Transcript
Willa Paskin (0:00)
Before we begin, just a heads up that this episode contains some dirty language. This is an episode 20 years in the making. I remember exactly how it began when a 32 ounce clear plastic container caught my eye. It was full of a reddish liquid and had a sky blue and purple wraparound label spotted with bright yellow proclamations saying that this new product was 100% juice. And that juice came from the fruit depicted on the label. A dusky purple orb with a green leafed stem. A plum. This new product was called plumsmart, A plum juice for digestive health. Plumsmart is clinically proven to help regulate your digestion with a unique blend of prebiotic fiber, magnesium and potassium. I feel better already. And I remember all this like yesterday because I took one look at this so called plum juice and I thought, wait a minute, isn't that just prune juice? Now, I'm surely not alone in being able to imagine why a company might want to conceal the identity of prune juice. So I made a joke to my friends like, nice try, prune juice. I see you. And then I promptly stopped thinking about this so called plum juice for a couple of decades. But then this past year, it happened again. This time it was a large, bright yellow resealable bag sitting on a shelf at Costco that caught my eye. It too was dappled with those same purple orbs of fruit. And right there on the package it said dried plums. Now, believe me when I tell you they were obviously prunes. What was going on this time I did not make a joke, or I didn't only make a joke. This time I decided I needed to get to the heart or the pit of the matter. And as I did, I came to understand that these plum products I had been scoffing at for literal decades were proof of nothing less than a full blown dried fruit identity crisis. It turns out all these years, prunes have been going through it. And not just digestively speaking. This is decoder ring. I'm Willa Paskin. The prune has long had an unsavory association, an unfortunate reputation, and in the late 1990s, the California prune lobby cooked up a strategy to do something about it. This ancient fruit would attempt to rechristen itself in the hopes of becoming as unencumbered as, say, an apricot, a raisin, a fig. If all this sounds a little absurd, well, I haven't even told you about the prune burgers. But in a world where every product and person increasingly believes it's one good rebrand away from changing how the world sees them. The story of the prune is a telling tale about the virtues and difficulties of self acceptance and the limitations of of trying to escape who you really are. So today on Decoder Ring, how do you sell people a fruit that makes them poop. Day or night? VRBoCare is here 247 to help make every part of your stay seamless. If anything comes up or you simply need a little guidance, support is ready whenever you reach out. From the moment you book to the moment you head home. We're here to help things run smoothly, because a great trip starts with the right support. And hey, a good playlist doesn't hurt either. We're going to begin with the main character in this story, the prune itself.