What is "qoo"

is a non-carbonated beverage from the Coca-Cola Company. Originally introduced in Japan on May 28, 1999 in the Kyushu region and on November 12, 1999 in all of Japan after Coca-Cola executed the creation of a kid and teen-oriented beverage after a year-long initiative, Qoo is now available throughout much of Asia in a variety of flavors including grape and orange. As soon as Qoo was introduced, the white grape flavor was available at drink fountains in Japan as well at McDonald's as Coca-Cola pushed this drink to market in many places. In Germany, the product line was sold from January 2003 until November 2005. Additionally, Qoo White Grape is available in Japan in McDonald's fountain machines nationwide.

The name comes from the mascot's reaction to tasting the drink. The mascot was designed by Momoko Maruyama, who created Deko Boko Friends. The Jingle, for the original Japanese version, is sung by Londell "Taz" Hicks, an American now living in Japan who is best known for the AKB48 overture.

Qoo is transliterated in Chinese as 酷兒 (kùér). It evokes images of “cool kid” since 酷 (kù) is a transliteration of the English word cool and 兒 (ér) means ‘child’ or ‘son’. However, in China and Taiwan, 酷兒 also happens to be the same transliteration as the English word queer referring to sexual orientation or gender identity.