# Jim Jones and the suicides: Why Flavor Aid and not Kool-Aid? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 30, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-jones-and-the-suicides-why-flavor-aid-and-not-kool-aid/562348 "2010-11-30T00:50:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-jones-and-the-suicides-why-flavor-aid-and-not-kool-aid/562348/21 "2010-12-01T01:29:20Z")
Because he was that much of a bastard that even knowing it was going to be mass suicide, he STILL wouldn’t spring for the more expensive stuff? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-jones-and-the-suicides-why-flavor-aid-and-not-kool-aid/562348/22 "2010-12-01T02:15:35Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Aspirin is still a brand name in some places (like Canada). For those in places (like Canada), it’s a lost trademark in the USA. Wasn’t Heroin a brand name as well? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-jones-and-the-suicides-why-flavor-aid-and-not-kool-aid/562348/23 "2010-12-01T02:59:03Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Wasn’t Heroin a brand name as well? Yes; both Aspirin and Heroin were owned by Bayer, a German company, and they were both lost in America as a result of the First World War. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-jones-and-the-suicides-why-flavor-aid-and-not-kool-aid/562348/24 "2010-12-01T04:58:18Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Yes; both Aspirin and Heroin were owned by Bayer, a German company, and they were both lost in America as a result of the First World War. I had no idea about Heroin! Interesting stuff: [http://drugs.uta.edu/heroin.html](http://drugs.uta.edu/heroin.html) ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-jones-and-the-suicides-why-flavor-aid-and-not-kool-aid/562348/25 "2010-12-01T07:19:27Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > He does mention the Kool-Aid, but I have some doubts about the Flavor-Aid, looks like it says Flavor-Aid, but can someone confirm if the boxes look like the wholesale packaging that Flavor-Aid used in the 80’s? No it definately says [Kool Aid](http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/2412/capturept0.jpg) Here’s a screen shot from the above clip ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-jones-and-the-suicides-why-flavor-aid-and-not-kool-aid/562348/26 "2010-12-01T07:53:47Z")
This is one of the oddest questions ever. It reminds me of something John Waters use to say. He got a job at Vogue magazine because he wanted a press pass. He wanted a Vogue press pass so he could go to accident and murder sites and ask the police what kinds of shoes the victims were wearing. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-jones-and-the-suicides-why-flavor-aid-and-not-kool-aid/562348/27 "2010-12-01T08:21:19Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > It’s on top of the fridge. After I’m done xeroxing this, I need an aspirin, but then I’ll get it for you. Fridge was a brand name? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-jones-and-the-suicides-why-flavor-aid-and-not-kool-aid/562348/28 "2010-12-01T09:34:35Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > It’s on top of the fridge. After I’m done xeroxing this, I need an aspirin, but then I’ll get it for you. Fridge was a brand name? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-jones-and-the-suicides-why-flavor-aid-and-not-kool-aid/562348/29 "2010-12-01T13:08:48Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > No it definately says [Kool Aid](http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/2412/capturept0.jpg) > > Here’s a screen shot from the above clip I was not clear enough, the ones reporting on the documentary say that \*\*both \*\*packages of Kool-Aid and Flavor-ade are in the crate. (Film resolution could be the difference here) The possible Flavor-Aid packs are to the left of the Kool-Aid ones, but it is not so clear on video resolution, hence the need to compare the boxes with bulk Flavor-Ade packages of the day. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-jones-and-the-suicides-why-flavor-aid-and-not-kool-aid/562348/30 "2010-12-01T13:15:26Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > Fridge was a brand name? The worst brand name ever. I’m tired of seeing “refridgerator” all over the internet. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-jones-and-the-suicides-why-flavor-aid-and-not-kool-aid/562348/31 "2010-12-01T13:23:04Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > Fridge was a brand name? I guess that depends on whether one thinks “[fridge](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fridge)” decends from _[Frigidaire](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/frigidaire)_, a brand name, or _[refrigerator](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/refrigerator)_, a word dating back to 1605 (in its earlier variant “refrigeratory”). ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-jones-and-the-suicides-why-flavor-aid-and-not-kool-aid/562348/32 "2010-12-01T14:12:18Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > I was not clear enough, the ones reporting on the documentary say that \*\*both \*\*packages of Kool-Aid and Flavor-ade are in the crate. (Film resolution could be the difference here) That’s possible. This is the same footage that I mentioned in the OP, and in the various docs there’s no question that there are containers of both mixes. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-jones-and-the-suicides-why-flavor-aid-and-not-kool-aid/562348/33 "2010-12-01T14:43:41Z")
Didn’t Jim Jones and the Suicides open for the Brian Jonestown Massacre? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-jones-and-the-suicides-why-flavor-aid-and-not-kool-aid/562348.md?page=1)