Have you ever wondered how drinking water became a moral achievement? How something as simple as thirst turned into a wellness routine, a personality trait, and a daily metric to prove you are doing life correctly? This episode unpacks how hydration went from a biological need to a cultural identity.
Everywhere you look, someone is carrying a water bottle the size of a toddler. Smart lids. Chug timers. Color-coded jugs whispering encouragement like we are training for a marathon we never signed up for. Hydration is no longer a habit. It is an aesthetic, a ritual, and in some circles, a quiet competition.
This is the real story behind why so many of us grew up hearing that we need eight glasses of water a day. The idea did not begin with wellness influencers. It did not begin with science. It began with wartime nutrition policy, marketing pressure, and a country desperate for rules that felt safe.
We start in 1945, when the U.S. Food and Nutrition Board issued the recommendation that later became known as 8×8. The original guidance included all fluids and most foods, but somewhere along the way the nuance disappeared. A calculation meant for survival became a commandment for civilians, reprinted in magazines, taught in schools, and repeated for decades without a traceable study behind it.
From there, we follow the rise of bottled water. A category that once felt laughable transformed into a status symbol, marketed with promises of purity, performance, and perfection. Evian sold luxury. Perrier sold nightlife. SmartWater sold identity. A free resource became a premium product. A penny’s worth of tap water became a multibillion-dollar industry.
We also explore how hydration became performative. The rise of wellness apps, Stanley drops, motivational jugs, and WaterTok trends turned drinking water into content, routine, and reward. The same behavioral cues once shaped by cereal ads now show up in refill culture and influencer routines. Different tools. Same emotional triggers.
And beneath it all, there is a quieter story. Public trust in tap water eroded as pipes aged, fountains disappeared, and brands positioned themselves as the safer choice. Fear became profitable, and hydration became a consumer experience rather than a civic guarantee.
This episode is not about telling you how much to drink. It is about understanding how belief is shaped, repeated, and sold. Hydration should not feel like a moral scoreboard. It should feel like balance.
Drink when you are thirsty. Pause when you are not. Your body already knows what it needs. The marketing is what made us forget.
Welcome to Lies We Bought.
They sold it. We bought it. Now we are unpacking it.
If this episode resonates, follow the show and leave a review. It helps new listeners find it and supports independent storytelling.
Have you ever wondered how breakfast became a moral obligation, something you were taught you should eat to be a good and healthy person? This episode explores how cereal companies, early wellness movements, and strategic public relations turned breakfast into a cultural belief worth billions.
This is the real story behind why so many of us grew up hearing that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The idea did not begin with science or nutrition. It began with marketing.
We start in the late 1800s at Dr. John Harvey Kellogg’s sanitarium, where food was treated as a path to purity, discipline, and moral control. From there, we follow the rise of cereal, the shift to sugary convenience foods, and the emotional advertising that linked breakfast to identity, family, and success.
We also look at Edward Bernays, the public relations strategist who used psychology and manufactured authority to sell bacon and eggs to America. His work changed how we trust experts and how we decide what is “healthy” or “correct.”
The playbook continued into the modern wellness era. Influencers, product claims, curated morning routines, and aesthetic meal prep follow the same behavioral cues that once came from cereal ads. Different tools, same emotional triggers.
This episode is not about telling you what to eat. It is about understanding how belief is shaped, repeated, and sold.
Eat when you are hungry. Skip it when you are not. Your body is wiser than any marketing campaign.
Welcome to Lies We Bought.
They sold it. We bought it. Now we are unpacking it.
If this episode resonates, follow the show and leave a review. It helps new listeners discover it and supports independent storytelling.
They sold it. We bought it. Now we’re unpacking it.
“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”“Live. Laugh. Love.”“Ten thousand steps.”“Diamonds are forever.”
We grew up believing these lines were truth, but they were marketing.
Lies We Bought is a narrative storytelling and cultural analysis podcast that explores how billion-dollar campaigns, catchy slogans, and pop culture myths shaped the way we live, shop, and see ourselves. It blends marketing psychology, history, and storytelling to uncover how everyday beliefs were built and sold to us.
From wellness trends to home decor mantras, we dig into the slogans that sold us serenity, success, and self-worth, and the emotional marketing that made them stick.
Because sometimes, the biggest lies are not the ones we are told. They are the ones we keep buying.
This one-minute teaser gives you a first listen inside the world of Lies We Bought, where nostalgia meets marketing and storytelling meets truth.
Launching November 2025.New episodes every other week.Follow now before the next lie drops.
If you love Offline with Jon Favreau, Work Appropriate, The Dream, or Marketing Made Simple, you will love Lies We Bought, a show for millennial women who love stories, strategy, and a little skepticism.