It seemed terribly unhealthy back in 2012 too. You get all the sugar and none of the fiber. But many people have this weird idea about "natural" being healthy or that being derived from something healthy means it's still healthy. If we called them processed or refined fruit drinks, I'd bet you'd find people become averse to fruit juice.

yeah I was thinking more like 1982

It's just one of those weird things that people, especially Americans, have been conditioned to think is wholesome.

After some time not drinking it, orange juice is almost sickeningly sweet to me.

traditionally yeah (my dad has orange juice every morning) but I don't think it's seen that way anymore for younger generations for most people

Non-ironically, the only time I drink Tropicana, or any fruit juice anymore is when I buy it at McDonald's