Why Faygo Soda Is The Go-To Drink Of Insane Clown Posse

Horrorcore rap duo Insane Clown Posse is possibly better known for their fan community than their music, despite multiple albums certified platinum and gold. Affectionately known as Juggalos, ICP lovers adorn themselves with Violent J's and Shaggy 2 Dope's black-and-white clown face paint and eagerly get showered with sprays of Faygo soda from the rappers as well as fellow concertgoers.

Like ICP, the Faygo brand was founded in Detroit, standing strong next to the city's other culinary icons, like its Detroit-style pizza and Sanders hot fudge. However, Faygo's integration into Juggalo lore was accidental. Fan forums note that Violent J, angered by hecklers at an early ICP concert, ended up chucking his open bottle of Faygo at the disrupters. The crowd went wild, and so Insane Clown Posse rolled with it at their shows, eventually deploying hundreds of open, shaken-up Faygo bottles at their fans during "Faygo Showers."

In an interview with Vulture, author and noted ICP historian Nathan Rabin posits that Juggalos love Faygo not just because both it and the band hail from the Motor City, but also because it's emblematic of ICP's culture of embracing low-income living. Eventually, they embraced their rough lifestyle as a badge of honor. "Part of the whole aesthetic of ICP ... is to romanticize being broke and to romanticize being poor and to romanticize just barely getting by," Rabin said. "The whole embrace of Faygo is fetishizing things that are cheap."

The Feigenson brothers, Russian immigrants Perry and Ben, were originally bakers. In 1907, they decided to pivot to soda, and the first flavors were adaptations of the frosting they'd created. By 1921, they decided to shorten the company name from The Feigenson Brothers Bottling Works to the simpler Faygo. The company stayed within the Feigenson family until 1986, when it was sold to TreeSweet, and then National Beverage a year later. However, perhaps due to the brothers' pledge to maintain operations in Detroit, Faygo is still manufactured in the city to this day.

ICP also consistently reps for Detroit. They enlisted fellow Detroit rapper Kid Rock on their debut album and reference the city (not necessarily favorably, mind you) in songs like "Detroit Car Jackin'" and "West Vernor Ave." As Faygo grew in legend among the Juggalo community, Insane Clown Posse began mentioning it in their songs. Their 2012 song "Juggalo Juice" gleefully lists off the soda's flavors before name-checking the brand and imploring fans to "just let it fly."

While Faygo's profile is certainly boosted by Juggalos, it abstains from fully embracing ICP. In 2021, the company unintentionally walked into fan outrage with a Facebook photo featuring musician Dan RarRi holding Faygo bottles, captioned, "Two legends". When Juggalos pointed out that the brand has not publicly acknowledged ICP's support, the brand changed the caption to read, "Our fans have legendary taste, to match our legendary flavors."

The brand even built individual Spotify playlists for each soda flavor. Diet Arctic Sun's playlist features Hanson and Britney Spears. Diet Moon Mist goes goth with tracks by Bauhaus and Sisters of Mercy. However, Insane Clown Posse never appears over the 55 playlists (Not a lot of Detroit representation across the collections at all, which feels like a missed opportunity).

Faygo's reluctance to officially collaborate with Insane Clown Posse can't be helped by the FBI's decision to officially classify Juggalos as a gang in a 2011 assessment. ICP sued the bureau in 2012, arguing that Deadheads and Beliebers aren't branded with the gang label, so Juggalos shouldn't be, either. Alas, in late 2017, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the group, noting that the FBI report wasn't legally binding.

Violent J's and Shaggy 2 Dope's thoughts on the matter are too NSFW to post here, but they're baffled that Faygo wouldn't at least front them some free soda. Perhaps ICP needs to take beverage merchandising matters into their own hands, much like fellow Detroit native Eminem's restaurant, Mom's Spaghetti. Until then, Juggalos continue to proudly rep their favorite fizzy drink.