10 Things You Didn’t Know Started As Marketing Campaigns

Summary

Frugal Friends Podcast: Episode Summary Title: 10 Things You Didn’t Know Started As Marketing Campaigns
Hosts: Jen Smith & Jill Sirianni
Release Date: November 8, 2024

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Introduction

In this engaging episode of the Frugal Friends Podcast, hosts Jen Smith and Jill Sirianni delve into the intriguing world of marketing history, uncovering everyday items and traditions that originated from strategic marketing campaigns. The episode, titled "10 Things You Didn’t Know Started As Marketing Campaigns," offers listeners a blend of enlightening insights and relatable anecdotes, all while emphasizing the importance of mindful spending and frugality.

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1. The Rise of Women Smoking Cigarettes

Jen and Jill kick off the discussion by exploring how smoking became a fashionable activity among women, a trend significantly influenced by Edward Bernays, the father of public relations. Bernays collaborated with the American Tobacco Company in the 1920s to rebrand cigarettes as symbols of female independence and thinness.

Jill (10:19): "Part of the advertising was smoke a cigarette instead of having a sweet."

Jen (14:53): "When people tell me, wow, you have such beautiful skin, for a second I say, who are you talking to?"

This campaign not only increased cigarette sales but also intertwined smoking with the burgeoning women’s suffrage movement, branding cigarettes as "torches of freedom."

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2. Green Bean Casserole’s Culinary Origins

Next, the hosts discuss the beloved Thanksgiving side dish, green bean casserole, revealing its roots as a Campbell’s marketing initiative aimed at boosting sales of green beans and cream of mushroom soup.

Jen (12:27): "Green bean casserole I believe is the best side."

Jill highlights that while the dish was a strategic move, its affordability and deliciousness have cemented its place in American holiday traditions.

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3. The Diamond Engagement Ring Tradition

The conversation shifts to the diamond engagement ring, a custom often mistakenly attributed solely to De Beers. Jen clarifies that while the tradition dates back to European royalty in the 1400s, De Beers played a pivotal role in popularizing diamond rings in the 1930s by suggesting that men should spend a significant portion of their salary on them.

Jill (15:17): "It is truly the definition of the pink tax."

This manipulation not only influenced consumer behavior but also established a lasting cultural norm around engagement rings.

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4. The Inception of Wedding Registries

Jen introduces the next topic by explaining how wedding registries were created by a Chicago department store to streamline gift-giving and increase sales.

Jen (17:26): "These registries were literally made to bring more business to a particular department store."

This innovation alleviated the problem of duplicate gifts, making it easier for guests to purchase desired items while boosting the store's revenue.

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5. The Miss America Pageant as a Marketing Tool

The Miss America Pageant was initially established to attract tourists to Atlantic City beyond Labor Day, effectively extending the tourist season and benefiting local businesses.

Jill (22:24): "It was just city tourism."

Despite its origins as a strategic marketing effort, the pageant has evolved into a cultural institution, albeit with diminishing relevance in modern times.

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6. The Shaving Trend Among Women

One of the more surprising revelations pertains to how Gillette influenced women’s grooming habits by promoting the shaving of armpits and legs.

Jen (28:39): "It's truly the definition of the pink tax."

Using terms like "smooth" and "clean" instead of "shave," Gillette successfully marketed their products by associating hairless bodies with femininity and hygiene.

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7. Oprah’s Car Giveaway as a GM Advertisement

Jen and Jill uncover how Oprah Winfrey’s famous car giveaways were orchestrated by General Motors to promote their Pontiac brand.

Jen (29:31): "Oprah's Famous Car Giveaway was really just a giant ad for General Motors."

This partnership effectively leveraged Oprah’s influence to boost car sales, demonstrating the power of celebrity endorsements in marketing.

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8. Michelin Stars and the Tire Company’s Strategy

The Michelin Guide, now synonymous with culinary excellence, was originally a marketing tactic by Michelin, the tire manufacturer, to encourage more driving and, consequently, tire purchases.

Jen (33:57): "Your tires can take you to the."

By recommending restaurants and motels, Michelin ensured that drivers would seek out quality establishments, tying the company’s products to positive experiences.

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9. Coca-Cola’s Influence on Santa Claus’ Image

Perhaps one of the most recognizable examples, Coca-Cola significantly shaped the modern image of Santa Claus through their festive advertising campaigns in the 1930s.

Jen (34:44): "The modern character of Santa was heavily influenced by Coca-Cola."

While elements of Santa’s character predated Coca-Cola, the company’s portrayal solidified the jolly, plump figure we know today, linking the festive season to their brand.

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10. The Barbie Movie as a General Motors Ad

In a surprising twist, the hosts reveal that the Barbie movie was essentially an elaborate marketing campaign for General Motors, specifically promoting the Chevrolet Blazer.

Jen (31:56): "The Barbie movie was just a Chevy Blazer ad in disguise."

This revelation underscores the extent to which marketing strategies can permeate popular culture, blurring the lines between entertainment and advertising.

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Personal Stories: Overcoming Natural Disasters

Beyond the primary discussion, Jen and Jill share poignant personal experiences of recovering from hurricanes, highlighting the importance of community support and financial preparedness.

Dr. Laurie Santos (52:02): "Takeaway is insure yourself, even if you think you don't need it, have insurance."

Their narratives serve as real-life examples of the podcast’s overarching theme of frugality and financial independence, emphasizing resilience in the face of unforeseen challenges.

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Conclusion

This episode of the Frugal Friends Podcast masterfully intertwines historical marketing tactics with personal stories, offering listeners a comprehensive understanding of how ubiquitous aspects of daily life can be traced back to deliberate promotional strategies. Through insightful commentary and relatable anecdotes, Jen and Jill encourage mindful consumption and financial prudence, aligning perfectly with the podcast’s mission to help listeners gain control over their spending habits.

Listeners are also encouraged to support the podcast by pre-ordering Jen and Jill’s new book, Buy What You Love Without Going Broke, and leaving positive reviews to help sustain their valuable content.

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Notable Quotes

• Jill (10:19): "Part of the advertising was smoke a cigarette instead of having a sweet."

• Jen (14:53): "When people tell me, wow, you have such beautiful skin, for a second I say, who are you talking to?"

• Jen (17:26): "These registries were literally made to bring more business to a particular department store."

• Jen (28:39): "It's truly the definition of the pink tax."

• Jill (22:24): "It was just city tourism."

• Jen (34:44): "The modern character of Santa was heavily influenced by Coca-Cola."

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Takeaways

1. Awareness of Marketing Origins: Understanding the historical context of common practices and products helps in making informed and intentional purchasing decisions.

2. Financial Preparedness: Personal stories emphasize the importance of having insurance and emergency funds to navigate unexpected crises effectively.

3. Community Support: Building and maintaining strong community ties can provide invaluable support during times of natural disasters and financial strain.

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Support Frugal Friends Podcast

To continue receiving insightful and relatable content on frugality, financial independence, and mindful spending, consider supporting Jen and Jill by pre-ordering their upcoming book or leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform.

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This summary accurately reflects the key discussions and insights from the Frugal Friends Podcast episode "10 Things You Didn’t Know Started As Marketing Campaigns," ensuring that both regular listeners and newcomers can grasp the episode's valuable content.

Transcript

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Finance agreement is due.

[Alicia Keys]

Hey, it's Alicia. When people tell me, wow, you have such beautiful skin, for a second I.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Say, who are you talking to?

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[Jen]

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[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast where.

[Jen]

You'Ll learn to save money, embrace simplicity.

[Alicia Keys]

And live a richer life.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Here are your hosts, Jen and Jill.

[Jen]

Welcome to Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

My name is Jill.

[Jen]

And today we are talking about some of the things we take for granted in our desires to buy stuff.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

It's so interesting looking at the origin stories of what is so commonplace for us, the things we just engage in regularly to realize this was just invented by somebody who wanted to make more money.

[Jen]

Yes.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

And that kind of ruins everything.

[Jen]

Yeah. And we hope that this episode will not only entertain you, but will also get you to think about the things you take for granted in your life that you assume you want or assume you love, but is truly a product of carefully crafted marketing and just time, time, time telling Americans or wherever you are that this is what you should want. And we take that for granted. We don't think about it. And it can really cause us to overspend and impulse spend in a lot of ways. And so this is kind of a reality check in a fun, lighthearted way.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yeah. And as promised, we will give you all an update at the end of this episode on kind of how we're doing post hurricane. I know a lot of you all checked in on us since we do live in the Tampa Bay area, we are in St. Pete and we got hit pretty heavily here. So thank you for checking in. And if you care to know, stay tuned at the end of the episode and we'll give you our little updates. But we're here. Obviously you're hearing our voices.

[Jen]

So we lived through it. Did make it. Yeah. So before we get into the meat of the episode, it's brought to you by bacon and eggs. So this is actually our first one on our list of 10. You might take it for granted, but bacon and eggs are not originally breakfast foods. Did you know that outside the U.S. bacon and eggs aren't really eaten for breakfast? Actually, savory breakfasts are not common and this episode was literally inspired by bacon and eggs because their popularity didn't happen by accident or just because bacon and eggs are so good. Even though they are, which is why we don't think Marketing is inherently evil because sometimes it can bring us things like bacon and eggs. But this in particular is brought to you by none other than Edward Bernays. Bernays strategy was to convince the public he was hired by big bacon and big egg. So the way he did it is he had his agency's doctor, who he paid, write a letter to 5,000 other doctors and telling them this. And the doctor's responses were published in newspapers. And that was the marketing. The campaign was successful and thus bacon and eggs became a standard part of the American breakfast. And so that was the inspiration for this episode. And we talk about Edward Bernays and a lot more things in our new book buy what you love without going broke. So Preorder it at buywhatyoulove.com I have.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

One hole to poke in this and it is not with pre ordering our book. Please do that. Buy what you love Dot com. Okay. But sweet breakfasts are mainly American. Savory breakfast is all over the world.

[Jen]

Really?

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

100%. We are the most cereal. Yeah. Europeans do meats and cheeses.

[Jen]

They all do pastries. You can't find a savory pastry.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

It is your savory foods. Yeah, savory, Savory, not sweet, huh?

[Jen]

We are like the only ones where you can't get a savory breakfast. It's all a pastry and coffee. Like in Europe some places.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

No, Europe does meats and cheeses. And they do it well. They do it so well.

[Jen]

Well, some places may do savory breakfast.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yeah. But it's also weird to me. Bacon and eggs, farmers with chickens. Like you don't need a marketing campaign to tell them like there's your food. You go out in the morning, you get eggs, there's your food.

[Jen]

Yeah, but it's usually used in like baking. So people baking like cakes and muffins and stuff with eggs.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Either way, preorder the book.

[Jen]

Absolutely. The book is more fact checked maybe than my offhanded comment about breakfasts.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

I do love bacon and eggs though.

[Jen]

I know, right?

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Any time of day for me.

[Jen]

So if you're interested in more kind of de influencing and marketing like psychology episodes, we do have episode 368 where we talk about de influencing yourself from social media. And then episode 201, how to identify manipulative advertising and marketing. So definitely two good ones to queue up for after this. But let's get started. Let's get into this list. We've got nine more for you.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yes. So this article comes from Buzzfeed. It's 18 things you never knew. Started as marketing ploys and the first one for me actually is not on this list. It is something that comes from our book.

[Jen]

Well, tell the people. Why?

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Because so many of the things that I was going to talk about from this list were inaccurate. I am on a fact checking role here. So that's why I'm pushing back on the what what other countries eat for breakfast thing. But they listed Father's Day as being a part of a marketing ploy. And what was the other one? We'll get there. But they weren't. They, they were something else. Other history behind it.

[Jen]

Don't trust feed for your news, especially when they don't cite sources.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yeah, they had no links in it so I, we had to fact check. But everything we're about to tell you is accurate as far as we can tell, right?

[Jen]

Yeah, we did our own fact checking and there are some things on the list that are accurate.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Okay, so here we go. We're starting with the first one that we learned about through writing this book and it is women smoking cigarettes became wildly popular out of a marketing effort begun by Edward Bernays. So the same dude that Jen just mentioned in our fake sponsor at the beginning, he is considered the father of public relations, the nephew of Sigmund Freud, like the psychology Sigmund Freud. So he learned a lot from his uncle and employed a lot of understanding about human psychology into his marketing practices. So he was hired in 1927 by the American Tobacco Company and his first strategy was to try to persuade women to smoke. And as part of this he was helping this American tobacco company to advertise cigarettes as being helpful to the ideal of thinness. Like equating smoking cigarettes, staving off hunger and achieving this thinness.

[Jen]

Yeah, part of the advertising was smoke a cigarette instead of having a sweet.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

And he also combined smoking cigarettes with the suffrage movement and called cigarettes torches of freedom. And that if women were smoking cigarettes, they were also out here voting, just being independent ladies. And it worked, my friends. Female smoking went up significantly thanks to our guy, Edward Bernays. He also wrote propaganda in 1928. So he talked about how to literally engineer consent, tapping into people's unconscious impulses to see products as something that they want to have. Believing that he could sell middle class consumers products that they didn't actually need. And a lot of our marketing strategies that we see today are built on a lot of Bernays ideas. Yeah, because he was so successful.

[Jen]

And yeah, we talk about some of this in the book. So buy what you love book.com and you can understand more of how this marketing came to be and then also like how you can combat it. Again, we don't think marketing is evil. It's knowing when you are being engineered to desire when desire is being manufactured. That's actually the chapter title name is Manufactured Desire. All right, so now we will join the list and I will start out with number four, which is green bean casserole. Green bean casserole. Thanksgiving's coming up. We love it. It was actually invented by Campbell's to sell more green beans and cream of mushroom soup. And I mean if they had made those crispy little onions, hats off to that. But they didn't. So it was, it was to sell more of those two products that they manufacture.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

This is what I'm not mad about.

[Jen]

Amen. Green bean casserole I believe is the best side.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Listen, if you're going to discover something and create a recipe that's just banging and the rest of us fall for it, then that's good. That's a win, win, win I think because green bean casserole is also really inexpensive to make. So thanks Campbell's.

[Jen]

Yay.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Okay, the next one on my list is kind of a combination of, but also holes to poke. So they originally said that the diamond company De Beers invented or came up with giving a diamond engagement ring in the 1930s as your proposal. And that's just not true. It actually dates back to like the 1400s where royalty, somebody royal had done it. Uh huh. Given a diamond engagement ring and then it became popular playing among European aristocrats. However, what is true is that De Beers, this large diamond company, was responsible in the 1930s for putting the amount of money that someone should spend on an engagement ring. They listed one month, it should be one month salary should be spent on a diamond engagement ring in particular. And there's also evidence to point at, prior to this, diamond engagement rings were not as popular pre 1930s as they were after that. The diamond company going through the depression really needed to kind of ramp up their efforts of people purchasing diamonds because it just wasn't priority for people going through the depression. So this was their marketing campaign was here's how much you should be spending on a diamond ring. And the tables did shift a little bit where I think other stones were often used in engagement rings. Like the engagement ring wasn't necessarily this brand new concept, but specifically it becoming a diamond engagement ring, it can be linked back to De Beers.

[Jen]

Yeah, but they, I mean it grew into up to 3 months salary like other diamond Companies just took it and ran with it to the point where it got up to the three month rule, but it just started as a one month rule from De Beers.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

I saw one of the original ads and it said when it was at two months, when the recommendation was a two month salary, it was like, give her a sense of what the next, what the future will look like by spending two months salary. So it's like you can see what your future will hold by the size of the diamond that you now have on your hand. And it's a little icky, all a little licky.

[Jen]

The comments out of all of them, the comments had most pushback on this one because everyone knew it was just like full of it. Like it was extremely marketing heavy.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

My great grandparents were married during the Great Depression or maybe just before it. And she never did have an engagement ring, only a wedding band. So yeah, I think at least particularly in that time, it was not as common.

[Jen]

Yeah. All right, so the next one for me is number eight. Wedding registries were invented by a Chicago department store. You know that obligatory feeling to buy things for your friends who are getting married. It started as a kind of quote unquote, maybe like altruistic. An altruistic way because I guess couples before the wedding registry would get duplicates and triplicates of in vogue gifts and they would get china patterns they didn't want. And all of this, oh, woe is me. So this department store in Chicago created the first wedding registry so couples wouldn't have to fear getting gifts they didn't want. Everyone would get them gifts that they knew they want. And actually it would be easier for the shopper to buy that gift knowing full well, yes, the couple wants what I'm getting them, but they were the only one that had it. So this drew more couples to create registries at this department store so that they would gain more business. And then the registries just snowballed from there. Everyone had a wedding registry. And then people started doing baby registries, naturally. And then there were just gift registries. Just like, like, I'm turning 39, here's my gift registry at Walmart. Yeah, I used to say like I used to Walmart had like a wedding registry, baby registry, and then just like a gift registry for like whatever.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Did you say I'm turning 39, here's my registry at Walmart. Wow. Goals. I mean, we're not there yet, but four years from now. Wow.

[Jen]

I know, I'm only 35. Yeah. So goals. But yeah, all the, these registries were literally made to bring more business to a particular department store. And yeah, they may be a little kind, but it shouldn't pressure us into like overspending on these gifts.

[Alicia Keys]

Hey, it's Alicia. When people tell me, wow, you have such beautiful skin, for a second I.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Say, who are you talking to?

[Alicia Keys]

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[Dr. Laurie Santos]

My next one on this list is the Miss America Pageant. Started as a way to bring people to Atlantic City. I fact checked this and it's true folks.

[Jen]

It was just city tourism.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

A way to keep people to stay in the area post Labor Day. They wanted people to stay longer. So they're like maybe if we make women parade around in dresses, they'll stick around.

[Jen]

And it clearly worked.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

It did.

[Jen]

Clearly. But not just an is it still in Atlantic City? Like is that Whereas is.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

I had no idea it was in Atlantic City. I don't know. The event created in 1921 to keep tourists coming to the boardwalk past Labor Day. Wow. Are you looking it up? You're looking at still in Atlantic City.

[Jen]

But what comes up now, is Miss Americana the Taylor Swift?

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yeah. Talk about a marketing campaign.

[Jen]

Nobody cares about Miss America anymore.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Talk about a true marketer. I mean, Taylor Swift is good, but how she gets people to break the Internet and spend all their money is insane. There are other good musicians out there, and they can't do what Taylor Swift is doing.

[Jen]

That's so true. She is also a marketing scheme.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

She's a marketing.

[Jen]

But again, marketing is an evil.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jen]

I can't tell if it's in Atlantic City, but you let us know if you know.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yeah, I'm gonna. You go. Your next one. I'll. I'll keep the research alive.

[Jen]

All right, so the next one for me, this is. This is where we get real spicy, ladies, is number 11. Women didn't shave their armpits until Gillette told them they should. And this is 100% true. So Gillette was already a household name for men. They were sold in army supply stores. Every soldier in 1901 had a safety razor from Gillette. So then we have the Industrial Revolution. We have more manufacturing of these really inexpensive items and so much of big, like, box stores and all this. The reason they were able to gain popularity and really push out mom and pop stores was because of mass production. And so. Oh, I know. I did the same. The sound. You got to turn the sound off on your computer when you're doing research mid episode.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Oopsies.

[Jen]

So the way. And we learned this again, this is in the book. I don't want to, like, beat it over your head, but we talk about how the thing. The really important thing for these big companies is the way to stay profitable is that they could no longer just meet demand. They had to manufacture desire. And so what Gillette did is they was they were already in every man's hand, but there was no reason for women to shave. They weren't shaving their heads or their mustaches or their facial hair. Right. So they had to figure out, how do we get a razor in every woman's hand? Well, we make the idea of having hairy armpits unattractive. And that is how they did it. Gillette manufactured a beautiful female safety razor. And they made the idea of being hairless more attractive than the idea of having hair on their underarms.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Back to Miss America. Still can't totally tell, but it does seem like 2024. It's gonna be in Florida.

[Jen]

Oh, okay.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

So it does. It obviously is not always in Atlantic City, but I don't know when that shift happened, and I should probably just pay Attention to what we're doing now, which my next one is connected to that. Women shaving their legs so very similarly kind of. Manufacturers of hygiene products sought to capitalize on changing fashion trends. It was Gillette. And so I found this quote from the Smithsonian that underscores what you were just describing, Jen. They said, american beauty standards and marketing of the safety. I'm sorry. American beauty standards and practices for women were also affected by the innovation and marketing of the safety razor. Beginning in the early 20th century, manufacturers of safety razors, seeking to expand their market, promoted the idea that body hair on women is inherently masculine and indelicate, as well as unhygienic. Gillette introduced the first razor marketed specifically to women, called the milady decollette in 1915. In the 1920s, the new fashion for sleeveless tops and short dresses meant that legs and armpits of American women were now visible in social situations. And advertisers seized the opportunity to encourage women to shave their legs and their armpits. I also read on the Smithsonian website about how they were really intentional about not using the word shave because the word shave was associated with the male.

[Jen]

Masculine. Yes.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

And very masculine. To shave your face. So they used words like smooth, like, get smooth, legs, be clean, smell good.

[Jen]

Yeah, they used it as hygiene. I mean, if I had a Milady Decollette, I might feel differently, too.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

You do. You probably do. You've got a Milady.

[Jen]

I know. And I have been conditioned. Honestly, I do like to shave my armpits. I don't have a lot of hair on my legs, so I don't really shave those. But, like, yeah, I have been conditioned. And socially, now it is. It's socially awkward to have hair on your legs.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

And I remember begging my mom to shave my legs. Like, remember when you were younger and you had to ask your parents for permission to do everything? Sometimes being an adult is better. And she would not let me shave, but I got made fun of. Yeah, all the girls would be like, oh, your mom doesn't let you shave your hairy legs. Your hair's so long.

[Jen]

It's. It is so bizarre. And the only person it benefits is men, because that was all men in that room with that marketing strategy who wanted to sell more razors. Like, it is truly the definition of the pink tax.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yeah, it's.

[Jen]

It's crazy. Yeah, it is crazy. All right, moving on. This is number 13, and I feel like we. We missed one or did an extra one, but I'm going to go, oh, yeah, you only had four. I Have five. Okay, I'm going to do the. We're going to do the last one together because that's a real big one. My next one is Oprah's Famous Car Giveaway was really just a giant ad for General Motors.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

We all knew that. We knew Oprah wasn't paying for all these vehicles.

[Jen]

Yeah, we know. But it was for GM to promote Pontiac, which is now defunct, but their new G6. But what I really wanted to talk about was these GM ads, like, really old GM ads. Because their ads say things like, so from the 1950s, they show all these GMs, and. And they're like the key to a richer life with a little car key next to it. And then you've got one from 1955 with a man and a woman. They look like maybe they're on a date. And it's a Cadillac ad, and it says, for the sheer joy of living.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Oh, wow.

[Jen]

Like, it is literally taking this thing that may be needed by some, but definitely isn't needed by everyone. And so the people who don't need it, they are trying to convince them, like, this is how you live your rich life. This is how you enjoy life from the very beginning. And so now, even across other car companies, we see having a nice car as the key to a good life. That is a status symbol for others and yourself to know you are living a good life, even if you can't afford that car.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Related to gm. Hot take. This is Jill speaking. So if you're mad, take me down. I'm willing. I'm willing to stand on this one.

[Jen]

Wow.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

The Barbie movie was a GM ad. I know everybody was out here talking about their love of the Barbie movie. It was fine. It was fun. It was colorful. It was a marketing campaign for General Motors and really themselves, because the amount that we then all spent on Barbie paraphernalia, the clothes, the dolls, the resurgence, it actually wasn't the advertising.

[Jen]

The characters were in car ads, too. Did you know that? You are telling the truth. This is not a hot take. This is real.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yeah, but anyone who watched that movie and just didn't feel like they were sitting through a whole commercial is wild.

[Jen]

Well, one of the reasons they were able to make it with the budget they had is because Mattel gave them so much money.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yeah. It just was a whole commercial. That's my. Everyone's like, did you like the Barbie movie? And Eric and I were like, you mean the General Motors ad that we watched for an hour and a half?

[Jen]

Okay, it was a fantastic movie. Commercials can be fantastic.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Right?

[Jen]

There are some amazing commercials. You just have to know what you're watching.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

It was a huge commercial that they primarily did this. Yeah, we got some entertainment out of it, but they did it so that they could get all of our money out of it. And I think that that's the awareness piece that I think can help us make more informed decisions. And maybe I'm a little bit more stubborn in this, but no, I'm not going to go out and buy a bunch of Mattel products because I just watched the Barbie movie. I enjoyed being entertained, but I'm not going to now go and give you all my money.

[Jen]

It's the Chevy Blazer. That was a specific car. Chevy Blazer.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

There was Suburban. There was all of them, but the.

[Jen]

Chevy Blazer was the one. They were actually in the car commercial.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Oh, gotcha, gotcha, gotcha.

[Jen]

Yeah, but, yeah, it was all of them. You're so right.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

And speaking of vehicles, I just learned something else recently. Sorry, this. This episode is becoming longer than you wanted it to be. Michelin star restaurants are actually. It was started by Michelin, the tire company. And as part of their marketing ploy, a very interesting connection that they made here. But it was something along the lines of how far the tires can take you and where these tires can take you. And so they started to have these restaurants that they wanted to recommend, and I think they even had, like, motels that they would partner with, like go here, stay here and eat here. These are the places that we would recommend for you. So you can. Your tires can take you to the. It's not like your restaurant.

[Jen]

Your tires can take you. We want people to drive more so their tires wear out faster, so they replace them more frequently. Yeah, that's what it was.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yeah. Yeah. And now we all want to flock to these Michelin star restaurants because a tire company.

[Jen]

Because it's higher company.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Your company told us to.

[Jen]

How crazy. Okay, so we got to do the very last one. And it is the creme de la creme. The modern character of Santa was heavily influenced. This. This has started by. But I want to say heavily influenced and subsidized by Coca Cola. It is. And Coca Cola will tell you they are not shy about saying.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Oh, I'm sure they're so proud of it.

[Jen]

They are proud of it. We made this up before Coca Cola. And actually, Coca Cola was using Santa Claus ads before this rebrand, before this glow up. But they had pictures. Santa was kind of like a gaunt, maybe elfish guy. Right? Not the wholesome person you'd take your kids to at the mall. And so Coca Cola was integral in funding artists to rebrand this Santa Claus, specifically holding a Coke. And this led to obviously what we know as having to tell our kids, no, you can't have that, but you can ask Santa for it. And who is Santa? Why does Santa come down my chimney? Santa isn't real, baby. But oh my gosh, I'm so sorry for saying that. It's a joke. It's a line.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Santa is real. It's just maybe not exactly in the way that Coca Cola would have you think.

[Jen]

And then having Santa in the malls to bring more kids to the mall so they buy more things for Christmas, it's just been integral to the, like the catalyst for over consumption around the holidays. It was this one thing they wanted to make the Santa more approachable, more likable, to sell more Coca Cola. And it led to what we see.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Now, to be fair. I mean, so not entirely out of nowhere, they used inspiration from clement Clark Moore's 1822 poem. So the Coca Cola's rendition of Santa Claus, the modern Santa Claus as we know it, was like 1930s, but the poem the Night Before Christmas was written in 1822 and did describe this kind of Saint Nick. Warm, friendly, pleasant, plump, coming down the chimney. So it's not. The whole thing wasn't entirely invented by.

[Jen]

Coca Cola and the chimneys weren't that big. It's a poem just wrought with like. You just can't. How does he get down a chimney?

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

You have not watched enough Christmas movies. You need to watch the Santa Claus with Tim Allen to understand.

[Jen]

I've seen it. Yeah, the 90s were great for justifying inaccuracies. But you know what's not an inaccuracy?

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

And would have been great in the 90s, would have been great in the 2000s. And here we are in the 20s. The Bill of the week.

[Alicia Keys]

That's right. It's time for the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name is William. Maybe you paid off your mortgage, maybe.

[Jen]

Your car died and you're happy to.

[Alicia Keys]

Not have to pay that bill anymore.

[Jen]

Duck Bills, Buffalo Bills, Bill Clinton.

[Alicia Keys]

This is the bill of the week.

[Jen]

Hello, Jen and Jill. I am so excited to give you a bill of the week.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

My daughter turns 1 in August and.

[Jen]

I just want you guys to know that I had a whole human for $700, something dollars. I had two insurance policies, one through my employer, one through my husband's employer, and they took care of Everything except for a few prenatal things that totaled up to the 700 something. So, yeah, there you go.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

If you have a spouse get in.

[Jen]

On their insurance policy and you can have a whole human, too, for, like.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Less than a thousand bucks.

[Jen]

Thanks, guys. Bye, Avery. But I'm sure it's costing you more than $1,000 to have that baby.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Keeping that baby alive.

[Jen]

I know, I know. It doesn't actually have to be that expensive to raise a child, but it can be very expensive to have the child.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yeah.

[Jen]

Safely.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

I love your. You can have a whole human for under $1,000. I feel like the whole thing is such a natural, biological thing. It pains me that any of it costs that much money. Like, you should be able to have your child, and it not.

[Jen]

It should be amazing, right, to have a child safely for free.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yes.

[Jen]

That's the thing is, like, people on, you know, on social media are saying, like, I don't have any prenatal care or go to a hospital to have my babies. No, that's unsafe. Yeah. It's free, but it's not safe. But it should be like a human right to. The baby should be born safely for free.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

I'm so glad that you were able. Platform, I was gonna say. Are you? Are you? It's the libraries, and it's the having whole humans.

[Jen]

Yeah. For free.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

For free. Wow.

[Jen]

Amen.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

I'm so happy for you, Avery, that you were able to hack it, even without this being an act that I.

[Jen]

Have proposed to Congress.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

If you all are listening and you want to submit a bill about what your whole human, whether they didn't cost a lot or they are costing a lot, or you don't mind paying a lot for them, or just your name is Bill or your baby's name is Bill. Frugalfriendspodcast.com Bill, we can't wait to hear it.

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[Dr. Laurie Santos]

And now it's time for the lightning round.

[Jen]

Okay, what is something you think desperately needs a marketing glow up? A fresh marketing approach.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

You go first.

[Jen]

Let me just get more of those plosives in there for your ears. Okay, so I think it's dates. Medjool dates. They are nature's candy. And I have been on a date kick. Like dates and peanut butter. I think they're just so good. They're a natural sweet treat. And I have a sweet tooth. I have a sweet tooth. Like, probably my whole mouth, sweet tooth, sweet teeth.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Here's the thing, though. If it gets a marketing glow up, then doesn't that drive prices up? I kind of don't. I kind of want grungy things to stay grunge if I like it.

[Jen]

This is theoretical. So in reality. Yeah. I mean, well, dates are not that cheap. Like, to start.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

So imagine what would happen.

[Jen]

No.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

If Whole Foods got their hands on it.

[Jen]

Oh, they already. I mean, these are a whole food. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. This is a bougie snack, Jill. Dates are bougie. But, yeah, they just. I haven't seen them in any marketing plans. Like, I would love to see them glow up. Yeah, I would rather see ads for that than ads for half the things I'm seeing. Like a core. Like, I could take a course to learn how to start a handyman business. That's. I'm getting ads like that. No, I'd rather see an ad for delicious dates.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yeah.

[Jen]

Dates with little arms and legs that are dancing. Kind of like the raisin or the prune commercials.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jen]

I want to see them get a prune glow up because they're better.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Fight me not on that. And I won't fight you on that. No. All right, Jill. Okay. This might prove that I don't even totally understand marketing, but I'd love to see a glow up for the service industry. Like baristas.

[Jen]

You can't buy baristas.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

You can pay them, though. Here's why I love working with my hands. Something I've learned about myself over the years is I really enjoy labor. Manual physical labor. And I'm so So sad that these industries don't make enough money to live.

[Jen]

Off because you'd be a barista.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Catch me working with my hands as my very favorite job.

[Jen]

Cash me at Starbucks.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

I can't. No, it would not be Starbucks. You all know it would not be Starbucks. No, it would not. I just. Yeah. I wish that these industries were like more highly valued or able to be paid more because I'd love, I'd love that career.

[Jen]

Okay. I don't know if you do understand marketing, but I love where your head went. Like that is truly lovely. Yes, I agree.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yeah. If we just, you know, I also don't.

[Jen]

I don't think coffee needs a glow up. Coffee doesn't need to be more expensive. I think we just need to keep more of it out of the hands of the C suite and pay baristas more.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yeah. And I think de influencing needs, needs a marketing campaign. I like seeing it, but I wonder at what point is this going to get shushed and silenced? Because we're, we're out here trying to influence people from buying things, but that's not going to make anybody money. Yeah, but I am loving to see the content. We're not the only ones talking about it. And I just wonder when it's all going to end.

[Jen]

That's the thing I love about podcasting is we don't have an algorithm, so we can't chase an algorithm. But we also, like, don't have any fear of.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Oh, that's true.

[Jen]

Of being pushed down because of it. And like, even the recommendations for podcasts, like based on others you've watched are, are sometimes totally random. None of it makes sense.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

And I love that. We love that chaos.

[Jen]

I do love the chaos of it.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yeah. Okay, well, there you have it. Thanks so much for listening everybody. We hope that you at least understand more about marketing than maybe I do. We love, love, love reading your reviews. Like this one who comes from Kamikani31, one of my faves. Five stars. This is one of my favorite podcasts. Not just one of my favorite ones about budget and finance, but overall, these two Keep It Real are super authentic and extremely relatable. Their tips, tricks and advice always get me excited. They bring on top notch. I'm going to assume. Guess I'm going to assume that word meant to be there. This is one of the podcasts I always recommend to friends. Thank you so much. Comic Connie 31.

[Jen]

Yeah, yeah, we love being your favorites. Thank you. If you feel like we also offer relatable tips, tricks, advice. If you loved this episode and you were like, oh, my gosh, I learned something new today. Please leave us a rating and review on Spotify or Apple and let other people know that this is valuable to listen to.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Thanks and see you next time.

[Jen]

Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni. Alrighty. Well, we have kept the people waiting long enough.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

So Helene, Helene, then Milton, and then Milton.

[Jen]

I think we have more stories about Milton because we did record an episode after Helene, but, yeah, it's been wild.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Even friends from out of state have asked, how are you doing? And I think what I've come to is it's really hard to put words to exactly what it feels like or how we're recovering. When you face losing your house and everything you own and pack everything up and move back in two times within 10 days, like, it just. There was such a stress toll and then to watch everyone around you. And that's the interesting thing about a natural disaster, is you're all in it. It's not an individual crisis, it's a communal crisis. And there's something really bonding about that and there's something really overwhelming when you're in it and the whole world feels like your world, what you can see is collapsing and is absolutely devastated. There was no food at the grocery stores, and many of our friends did lose everything. Houses flooded three to four feet and communities just absolutely decimated. And then you kind of get that trauma response where you're just like sucked in. And so it's all we're talking about. It's all we're watching on the news because we do also have to be prepared. And you go to the store and everybody's frantic and they're out of everything and the supplies are gone.

[Jen]

Before the hurricane and after, it was so hard to find gas for cars and generators.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yeah, just. It was insanity.

[Jen]

Yeah, it was okay. So my family's story for Milton was quite an adventure. We evacuated my in laws. They have a farm, so they have a walk in freezer, big generator to power that walk in freezer wine. Like they have all the things you need for a hurricane. And it was an hour north, so the Milton kept tracking a little bit more south. So we went north. And they'd never flooded. 40 years they've owned the property, never flooded. And within 24 hours, there was 2ft of water in their winery. And the next day, by lunchtime, it had risen afoot because they opened a levee to relieve flooding elsewhere. And that created flooding in my in laws neighborhood. And so by the afternoon after the hurricane. I didn't know what was happening at my house. There was three feet of water in the winery. All their crops were covered. Travis dropped his phone in the floodwater, totally lost it. And there's six inches of water in the house's kitchen, which is a little lower than the rest of the house. So the rest of the house was fine. But the generator flooded. So all of their food for their business completely gone. There was no like potable water. There was no like flushing of toilets. Like it was. We were very much stranded on an island with nothing. And so Travis and my brother in law are just like kayaking around. Cause what do you do? Right. And they found a guy who was rescuing people. And there were some people that had like little John boats. And so we had to be literally rescued from the property via a little boat and then via a monster truck. Cause it wasn't just the farm that was flooded.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

It was the road everywhere. Yeah.

[Jen]

And they had to make. In order to get emergency services in. They actually had to create a new pathway into the community through people's like private property. We had to leave our car there because we had moved it to higher ground before the water. You know, while the water was like, you know, raising the next day. It was beautiful weather outside. It was just. The water kept rising. And it was a week before we could go back and get the van because the water was so high. We wouldn't have been able to drive it out. And we still wouldn't have been able to drive it out during the through the road. We had to just take that back route.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

So crazy with two kids. Like when you sent me that message photo of your boys and like car seats in this boat. Oh my gosh.

[Jen]

And I'm so stressful, freaking out because if this is how this flooded, Helene and Milton were so different because Helene was surge. So if you want, if you were on the water, you got salt water. Right. Milton was totally different. Everyone on the coast was totally fine. It was 16 inches of rain and 80 to 100 mile per mile hour wind. So there was. It was all trees down and not snapped in half. The ground was so saturated that these trees, root systems came up out of the ground, took huge swaths of lawn with them, and were falling on houses. And then so much rain, rain is getting in through the roof. Then I was horrified because we have so many trees on our property. And it was just. And then like Jill and Eric, you, you went like, and took pictures. Helped me know that everything was okay because we still were Figuring out how do we get back?

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yeah. And you hadn't heard from neighbors what your house looked like. And I was like, oh, gosh, we'll go drive there. We'll go tell you what your house looks like.

[Jen]

Our neighbors are snowbirds. So there were. They weren't even there.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yeah.

[Jen]

So, yeah, you guys, like, let us know, like, gave us peace of mind. Took pictures and I, like, was spiraling out with anxiety and those pictures, like, I cried when I got them because I just knew that the house was okay. Like, yes, there were a lot of trees down, but they fell in the right direction. And then like, you texted me and you're like, hey, what's the code to your door? I need to use the bathroom. And you were at my house cleaning.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Up debris while I'm still stuck up north.

[Jen]

And when we were evacuated, we went to my sister in law's house, which was like, still up north but had power. And I mean, I was just like, you, I am going to cry now thinking about it. But it was so. It was emotionally draining.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

I mean, that's what friends do. And I felt for you guys so much with what you went through, being on the farm, losing so much already, being emergency evacuated with kids, we didn't, we couldn't figure it all out. But we're like, if we can take the boards off the windows and clear the path to the driveway and clear out the front yard, like, that'll be so nice. I'm like, I would want that for myself if I were in your situation. So we had the somehow the time and energy to be able to do that. But yeah, I mean, we were all out of power for so long, both after Helene, then after Milton, we didn't have Internet and we were just in like crisis mode. So. But thankfully, because of the jobs that we have, I was able to just say, we're not working this week and so we're cleaning up. We're working for a month. Yeah, we're cleaning up our own property. And when we're done with that, we're gonna go help neighbors clean up their properties. And I watched other people's kids while they tried to get to work themselves because schools were out for like almost two weeks straight. It was just wild for us. We do live close to the water. So in Helene, we. Our whole property flooded, like our garage. There was 8 inches of water up on our entire house. Thankfully, it was like one inch away from getting into the doors. But it did saturate some of the, like, exterior parts of the house that Aren't block. Which then started to cause mold issues. So in between Helene and Milton, we were ripping off our siding, pulling out insulation, replacing studs, because we were already in our bedroom and bathroom, like, getting mold issues in the drywall in there. So we hit that. It was like a race against the clock to seal back up the house, get it all sealed again before Milton hit. And they were guessing for Milton to be even worse than what Helene did. So we packed up everything that was valuable to us, put it five feet, you know, up on counters and cabinet tops and all of that. And thankfully, the worst that we got through Milton was two trees fell on our garage and the rest are leaning pretty heavily. So we're hoping insurance. We still don't know, though. Like, a lot of us are still facing the not knowing what will insurance do. The trees are still on our garage. We're just parking out front. It's one of those things where it's like, yes, it could be worse. And as you look around, you see the worst, literally in your own neighborhood, while also recognizing that this was a very difficult, like, kind of traumatic time that we all went through. And the nuisances are not great either, but it's so.

[Jen]

It's bizarre to have a whole community traumatized together. And I mean, we were just talking about. I think the worst that we've seen was a very large oak tree blew over and was so large and close to the home that it. Its root system uprooted the front sunroom of the house.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

It was wild looking. Yeah. It was a lot of things combining together. Where you had that saturation like you described. For us, the saltwater kills plants. So to have our property flooded with salt water, We've got these massive live oaks, other types of oak trees on our property. And now, you know, that has killed them. And then Milton comes in with its high winds and just like knocked them out where they might have been sturdy enough otherwise. So it's this combination that just made for a lot of devastation that we're still recovering from. We're recording this on October 30th. And debris and drywall and people's just belongings that got flooded out have not yet been disposed of.

[Jen]

Yeah. You can still see entire blocks, like in multiple streets where everybody's lives are on their front lawns. It is scary.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Like, it is wild.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Takeaway is insure yourself, even if you think you don't need it, have insurance. How many people we've heard through this and what they faced in North Carolina of they didn't have insurance because they're not in a flood zone. Why would they? And so just, yeah, be like protecting yourself as much as possible. This is why we have emergency funds and it's why we have community mostly. I mean honestly, where the money isn't actually going to help or insurance isn't actually going to pay out. It's been community that has been so helpful through this.

[Jen]

Yeah. Something I was thinking about, like even with an emergency fund, there was no restaurant open to buy food from. There was no food in the grocery store. The lines were hours long to get gas. You waste your gas just trying to get gas.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yeah.

[Jen]

Like money could not buy the thing. Like it didn't matter if you had.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Money or emergency fund or anything in those moments.

[Jen]

Yeah, it was World Central Kitchen who was bringing hot meals. Like they were funding food trucks to make and pass out free meals. And it was like churches helping people with their coming in. Just random people coming in with chainsaws. Because your tree might fall over. The city will not pick it up unless it's cut into like two or three foot chunks and moved into a pile. Right. And so it's just people like coming together and you could, even if you wanted to hire a tree service, you couldn't because they were all like. There were so many reasons to believe in community. Like above all else we made, we.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Got so much closer to our neighbors through this which is like that's I guess a hope filled piece in it. Not that I want to go through devastation like this, but the cool thing in it is the connections that were like more solidified and the bonds made through it, which is beautiful. So thanks everyone for checking in on us. We really did appreciate your messages and seeing how we are and sorry it took so long but again we did not have Internet or brain space whatsoever until now. So we're here. We're still recovering but we're so grateful for jobs like this and the flexibility to allow ourselves that space to recover and to be able to help others with some of our time and flexibility. So if you are looking for a way to support us, I mean truly it would be in pre ordering our book. Of course if you come across other opportunities to give money to help support ongoing volunteer efforts, please do that. If you're looking for ways to support specifically us, your frugal friends, things like pre ordering the book, leaving us kind reviews on Spotify or Apple, this is what helps us to be able to continue doing this, to have the flexibility to be present for our community. Like this is it Truly, Yeah.

[Jen]

I would say if you're looking for a specific place to give. World Central Kitchen was vital to feeding so many people. We lost all of our food. We were out of power for six days, and we would show up places and get a free hot meal.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yeah.

[Jen]

And it was. There was one day they ran out of chicken, and it was just, like, a bowl of rice with some Bang Bang sauce on top. And I. This is gonna show. This was probably my lowest point. Maybe. We were in the truck on the way home. We had to stop and get milk for Atlas, and we couldn't buy a big gallon like we normally did every night. We would have to stop and just get a little thing of milk. Right. And so we're on our nightly milk hunt. And I thought I was gonna wait till I get home to eat the rice, and I'm just, like, in the car eating it with my fingers. Like, it was a low point, but, like, it really. World Central Kitchen was really an amazing organization for what they did here and what they're doing for all natural disaster, like, victims.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

That's cool. A helpful takeaway, too. And you actually highlighted this at one point. Like, there are people giving food, but it's a lot of hot dogs and pizza. Like, we lived off of hot dogs and pizza for too many days. As much as I love hot dogs, I did reach. I reached my point on it. And I remember you said something in between the two hurricanes when we were trying to figure out, like, how can we help other. Other people? And. And you were like, healthy, nutritious, hot meals is so important during these times because everyone's just eating pizza. Like, people are like, what? Can we. You know, can we grab you some pizza? It's just like, no, please. Like. Like, is there fresh veggies anywhere?

[Jen]

Eat it because it's hot and it's there. Right. But, like, there is so much sodium and fat. Like, I started just to feel heavy and tired, and I was already feeling tired and heavy emotionally.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Yeah, you'll take what you can get. But when it comes to, like, I'm even thinking outside of a natural disaster, just when people need meals, I think that is a helpful anchor point of what would be good and welcomed here. Like, how can I provide, like, true nutrition to people whose bodies are very stressed, very worn down? Like, what's gotta be the best?

[Jen]

Gotta be the best sodium in it?

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

What's gonna be the best fuel? And I think I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't gone through what we just went through. Granted. Yeah. Not everything is accessible at that time, but that was. That's a helpful thing for me that I'm now keeping in mind just for even when there are individual crises that happen, like maybe sending pizza isn't the most caring thing. Like maybe it is, like some good chicken and veggies. If I can swing it.

[Jen]

Yeah. So that's definitely the place I would send money. And again, yeah, if you want to support us directly, buy what you love book. Com.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

All right, bye Bye.

[Jen]

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[Dr. Laurie Santos]

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[Jen]

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