Dirty-soda lovers across the state went bonkers for this tiny toy

ST. GEORGE — Dirty-soda lovers lined the parking lots at Swig locations across Utah and elsewhere, not just for their sugary mixed drinks, but for a little toy.

That's right. The widely popular soda chain that originated in St. George announced last week that it would be "dropping" something new, and it came in the form of a "Lil' Squish," which is a squishy cube inspired by dirty-soda drinks.

The squishy toys were offered free with a purchase of a 32- or 44-ounce drink, and Emma Brown, manager at the Desert Color Soda Shop location in St. George, said she had no idea how popular this particular item would be.

"Swig likes to do these little drops where they give away a free little trinket of some sort if you buy a 32- or 44-ounce drink," Brown said. "This is the first time that I've seen a little squishy toy. They've done keychains in the past and color-changing straws, but I've never seen something like this."

Not only had she not seen the Lil' Squish before, but the lines to snag one were also a surprise. In fact, Brown said cars lined up hours before the official drop on Thursday at noon, adding that the second drop on Saturday was the same.

"There was a drop on Thursday and Saturday, and we were given 84 of these little squishies for each of the drops," she explained. "Thursday, we sold out in 15 minutes, and then on Saturday, because it was so crazy, they put in a couple different protocols in place for it."

These protocols included closing the lobby and only keeping the drive-through open. They also had more employees work to implement traffic control, including putting up cones to ensure cars didn't block off entrances.

"It was crazy because they dropped at noon and I had people sitting, waiting in my parking lot by 10 a.m.," Brown said. "Then on Saturday by 11:30, there was already a line wrapped all the way around my building and out to the road of people just waiting."

It wasn't just the St. George Location that had droves of dirty soda lovers hoping to get their hands on this novelty toy.

Cierra Villegas, of Springville, told KSL she goes to Swig "every day for her 32-ounce Citrus Sunrise." Villegas said that when she heard that her local Swig was giving out these "Lil' Squish" toys, she knew she wanted to go, not just for the toys, but for the experience.

"It was worth it!" she said. "The memories and, of course, the chase is always so fun! It's definitely high quality! The colors are vibrant, and they all have little charms inside representing their drinks! They're seriously so cute! And it was fun to collect all four!"

Collecting all four colors wasn't the luck of the draw. Brown, like many others, took to social media to trade for the Lil' Shish toys they didn't have.

"It was a fun little community thing to watch people trade," she said.

As for when these items will be available again, Brown said she's not sure, adding that despite all the craziness of the day, she, too, had a lot of fun.

"It was super fun," Brown said. "I knew that it would be popular, but I was just overwhelmed by how many people came. It was actually crazy, but it was very fun, too."

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