{"id":40210,"date":"2013-10-13T03:18:59","date_gmt":"2013-10-13T03:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alternativejonestown.com\/?page_id=40210"},"modified":"2026-02-20T14:47:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T22:47:17","slug":"06-01a-koolaid-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=40210","title":{"rendered":"Drinking the Kool-Aid \u2013 2013 edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Editor\u2019s note<\/strong>: the jonestown report made note every year in its 13 editions between 2007 and 2019 of the numerous articles, op-ed pieces, and commentaries that specifically mention the use of the phrase “Drinking the Kool-Aid,” even if it isn\u2019t the focus of the entire piece. Even though the report suspended the annual listing beginning in 2020, the references continue on a near daily basis in online media sources.<\/p>\n

(The listing below includes several references from 2013. The entries include the source and nature of the references. Even as the URLs themselves often go defunct, we will continue to note the outdated links.)<\/em><\/p>\n

\"06-01-kool-aid<\/a>The Kool-Aid man got a new makeover this past year. In addition to a number of other reasons \u2013 the new icon will be computer-generated rather than filmed shots of an actor dressed in a foam costume, for example \u2013 there were reports that Kraft Foods wanted to have a new image that would help shed its association with the phrase, \u201cDon’t drink the Kool-Aid.\u201d<\/p>\n

The expression \u201cdrinking the Kool-Aid\u201d is now deeply embedded into American slang. While its origins are painfully understood by most of the people who visit this site, it’s also true that no one knows when or in what context it first entered our slang lexicon. As time passes, two other characteristics of slang will occur: its earliest meaning will morph into a multitude of derivatives \u2013 indeed, that has already begun to happen \u2013 and fewer and fewer people who use it will know where it came from.<\/p>\n

This website also has a collection of articles and reflections<\/a> on \u201cKool-Aid\u201d as an image and as an expression. Articles published this year which put the expression into its context during the last year include:<\/p>\n

Go Easy on the Kool-Aid Expression<\/b>
\nby Reg Henry, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette<\/i>, June 28, 2013
\nhttps:\/\/archive.kitsapsun.com\/news\/reg-henry–go-easy-on-the-kool-aid-expression-ep-416225554-356051871.html<\/a><\/p>\n

This column analyzes the expression \u201cdrinking the Kool-Aid\u201d as one of those \u201crepetitive expressions of disgust that have become clich\u00e9d to the point of boredom,\u201d adding that \u201cAny column that is remotely political brings the inevitable Kool-Aid comment.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Don’t Drink the Kool-aid: <\/b>
\nJonestown was an Atheist Marxist Socialist Cult<\/b>
\nby J. Max Wilson, Sixteen Small Stones<\/i>, January 17, 2013
\nhttp:\/\/www.sixteensmallstones.org\/dont-drink-the-kool-aid-jonestown-was-an-atheist-marxist-socialist-cult\/<\/a><\/p>\n

This blog discusses how the phrase \u201cDon’t drink the Kool-Aid\u201d applies to other groups of people beyond those who died in Jonestown, including Nazis, Communists, and liberal Christian.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Please Pass the Kool-Aid<\/b>
\nBy Deane Waldman, December 24, 2012, The American Thinker
\nNote<\/strong>: The url for this article at http:\/\/www.americanthinker.com\/2012\/12\/please_pass_the_koolaid.html is defunct.<\/em><\/p>\n

Putting the expression into context \u2013 and giving a short history of Peoples Temple along the way \u2013 the article goes on to claim that the politics of \u201cliberals such as E.J. Dionne quoted in the Washington Post\u2026 <\/i>are a combination of magical thinking and Kool-aid drinking.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Stop Saying \u2018Drink the Kool-Aid’<\/b>
\nby Chris Higgins, The Atlantic<\/i>, November 8, 2012,
\nhttp:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/health\/archive\/2012\/11\/stop-saying-drink-the-kool-aid\/264957\/<\/a> (The article was also posted on MentalFloss<\/a>)<\/p>\n

After a brief history of Peoples Temple and the deaths in Jonestown, the article suggests that the expression comes from a combination of three factors: Kool-Aid being better known than Flavor Aid; the previous use of Kool-Aid as a vehicle for consuming \u201cum, unusual chemicals\u201d in Tom Wolfe’s book, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (see related article here); and the fact that Kool-Aid was actually present in Jonestown.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Editor\u2019s note: the jonestown report made note every year in its 13 editions between 2007 and 2019 of the numerous articles, op-ed pieces, and commentaries that specifically mention the use of the phrase “Drinking the Kool-Aid,” even if it isn\u2019t the focus of the entire piece. Even though the report suspended the annual listing beginning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":40209,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-40210","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/40210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40210"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/40210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133842,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/40210\/revisions\/133842"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/40209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}