste, like a Barq’s w/ about 5 times the bite. Last time I checked, I wasn’t a burly male, jock and/or beer drinker. But, it’s the exception that proves the rule, right?

Matt, you’re being spammed in your old c3po blog, also seems to be active with posts of late too
wow

I can’t say I remember these ads for Sprite. I do remember the ones though for another lemon-lime soda called Slice. These guys in tights kept jumping and doing flips through water falling from above. What the hell this had to do with soda is anyone’s guess.

Well King I believe that would be from Like Cola, the first caffine free cola. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t Coke.

NO! cranberries were NOT invented in 1957 by some dude in wisconsin. they were used by my people here in this country you white jerks took from us as early as the 1500’s, in fact, you white assholes made cranberry sauce ( k thnx for the contribution, cracker) out of them in the 1600’s.
if you want to talk about invented foods, lets talk about broccoli. the same family that produces 007 also invented that hated veggie. just so ya know ( cause its half the battle, duh)

Once, I won a pair of Mototrola FRS radios from Surge. Still have them. Very handy for use at state fairs, amusement parks, and confusing pets. I miss Surge.

But back on the lymony sodas, I always really liked Slice. Also, Sundrop, which was like the bastard child of Mountain Dew and Slice….Good stuff.

I’m a Native American, and I approve of Broccoli. Steamed, with cheese. MMMMMmmmmmmmmmm….

Yo. Pepsi Holiday Spice is one of my favorite colas ever. And I fucking love cola.

There are "Lima-limon" fruit (common in mexico), or lime-lemon (like a gatorade flavor), is not half lime/half lemon like the "lymon", but a unique fruit that taste like lime with lemon.
I think is a hibrid or maybe we just call that way but is another class of lime, i’ve search about this issue and i found that there are 3 kinds of lime, and many names for it:
http://www.foodsubs.com/Fruitcit.html

Hello all!!! I love all the publicity my last name is receiving!! Growing up, I got teased about being the “Great Taste of Sprite”!! Keep my name alive!!!!

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This entry was posted on Sunday, November 7th, 2004 at 12:21 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.