There are some food trends
that took the world by storm in the 2010s
only to quickly fade into oblivion,
from cake on a stick...
Taryn Varricchio: Yes, I love Starbucks cake pops!
Narrator: To a bender in a can...
Shayanne Gal: Little did we know
how destructive that could be.
Narrator: We're taking a look back
at food trends gone by.
Anne Murray: The rainbow and unicorn trend
is just essentially adding a bunch
of different food colorings.
It remains to be seen what the health effects of that are.
Herrine Ro: It's, like, one of those foods that are
super fun to look at,
but, like, when you eat it,
you're like, "Ah!" Alana Yzola: "I'm done."
Melia Russell: I think the first time I saw a unicorn food
was the Starbucks Frappuccino that went super viral.
Narrator: We have seen unicorn foods
paint the food-scene rainbow
thanks to Miami food blogger Adeline Waugh,
who, for better or worse,
gave the world unicorn toast.
Herrine: I feel like rainbow was trying
to fit that Instagram aesthetic
but absolutely did nothing for the taste.
Manuel Silva-Paulus: Like, magic? Is that the flavor?
Narrator: The rainbow bagel sprang
a small Brooklyn bagel shop into social-media infamy,
and shops around the world tried to match its success
by adding six shades of food dye to their foods
in an attempt to harness patrons' desire
to consume vibrant meals
that would otherwise be some variant of brown.
Anne: I don't need a rainbow in my bagel,
and I don't really need a rainbow in my cake. [laughs]
Taryn: People rode that high for way too long.
Every single thing was rainbow because it could be.
Alana: Then it started, like, peeping into savory foods,
like the rainbow grilled cheese.
Ah.
Irene Kim: It was cute. People Instagrammed it.
And it didn't taste good, so people stopped going.
Narrator: This trend might not actually be dead yet,
but we're hoping it's at least on hospice.
Nico Reyes: Your food will taste the same, rainbow or not.
So it can die.
Taryn: You lived your years,
and it is time for you to die.
And I'm glad you're gone. I'm sorry.
Ben Nigh: RIP.
Narrator: Even before Instagram was around
to make photo-worthy foods viral,
cake pops were making the rounds
as the trendy dessert of birthday parties,
weddings, and baby showers.
Taryn: Yes, I love Starbucks cake pops!
I love when they bring the snowman back.
Frickin' cake pops, man.
Medha Imam: A cake pop is goodness.
It's love.
It is a stick that looks like a lollipop,
but instead, there's cake in it.
Emily Hein: I remember being very excited about them,
because it's like a mini cake
that is one serving
and appropriate to eat on your own.
Taryn: They're adorable, they're portable,
and they have a not-too-thick layer of chocolate on top.
Narrator: They were invented in 2008
by food blogger Bakerella,
but they really came into the mainstream
when Starbucks started selling them in 2011.
From there, it seemed like cake pops would be
the next trend to spring out of specialty bakeries.
But for one reason or another, fervor subsided,
and Starbucks seemed to be the burial ground
for the once thriving trend.
Lisa Paradise: Cake pops took over the world
for, like, four seconds.
Taryn: You do go to Starbucks,
and you do see the sad snowman sitting there,
and I rarely see people get them.
Emily: Starbucks is rooting for them.
Ciannah Gin: Exactly. Somebody cares
about the cake pop still.
Taryn: I'm so sad about it.
I love cake pops.
Narrator: In 2018, the treats once sold at fancy bakeries
saw their biggest distribution come
from the dessert aisle at supermarkets.
Lisa: When's the last time you ate a cake pop?
Medha: Like, three weeks ago.
Lisa: You eat cake pops that often?
Taryn: Cheers. Ben: Cheers! Yay.
Yeah, this is actually really good.
Taryn: It's, like, so moist and chewy.
Lisa: I've never seen anyone look so satisfied
when eating something so simple.
So you think we should bring back cake pops?
Taryn: Bring 'em back.
Bring 'em back right frickin' now.
Medha: Dear cake pops, I'm sad to see you go,
but I know that you will forever stay in my heart,
because you were the one thing that made me happy
after a long day of work.
The end.
Lisa: This is the most innocent thing I've ever seen happen.
Medha: I'm so happy right now.
Narrator: With the promise of health benefits
and a space-gray natural coloring,
charcoal became a food trend in 2016.
It was touted as a natural, supereffective detox,
and people couldn't get enough.
Tiffany Chang: The whole idea is that
it's black and it's cool
and it might maybe be healthy.
Alana: I didn't know what to expect.
I thought it looked bada--.
But when I ate it,
it didn't really taste like anything.
Herrine: That's the thing. Alana: I didn't feel
like I was healthier after having it.
Tiffany: That's completely black.
Alyse Kalish: I feel like I'm doing, like, a fingerprint.
Tastes like dirt, no?
Tiffany: I enjoy the aesthetics of it. [laughs]
Alyse: Well, we might have to leave it
in the next decade.
The government will have no choice.
Narrator: With a rising trend comes watchful eyes.
And almost as soon as the Food and Drug Administration
began to look into activated charcoal,
it was linked to all kinds of gastrointestinal distress
and was even said to lessen the effectiveness
of medications like birth control.
The food was banned,
and the New York Department of Health
swiftly began cracking down on restaurants selling
any and all activated charcoal products,
with Morgenstern's Finest Ice Cream losing
about $3,000 of stock and ingredients
used to make its famous Black Coconut Ash ice cream.
Alana: Activated charcoal, you came with so many promises
of good health. However,
I think it's time to say goodbye.
You taste like nothing,
and you really kinda do nothing.
So let's leave that in the 2010s.
Shayanne: Remember when we all drank Four Loko
and don't remember it?
Narrator: A toxic mixture of caffeine and alcohol,
Four Loko took college campuses by storm in 2010.
But its peak in popularity was short-lived,
with a sudden sales crash in the same year
when colleges began reporting students falling ill
and even dying after benders with the drink.
Celia Skvaril: If you saw someone drinking a Four Loko,
you knew what they were trying to do.
Dominique McIntee: You could kinda pace yourself
with other drinks, but with Four Loko,
like, one sip, like, a couple sips, it's game over.
Shayanne: Little did we know, you know,
when it first came about, like,
how destructive that could be.
Narrator: By November 2011,
caffeine was pulled from the drink
in an attempt to make it less effective
in quick intoxication,
immediately affecting its popularity and sales.
Shayanne: After they took the caffeine out,
it was almost like a sparkling seltzer,
but they don't do it as well. [laughs]
And then it just went,
and you know what, I think it's for the best.
Celia: I don't miss Four Loko being cool.
Narrator: Four Loko can still be purchased
at the occasional liquor store.
It's even trying to break into the seltzer market,
but the original recipe we knew and loved
is gone forever.
Shayanne: Dear Four Loko, you know,
you had a really momentous heyday
filled with a lot of non-memories.
We appreciated it for what it was
only in retrospect, not in the moment.
I think it's just best
to leave that in the past.
Narrator: We all remember the slight thrill
of knowing that, "When you're here, you're family."
But while chains are still an omnipresent establishment
in American culture,
in the last decade, sales have dropped
for many big-name chains,
with several shuttering locations around the world.
Kate Taylor: It's harder to convince millennials and Gen Z
to spend their Friday night
going to a TGI Friday's or an Applebee's.
They feel like they are of an older generation.
It's not gonna be the cultural institution
it was a decade ago.
Narrator: Despite a Twitter campaign to stir the masses,
IHOP's sales have steadily declined
for the last 2 1/2 years.
Kate: People don't want that kind of old,
stodgy, average, casual, sit-down dining chain,
and if they're gonna spend more,
they want it to be a real experience,
often at an independent location.
Narrator: In 2019 alone,
Applebee's made it just a little bit harder
to find half-priced apps,
closing 20-plus locations.
But they're actually one of the fortunate ones,
with Pizza Hut closing about 450 locations
and the home of the foot-long shuttering over 1,000 doors.
Even the King isn't safe,
with 250 Burger Kings closed in just 2019.
Kate: So, old-school chains,
it's sad to hear that millennials killed you,
but, you know, it was time to evolve,
and some people are doing it,
some people aren't. So.