A Beetlejuice fan hoping to get her hands on collector’s Fanta cans released in tandem with the horror flick’s sequel was left disappointed.
Patricia Hardester (@patriciahardester) chronicled her frustration in a viral TikTok that’s garnered over 73,000 views as of Friday. In it, she showed off three separate cases of Fanta soda. Two of which, to her frustration, didn’t contain the limited-edition cans. Even more infuriating, Hardester says, is that these cases cost more than the one that actually contained character collector’s cans.
Can print error?
“You guys, did I get duped? Because I paid more for these,” she says, slapping the strawberry case of Lydia Deetz Fanta. Her hand then goes to the orange case, “These two than I did this one, same store.” She slaps the Haunted Apple, Beetlejuice Fanta.
She went on to state that the Strawberry and Orange cans cost more. “These were $8.79…this was $7,” the TikToker says, intoning of the black and white striped cans. “Look at these cans…nice.”
The can she approves of features Michael Keaton’s face on it. He’s rocking makeup for the classic Tim Burton Beetlejuice character brought out of retirement for the decades-later sequel. Next, she extricates a can of Strawberry Fanta from the Lydia Deetz box. There’s no Winona Ryder nor any mention of the Beetlejuice intellectual property.
“What is this? Like…does everyone’s look like this? Did I get a bad batch?” she asks, transitioning to the orange package, noticing that there’s no special can for the other flavor, either.
“Where’s the pictures?” she asks, noting that there’s no Jenna Ortega on her orange can, either. “Like seriously. What is this? I feel I got duped. I would’ve never bought these.”
The sadness in her voice is palpable as she grabs a Keaton soda from the middle packaging. “I guess the Beetlejuice can is kinda cool,” she concludes. “But, really? Very disappointed.”
@patriciahardester #fanta #Beetlejuice #BeetlejuiceFanta #beetlejuice #soda ♬ original sound – Patricia Hardester
Looks like a mistake
Judging by this post on Packaging Europe, as part of the 2024 theatrical release of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Fanta character cans were indeed promoted. Warner Bros. collaborated with the soda brand for “Limited-time redesigns.”
Jenna Ortega’s on orange, Winona Ryder on strawberry, Catherine O’Hara on pineapple, Willem Dafoe on lemon, Monica Bellucci for grape, and Bob, the little shrunken head guy, for Strawberry Kiwi. Keaton’s Haunted Apple flavor was released as a new flavor to commemorate the movie’s release and will presumably be only available for a short time.
The limited edition cans are already going up for sale online, but it’s not like people are charging tons of money for them. This Zero Sugar Orange flavored can, featuring Ortega’s face is going for $2.99 on eBay.
Other TikTokers seemed to have purchased their limited edition Beetlejuice Beetlejuice soda cans without issue. One user on the app said they were going to keep a few of the empty cans after purchasing a case of orange soda.
She wasn’t alone
Several other users chimed in to let Hardester know that they bought their promotional cans of Fanta. One person said they, too, ended up with cases of the drink that contained standard can designs.
“Happen to me too. But I just tried again. Got all 4 now,” one penned.
Someone else wrote, “I bought one last night and was so bummed mine were plain too.”
However, another said they got all of the pictures without a hitch: “Mine had the pictures on each can.”
One TikToker recommended that folks look through the cardboard packaging inserts to ensure they’re receiving collector’s cans. “That’s why you should look at the cans through the handle hole,” they said.
But it seemed like others were afraid to commit to purchasing standard flavors. This way, they could avoid the same issue that Hardester had with her Strawberry and Orange flavors.
“This is why I only got the beetlejuice juice ones all the other ones don’t have pics,” one wrote.
In a follow-up video, Hardester recorded herself at a Walmart location where she found a case of Ortega Fanta. Checking the cardboard insert she clearly saw that the pack of soda contained the sodas she desired.
@patriciahardester check your boxes #Cocacola #BeetlejuiceFanta #beetlejuice #fanta ♬ original sound – Patricia Hardester
The Daily Dot has reached out to Fanta via email and Hardester via TikTok comment for further information.
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