Kaufman appeared in dozens of television ads for the beverage company in the 1990s.

‘Snapple Lady’ Wendy Kaufman says job was ‘a gift to sobriety’ after decade-long cocaine addiction

Kaufman appeared in dozens of television ads for the beverage company in the 1990s.

By Kathleen Perricone

April 8, 2026 10:11 p.m. ET

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Wendy Kaufman a.k.a. 'The Snapple Lady' in New York in 2002. Credit:

Steve Eichner/Getty

Snapple isn’t just known for being “made from the best stuff on earth” — its memorable 1990s spokesperson was also one of the best.

Wendy Kaufman, a.k.a. “The Snapple Lady,” is reflecting on the job that made her a pop culture fixture, in a new interview with PEOPLE.

"I got to go to Oprah. I did Joan Rivers, and David Letterman, his top 10 list," she remembered fondly. "I did all the things that you could only dream about as just a regular person. I got to do so much more."

But behind-the-scenes, being “The Snapple Lady” gave the New York native a newfound purpose.

When she accepted a job with the beverage company in 1991, she was one-year out of rehab after a decade of addiction.

“I tried cocaine in 1980, the night I graduated [from Syracuse University], and I just knew. I knew I was an addict, knew I was going to love it,” Kaufman told the magazine.

At the time, she was working at the family business in the steel industry after quitting a dead-end marketing job at a film company. "Bored" with her role, she turned to the party drug to enliven things and eventually "got myself in a lot of trouble with it."

After a life-saving intervention and lengthy time in a treatment center, Kaufman got clean — but she had to start all over. She couldn’t return to the family business because "my parents weren’t taking me back."

Wendy Kaufman with a Snapple prop in 1994.

Steve Eichner/Getty

"There I was, about 30, and one of the owners of Snapple was my best friend’s father," she explained to PEOPLE. "He loved me, and he knew that I was hilarious. He said, 'I want you to come to Snapple.'"

Although the beverage industry sounded "like the most boring, horrible business," Kaufman rolled up her sleeves and started in the Snapple audit department. And she noticed the company received an "enormous amount" of letters from consumers.

"I also realized that a huge part of my sobriety was getting out of my brain and doing nice things for other people," she explains. So Kaufman went to her boss, who told her, "Do what you want to do" — and so she became the head of PR for Snapple.

"I started handling the letters and realized, ‘Oh my God, not only is this a gift to sobriety to do great things for people, but it’s making me feel so much better about myself,'" she realized. "And I went from there."

Wendy Kaufman at a Snapple event in 1995.

Steve Eichner/Getty

During Kaufman’s heyday as “The Snapple Lady,” she appeared in dozens of television commercials and public appearances all over the country. A minor celebrity herself, she signed autographs and received 2,000 letters a week from Snapple fans.

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But it would be a short time in the spotlight, once the Quaker Oats Company bought Snapple in 1994 and eventually decommissioned its famous spokesperson.

There are no hard feelings, though.

"I couldn’t have done it without Snapple," Kaufman said, "because they saw something in me and they cheered me on."

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Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Celebrity”