Dive Brief:

• Orange-flavored drink mix Tang is getting its first new nationally distributed flavor since its introduction in 1959.
• Kraft Foods is rolling out orange pineapple flavored mix, but, strangely, doesn't plan to put a marketing push behind the launch.
• Despite declining popularity for powdered drink mixes, the food and beverage giant is counting on Tang's loyal fan base — it's particularly popular among Asian and Hispanic consumers — to make the new flavor a success.

Dive Insight:

That Kraft is putting out a new flavor for Tang, especially without marketing support and on a national scale, is a strange situation, indeed. The drink mix brand isn't even listed on Kraft's home page and has no site of its own, and the last time it even had an ad campaign was in 2003. Our advice: At least do a commercial to remind people that the product still exists. Lord knows the orangutan spot from 1998 made us beg our mom for the powdered orange juice — and that was before we knew astronauts drank it.