Everybody knows the phrase "Don't Drink the Kool-Aid", but what if I told you Kool-Aid wasn't even the main drink used at Jonestown? This week, we connect one of America's darkest tragedies to a marketing challenge, the rise of multicultural advertising, and how a brand tied to a tragedy became a staple in Black households throughout the 1980's.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome back. No.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
It alls to another episode of the most anticipated podcast
on the Black Effect Podcast Network entitled.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I didn't know, Maybe you didn't either.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I'm your host B Dots living right here in North Carolina,
and my brother Jay Lee and I have started a
new business. Yep see, I already been doing my yacht
series on Lake Norman once a month. We on the
yacht one hundred professionals deep having a great time sipping martinis,
sun dresses and swimsuits, fellas with the rolled up sleeves
(00:34):
and the loafers on huh grown folk. But we also
got access to the pontoon and we be taking them
out on the water. Ten d as is being thrown,
so guard's being smoked, shots being taken. We out on
the lake wrapping dolphin two chains and iceman turned what else?
And we got access to the jet skis and the
ski boats, the water toys you pulled behind the boat.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
So co we're gonna be doing that all summer.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
And we even got some odd is for Christmas, taking
folks out on the lake to see the Christmas lights
on Lake Norman.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
But we just started a business.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
I'm b EJ So it's BJ's everybody love BJ's BJ's
rentals because it sucks not having a boat. Yeah, you're
gonnajet me out on social media and see how you
can get out there on the lake woods if you're
in North Carolina, exquisite experiences. But to get out today's episode,
(01:26):
if I didn't know, maybe you didn't either. I've got
three of the most useless facts you'll never need, never
not a day in life. And I saw this trend
on social media. So this episode's three useless facts is
gonna be a little different. Your first useless fact, do
you know the difference between a coffin and a casket, Well,
a coffin is shaped like a body and a casket
(01:49):
is just a rectangular box. Your second useless facts, do
you know the difference between cement and concrete? Well, cementt
is the powder. Concrete is what you get when you
mix it with water and sand, right like semen is
the ingredient and concrete.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Is the result.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
And your third useless fact, do you know the difference
between poisonous and venomous? Well, if you bite it and
you die, that was poisonous. But if it bites you
and you die, well it was venomous. Those have been
your three useless facts about caskets, coughing semen, concrete poisonous
(02:28):
versus venomous. But on today's episode of I didn't know,
maybe you didn't either. I hate to share with you
with been blaming the wrong drink, and I'll explain how
I didn't know.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
I didn't know, I didn't know, I didn't know, I
didn't know.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
You probably heard this phrase a thousand times, don't drink
the kool aid, and you.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Know what it means. Don't just blindly believe someone people
said about politics. Sports fans say it, folks online say
it every single day. But here's the twist. It was
started after the Jonestown massacre. You know, when Jim Jones
had all them folks to drink the kool Aid. But
word on the street is it wasn't primarily kool Aid.
(03:17):
It was mostly the cheaper version, Flavor Aid. Yet somehow
kool Aid became the brand permanently attached to one of
the most tragic events in American history. Now let's back up.
I know, I know you're like Dick, you're moving too fast.
You say what Now I go back to the year
before I was born nineteen seventy eight. Shut the hell up,
(03:37):
Kevin Hart. But in nineteen seventy eight, it was nine
hundred members of Jim Jones's People's Temple and they died
in Jonestown, Guyana, Remember that now, Jim Jones. He gained
the trust by presenting himself as a champion of racial
equality and social justice during the time when many Black
Americans was looking for hope and opportunity. Then tragedy struck
(04:02):
mand them. Images and headlines shocked the world, and despite
flavor Aid being the drink mix that investigators found, the
media and public start saying, hey, drank the kool Aid,
and that phrase stuck.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Now, imagine being the brand kool Aid.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Your brand had nothing to do with planning the tragedy,
but suddenly your name became linked to it forever. So
what happened next, Well, there's no evidence that kool Aid
launched a secret campaign to fix his image because of Jonestown,
But something else was happening at the same time. See
the eighties saw huge rise in black folk being used
(04:38):
in advertising. Companies were finally starting to realize that black
consumers had significant buying power. Oh yeah, black folks spend money,
So brand started placing more black families and black children
and black communities in these TV commercials and in print advertising,
and kool Aid was one of the many brands that
appeared in this shift. Now, before the Jonestown massacre, there
(05:01):
was not reported of one black person in one kool
Aid ad. As soon as they drank the kool aid
became the phrase, and white folks.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Start saying, I don't think I want to drink kool aid?
Where did they start branding to the black folk?
Speaker 2 (05:16):
So, while there's no proof that kool Aid specifically targeted
black audiences because of Jonestown, the brand's visibility in black
households grew.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Hell of her during that same time.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
That's why so many of us grew up seeing kool
Aid at the family reunions, the cookouts, the church functions,
grandma house, every cousin's birthday party had kool Aid. Meanwhile,
the phrase drinking the kool aid kept getting repeated. And
that's the strange part a tragedy involving a largely black congregation,
because a large part of them nine hundred were black,
(05:49):
helped create one of America's most famous sayings. And then
the wrong brand got blamed, and at that very same time,
that same brand became even more deeply into black culture.
You know, we used don't drink the kool Aid to
mean that somebody followed blindly, but you know, many of
the people at Jonestown, they.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Weren't blind followers, not at all.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Some were children, some were trapped, some were scared, and
to make the story even stranger, to drink wasn't even
kool aid.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
And I didn't know. Maybe you didn't either,
Welcome back. No.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
It alls to another episode of the most anticipated podcast
on the Black Effect Podcast Network entitled.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I didn't know, Maybe you didn't either.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I'm your host B Dots living right here in North Carolina,
and my brother Jay Lee and I have started a
new business. Yep see, I already been doing my yacht
series on Lake Norman once a month. We on the
yacht one hundred professionals deep having a great time sipping martinis,
sun dresses and swimsuits, fellas with the rolled up sleeves
(00:34):
and the loafers on huh grown folk. But we also
got access to the pontoon and we be taking them
out on the water. Ten d as is being thrown,
so guard's being smoked, shots being taken. We out on
the lake wrapping dolphin two chains and iceman turned what else?
And we got access to the jet skis and the
ski boats, the water toys you pulled behind the boat.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
So co we're gonna be doing that all summer.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
And we even got some odd is for Christmas, taking
folks out on the lake to see the Christmas lights
on Lake Norman.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
But we just started a business.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
I'm b EJ So it's BJ's everybody love BJ's BJ's
rentals because it sucks not having a boat. Yeah, you're
gonnajet me out on social media and see how you
can get out there on the lake woods if you're
in North Carolina, exquisite experiences. But to get out today's episode,
(01:26):
if I didn't know, maybe you didn't either. I've got
three of the most useless facts you'll never need, never
not a day in life. And I saw this trend
on social media. So this episode's three useless facts is
gonna be a little different. Your first useless fact, do
you know the difference between a coffin and a casket, Well,
a coffin is shaped like a body and a casket
(01:49):
is just a rectangular box. Your second useless facts, do
you know the difference between cement and concrete? Well, cementt
is the powder. Concrete is what you get when you
mix it with water and sand, right like semen is
the ingredient and concrete.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Is the result.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
And your third useless fact, do you know the difference
between poisonous and venomous? Well, if you bite it and
you die, that was poisonous. But if it bites you
and you die, well it was venomous. Those have been
your three useless facts about caskets, coughing semen, concrete poisonous
(02:28):
versus venomous. But on today's episode of I didn't know,
maybe you didn't either. I hate to share with you
with been blaming the wrong drink, and I'll explain how
I didn't know.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
I didn't know, I didn't know, I didn't know, I
didn't know.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
You probably heard this phrase a thousand times, don't drink
the kool aid, and you.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Know what it means. Don't just blindly believe someone people
said about politics. Sports fans say it, folks online say
it every single day. But here's the twist. It was
started after the Jonestown massacre. You know, when Jim Jones
had all them folks to drink the kool Aid. But
word on the street is it wasn't primarily kool Aid.
(03:17):
It was mostly the cheaper version, Flavor Aid. Yet somehow
kool Aid became the brand permanently attached to one of
the most tragic events in American history. Now let's back up.
I know, I know you're like Dick, you're moving too fast.
You say what Now I go back to the year
before I was born nineteen seventy eight. Shut the hell up,
(03:37):
Kevin Hart. But in nineteen seventy eight, it was nine
hundred members of Jim Jones's People's Temple and they died
in Jonestown, Guyana, Remember that now, Jim Jones. He gained
the trust by presenting himself as a champion of racial
equality and social justice during the time when many Black
Americans was looking for hope and opportunity. Then tragedy struck
(04:02):
mand them. Images and headlines shocked the world, and despite
flavor Aid being the drink mix that investigators found, the
media and public start saying, hey, drank the kool Aid,
and that phrase stuck.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Now, imagine being the brand kool Aid.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Your brand had nothing to do with planning the tragedy,
but suddenly your name became linked to it forever. So
what happened next, Well, there's no evidence that kool Aid
launched a secret campaign to fix his image because of Jonestown,
But something else was happening at the same time. See
the eighties saw huge rise in black folk being used
(04:38):
in advertising. Companies were finally starting to realize that black
consumers had significant buying power. Oh yeah, black folks spend money,
So brand started placing more black families and black children
and black communities in these TV commercials and in print advertising,
and kool Aid was one of the many brands that
appeared in this shift. Now, before the Jonestown massacre, there
(05:01):
was not reported of one black person in one kool
Aid ad. As soon as they drank the kool aid
became the phrase, and white folks.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Start saying, I don't think I want to drink kool aid?
Where did they start branding to the black folk?
Speaker 2 (05:16):
So, while there's no proof that kool Aid specifically targeted
black audiences because of Jonestown, the brand's visibility in black
households grew.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Hell of her during that same time.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
That's why so many of us grew up seeing kool
Aid at the family reunions, the cookouts, the church functions,
grandma house, every cousin's birthday party had kool Aid. Meanwhile,
the phrase drinking the kool aid kept getting repeated. And
that's the strange part a tragedy involving a largely black congregation,
because a large part of them nine hundred were black,
(05:49):
helped create one of America's most famous sayings. And then
the wrong brand got blamed, and at that very same time,
that same brand became even more deeply into black culture.
You know, we used don't drink the kool Aid to
mean that somebody followed blindly, but you know, many of
the people at Jonestown, they.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Weren't blind followers, not at all.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Some were children, some were trapped, some were scared, and
to make the story even stranger, to drink wasn't even
kool aid.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
And I didn't know. Maybe you didn't either,
Host
Brian "B Daht" McLaughlin
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