# Please stop pointing out that it was Flavor-Aid **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 10, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-pointing-out-that-it-was-flavor-aid/472068 "2008-11-10T17:51:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-pointing-out-that-it-was-flavor-aid/472068/21 "2008-11-10T19:34:13Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > But nobody knows what flavor the Flavor-Aid was. Kool-Aid flavor. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-pointing-out-that-it-was-flavor-aid/472068/22 "2008-11-10T19:35:06Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > But nobody knows what flavor the Flavor-Aid was. Wikipedia (and most other sources I found on Google) says it was grape. _runs far, far away_ ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-pointing-out-that-it-was-flavor-aid/472068/23 "2008-11-10T19:38:17Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > But nobody knows what flavor the Flavor-Aid was. It was grape. > [@Borborygmi](#): > > I believe the proper capitalization and spelling is _Fla-Vor-Aid_. > > [/nitpick] Short answer: [No](http://www.jelsert.com/products_flavoraid.asp). Long answer: It might’ve been, at one point, but let it go. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-pointing-out-that-it-was-flavor-aid/472068/24 "2008-11-10T19:44:52Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Short answer: [No](http://www.jelsert.com/products_flavoraid.asp). > Long answer: It might’ve been, at one point, but let it go. Oy! I hope he was joking with that post. ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-pointing-out-that-it-was-flavor-aid/472068/25 "2008-11-10T19:50:10Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > But nobody knows what flavor the Flavor-Aid was. Bitter Almond. Mm! Grape Tang was what they used to poison all the eyewitness to the fake moon landing. Duh. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-pointing-out-that-it-was-flavor-aid/472068/26 "2008-11-10T19:50:17Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > It was grape. > > Short answer: [No](http://www.jelsert.com/products_flavoraid.asp). > Long answer: It might’ve been, at one point, but let it go. The hyphenated one the version that they still have on the [sign](http://www.jelsert.com/contact_us.asp) at the JelSert corporate headquarters that’s down the street from where I grew up. ---
**Author:** ![Borborygmi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/borborygmi/32/217_2.png) [@Borborygmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Borborygmi)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-pointing-out-that-it-was-flavor-aid/472068/27 "2008-11-10T19:58:59Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Oy! I hope he was joking with that post. 😃 > [@Cisco](#): > > Short answer: [No](http://www.jelsert.com/products_flavoraid.asp). > Long answer: It might’ve been, at one point, but let it go. I figured the long answer gave me cover. Let it go? Okay, after this, my first indulgence with the multiple quote buttons. Ooooh, cool! ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-pointing-out-that-it-was-flavor-aid/472068/28 "2008-11-10T20:09:52Z")
I say we all save this thread URL, and link to it every time. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-pointing-out-that-it-was-flavor-aid/472068/29 "2008-11-10T20:15:12Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > This is my 3-point plea for members of this board to stop pointing out that it was Flavor-Aid at Jonestown. > > **Point 1** > > We know all ready. For god’s sake, we know. **Every** time Kool-Aid or Jonestown is mentioned on this board, someone has to come along and say, “it was Flavor-Aid, you know.” We know. I did not know that. Seriously. Maybe my memory’s going, but I’ve been around awhile, and I don’t recall ever hearing that it was really Flavor-Aid. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-pointing-out-that-it-was-flavor-aid/472068/30 "2008-11-10T20:31:21Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > But nobody knows what flavor the Flavor-Aid was. It doesn’t have a flavor, it simply aids other flavors kind of like Hamburger Helper doesn’t have any hamburger in it. Most people flavor it by adding some Gatorade which aids gators although Kool-aid can be a used in a pinch. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-pointing-out-that-it-was-flavor-aid/472068/31 "2008-11-10T20:35:07Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Jonestown was in space??? Maybe they were practicing for their comet ride. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-pointing-out-that-it-was-flavor-aid/472068/32 "2008-11-10T20:35:47Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Oy! I hope he was joking with that post. No, Fla-vor-aid is typically the second thing to be pointed out after someone says it was Flavor-Aid. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-pointing-out-that-it-was-flavor-aid/472068/33 "2008-11-10T20:47:34Z")
It was also _unsweetened_, and they shot people who’d even drank the stuff (many of whom were forced to do it at gunpoint), so its _not_ really accurate to say that this was something that folks did voluntarily because they’d swallowed Jim Jones’ nuttery whole heartedly, or that the drink was what killed them all. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-pointing-out-that-it-was-flavor-aid/472068/34 "2008-11-10T20:51:16Z")
A helpful hint: the expression “Drink the Kool-Aid” is an insult. When others reply: “It was Flavor-Aid,” they are insulting you back. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-pointing-out-that-it-was-flavor-aid/472068/35 "2008-11-10T20:51:18Z")
I was watching that special last night, as well. Very interesting stuff. Then my wife casually mentions that she has a signed thank-you letter from Jim Jones somewhere in the house from her days working in San Francisco with an employment outfit that found jobs for people down on their luck. Holy crap! Is this worth anything? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-pointing-out-that-it-was-flavor-aid/472068/36 "2008-11-10T20:56:21Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > It was also _unsweetened_ Those _bastards!_ 😃 > [@Tuckerfan](#): > > and they shot people who’d even drank the stuff (many of whom were forced to do it at gunpoint), so its _not_ really accurate to say that this was something that folks did voluntarily because they’d swallowed Jim Jones’ nuttery whole heartedly, or that the drink was what killed them all. Eh, according to the documentary I watched last night, most of the people who wanted to leave left with the senator right before it all went down. A few others escaped while it was happening. A few were shot, yes. Most drank voluntarily. The last audio from the tragedy has one woman voicing dissent, but a couple people shout her down and then she shuts up after Jones says the senator is dead. Certainly everybody drank voluntarily (as voluntarily as implicit pressure from your cult can be) during the test runs, so it kind of negates the point that a few wanted out after Jim went completely off the handle later; they thought they were drinking deadly poison the other times. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-pointing-out-that-it-was-flavor-aid/472068/37 "2008-11-10T22:40:15Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I was watching that special last night, as well. Very interesting stuff. Then my wife casually mentions that she has a signed thank-you letter from Jim Jones somewhere in the house from her days working in San Francisco with an employment outfit that found jobs for people down on their luck. Holy crap! Is this worth anything? No. Send it to me. I’ll see to it that it is properly disposed of. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-pointing-out-that-it-was-flavor-aid/472068/38 "2008-11-10T23:01:15Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > A helpful hint: the expression “Drink the Kool-Aid” is an insult. > > When others reply: “It was Flavor-Aid,” they are insulting you back. It was Flavor-Aid.😉 ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-pointing-out-that-it-was-flavor-aid/472068/39 "2008-11-10T23:51:37Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > It was Tang. **Homer:** Hello, is this President Clinton? Good! I figured if anyone knew where to get some Tang, it’d be you. …Shut up! ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-pointing-out-that-it-was-flavor-aid/472068/40 "2008-11-11T00:21:11Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > A helpful hint: the expression “Drink the Kool-Aid” is an insult. > > When others reply: “It was Flavor-Aid,” they are insulting you back. This actually fits. More specifically than being an insult, it’s an expression about trusting what ‘they’ tell you. ‘They’ told us it was Kool-aid. If you accept that it was Kool-aid, then you’ve already drunk your fill. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-pointing-out-that-it-was-flavor-aid/472068.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-stop-pointing-out-that-it-was-flavor-aid/472068.md?page=3)