What Is LeBron's 'Wanna Sprite Cranberry' Meme? The Holiday Trend Explained

LeBron James changed Christmas time forever when he decided to be the spokesperson for Sprite's new holiday flavor, asking the commercial's viewer, "Wanna Sprite Cranberry?" in the funniest tone ever. The claymation advertisement rocked American television a few years back and inspired countless memes that continue today.

Still confused? Don't understand why LeBron's famous jingle has had such lasting, memetic power? Let's explain.

When Did The 'Wanna Sprite Cranberry' Commercial First Air?

In anticipation of the Christmas season in 2017, the higher-ups at Sprite decided to create an advertisement jingle so catchy that viewers would still be singing it years later. All they needed was NBA legend LeBron James, a claymation animator, rapper DRAM and every television set in America.

On November 17th, 2017, the advertisement was first published to Sprite's YouTube channel. However, that original upload has since been deleted. Regardless, that's not where most people saw the ad. While sitting and watching football or cartoons amid the holiday season, Americans saw the ad appearing everywhere.

What Are The 'Wanna Sprite Cranberry' Lyrics?

Just because you asked nicely, here is a full transcript of what the clay people are singing in the ad (provided by Genius):

[Intro: DRAM]
Yeah, ayy!
Huh

[Chorus: DRAM & LeBron James]
It's the thirst, thirstiest time, of the year (Ayy, yeah)
I have just one query (What's that?)
Wan' a Sprite Cranberry? (Uh-huh)
The answer is clear

[Outro: DRAM]
It's the thirst, thirstiest time, of the year (Sprite, let's go!)

Why Did 'Wanna Sprite Cranberry' Become A Meme?

As a symptom of the commercial's oversaturation, in late November 2017, a YouTuber named VegetableJu1ce posted the first known meme video that re-edited the commercial. They created what is known as an "ear assault," essentially blowing out the musical sounds and killing the listener's poor ears.

Soon after, other Twitter users and Instagrammers began captioning screenshots of the commercial and exploiting LeBron James' character into multiple meme templates. The "Wanna Sprite Cranberry" memes proved to be viral, mostly due to the commercial's oversaturation on TV. Everyone had pretty much seen it and had DRAM's melody stuck in their heads.

For the full history of "Wanna Sprite Cranberry," be sure to check out our entry on the meme here for even more information.