There used to be a time when fast food joints and other popular establishments gave out
novelty drinking glasses for their loyal customers to take home. These clear glasses were adorned
with different images either related to the restaurant itself, or to a TV show or movie
that was extremely popular at that time. So here are the 10 fast food glasses you wish
they still had.
Burger Chef's King Kong Glasses
On December 17th, 1976, King Kong was released into theatres to scare the pants off anyone
who saw the movie. This remake of the 1933 classic had a lot of hype prior to its release,
mainly due to its scary and iconic source material. But that wasn't the only thing that
made fans excited for the newest instalment of the King Kong franchise. Well-known fast-food
chain BurgerChef released King Kong-themed drinking glasses that customers could snag
for a limited time. These glasses featured scenes from the movie - all of which featured
the fearsome ape himself. The glasses were cool, easy to spot, and even a little scary
looking! Today, BurgerChef is a fast-food restaurant that is no longer in business.
The company was bought out by fast-food giant Hardee's for $44 million in 1981.
Arby's Pac-Man Glasses
Back in the early 1980s, Atari's Pac-Man was all the rage with video gamers. While it was
one of the best-selling video game franchises, it has lost that status since the 1980s. But
that hasn't stopped many companies from trying to capitalize on its immense popularity. But
that didn't stop many companies from trying to capitalize on its immense popularity. Case
in point: the fast-food chain known as Arby's. This joint began to sell Pac-Man-themed glasses
shortly after the first game obtained a lot of popularity. For a whopping 59 cents and
the purchase of a medium soft drink, a customer could purchase a Pac-Man glass to drink out
of, display, or simply for bragging rights. The glasses in question featured an image
of Pac-Man himself, chowing down on a couple of ghosts while the others ran for their lives.
It epitomized what the fun arcade game was all about, making it the perfect fit for fans.
Sunoco's Ghostbusters 2 Glasses
After the huge success that was 1984's Ghostbusters, it wasn't a surprise to see a sequel come
out a few years later. Ghostbusters II was released on June 16th, 1989 - about five years
after the first film. While the film had a lot of well deserved hype prior to its release,
it didn't hurt to have other companies give it a push however possible. Enter Sunoco,
a chain of gas stations in the United States. They were responsible for releasing a line
of six glasses inspired by Ghostbusters II. The one per customer limit would inspire some
customers to return to a Sunoco repeatedly to get whatever glasses they had yet to collect.
With each glass featuring a different Ghostbusters II character, who could blame any customer
for wanting to get their hands on all six? While these cool glasses are no longer available
from any Sunocos, they, are available on certain websites to buy.
Godfather's Pizza's Goonies Glasses
Another line of glasses heavily inspired by a popular 1980s film - this time, we look
to The Goonies as the source of inspiration here. This 1985 adventure comedy wasn't as
critically or commercially successful as the other films mentioned on this list, but it
shouldn't be dismissed because of this. Besides, The Goonies would go on to become a beloved
cult classic in its own right. But during its initial 1985 run, it still managed to
win a fair amount of fans. While the film itself clearly achieved that feat, it may
not have been the only way that it garnered its respective fan base. Popular American
pizza joint Godfather's Pizza released a line of glasses inspired by The Goonies. Those
who have seen the movie know that there's a brief but humorous reference made about
Godfather's Pizza. So it should actually come as no surprise that the fast-food place would
respond with Goonies-inspired glasses.
Pizza Hut's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Glasses
During the summer of 1982, acclaimed director Steven Spielberg released a film that would
become a massive critical and commercial success - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Movie goers
laughed and cried equally hard, but most of them watched in awe at the beautiful friendship
that grew between Elliot and E.T. in this sci-fi flick about getting the latter character
back home. To commemorate the release of ET. the Extra-Terrestrial, Pizza Hut released
glasses that showed off the alien's face, among other iconic characters from the movie.
While simple in their design, it actually worked out really well. Considering how beautifully
made the movie was, there didn't need to be anything flashy to get customers wanting them.
After all, who wouldn't want a glass with E.T.'s face plastered right on it? Those
who wish to have an E.T.-inspired glass in their possession will be sad to learn that
Pizza Hut no longer carries them. But with many people selling them online for various
prices - which range from reasonable to ridiculous - perhaps not all hope will be lost for you.
Hardee's Looney Tunes Glasses
Arguably one of the longest-running and most successful cartoon franchises in history,
Looney Tunes has managed to maintain a strong level of popularity with both adults and children
alike. But when you really sit and think about it, it's not hard to see why that's the case.
The cartoons are super amusing, the characters are respectively unique, and the humor within
each short is something that the entire family can enjoy together. It's sure to stay popular
to some extent for many years to come. Hardee's wanted to ride this wave of popularity and
decided to release these amazing glasses onto the fast food eating world. They had many
different designs featuring many different characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck,
Porky Pig, and more. They are still very popular amongst collectors today. Pepsi also released
a line of Looney Tunes glasses, which are equally loved so you can't go wrong with either
option.
Taco Bell's Star Trek III Glasses
One of the most popular and well-loved sci-fi franchises has to be Star Trek. Between the
multiple movies and TV shows that have been released over the years - not to mention spin-offs
and remakes - it's hard to find anyone who hasn't heard of Star Trek. It's just one of
those franchises that's going to be incredibly popular for many, many years to come. This
may explain why, to celebrate the 1984 release of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Taco
Bell came out with glasses to promote the newest addition to the sci-fi series. It's
been about 35 years since the release of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, but these
glasses will continue to remind fans and non-fans alike of its release. This shouldn't be a
problem; one way to commemorate a franchise's latest addition is to create memorabilia for
it. That will make you want to get your hands on it that much more.
Taco Time's Indiana Jones Glasses
Here we have another well-known and well loved Steven Spielberg film that became the inspiration
of a cool set of retro glasses. This time, the film in question was Indiana Jones and
the Temple of Doom, which was released two years after the previously mentioned E.T.
the Extra-Terrestrial. The second instalment of the already successful action-adventure
movie franchise rightfully had a lot of hype behind it due to the first film's massive
critical and commercial success. Needless to say, it should come as no surprise that
The Temple of Doom would be promoted in multiple ways for fans to enjoy. Leave it to Mexican
fast-food chain Taco Time to distribute glasses inspired by the Indiana Jones sequel. There
wasn't a whole lot of variety with the glasses, with just four being available. Another unique
factor is that they don't just feature a character; they also feature cool descriptions that fit
the movie itself. This makes these glasses even cooler than most other retro glasses
that exist. Taco Time continues to thrive despite the fact that they no longer distribute
these Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom glasses.
McDonald's Character Glasses
This specific entry is unique for two fairly different reasons. The first is that the designs
were not inspired by any film or TV franchise characters to speak of. The second is that
it's the oldest entry on this list, being made available in the late 1970s. The company
that's responsible for this particular glasses collection also happens to be the most well
known - McDonald's. Arguably the largest and most successful fast-food chain around
the world, McDonald’s decided to release one of what would become many glasses collections.
There were six different glasses for consumers to collect, each of which depicted one of
the many iconic characters that are synonymous with the United States-based fast-food company.
The characters' depictions were colorful, fun, and hard to miss. This made them all
easy to spot and distinguish, making them stand out in their respective right. McDonald's
doesn't give away these character glasses anymore, if you're able to buy one or more
of these glasses, then you'll be one of the few that has any in their possession. How
cool is that?!
Burger King's Star Wars Glasses
George Lucas' sci-fi adventure film series Star Wars is arguably one of the most popular
and well respected franchises that exists. It's super quotable and hard to miss. It's
simply a fun movie series to binge watch, theorize, and debate with friends and family
alike. It's managed to maintain a lot of critical and commercial success since the first movie
came out back in 1977, mostly since more and more sequels and spin-offs continue to be
churned out by Hollywood. Even with fellow acclaimed director JJ Abrams being at the
helm of its creative control nowadays, it doesn't show any signs of slowing down. When
you think about it, no one should be surprised that fast-food giant Burger King released
a pretty big line of glasses that depicted multiple Star Wars characters. The glasses
were available to collect between 1977 to 1983. Like other collections, these showed
off characters of the films that fans will immediately recognize. While both Burger
King and Star Wars continue to be popular in their respective rights, the Star Wars'
glasses have since largely been forgotten by consumers. If you can get your hands on
one of them, that's cool. If you manage to snag all twelve, then you deserve an award!
Or at the very least, you earn more than a few online bragging rights.
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