American Pickle Council Can’t Believe ‘Drink Pickle Juice’ Stunt Actually Worked
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A pickle industry effort to persuade athletes to drink pickle juice has succeeded, Dumb Runner has learned, surprising the trade group that launched it years ago as a joke.
The stealth campaign by the American Pickle Council, titled “Drink Pickle Juice” in internal documents obtained by Dumb Runner, began with a dare, according to a Pickle Council source.
“A bunch of us were having drinks after work one night, and, as usual, we had several bottles of pickles on the table,” said the source, who requested anonymity. “I can’t remember exactly what led to it, but at one point someone challenged someone else to drink the juice from one of the bottles in one gulp.”
“I believe the phrase ‘I’ll give you a dollar’ was uttered.”
Soon, the source said, a pile of cash appeared on the table; the executive being challenged took a deep breath, raised the jar to her lips, and drained it.
“She threw up, obviously,” said the source. “I mean, it’s pickle juice.”
After that, the source said, the next step was obvious.
“We figured, You know what, the real challenge would be to get normal people to drink this stuff—and pay for it,” they said. “And at that point, we were just drunk enough to draft an initial plan to try it.”
“We did amend it a bit, though,” they added. “Instead of normal people, we decided to target runners.”
The source did not divulge the details of that plan, but said that it’s clear, today, that it has succeeded, with pickle juice products aimed at endurance athletes, social media videos by runners conspicuously drinking pickle juice, and news articles touting the benefits of pickle juice.
None of them appear to be in on the joke.
“We still cannot believe this actually worked,” they said. “Runners, man.”
