S05.E09: Southern Culture

[Thrifty]

Quote

The owner of a packaged Southern food business in Atlanta has bitten off more than she can chew. Colossal debts clog her cash flow, bringing her business and her family to the brink.

I thought I'd actually get the topic started before the episode aired for once.

[Thrifty]

I don't have any thoughts on the business so far, but I kept giggling whenever Andre spoke.  I kept thinking of the "High Talker" episode of Seinfeld.

[seacliffsal]

I thought that Marcus had some nerve telling Andre not to be mad at Erica.  I'm sorry Marcus, but to just find out that one's spouse has a $500,000 dollar debt (much of it at a 40% interest rate) that she never bothered to tell him about because "he doesn't share things with me so why should I tell him?" and then goes on about how she doesn't lie and isn't deceitful...well, in the normal world that would be the basis of a big old fight, or at least "discussion."  He had some gall telling Andre that Erica is "creative" and therefore not fiscally literate.  Yep, that's exactly why so many businesses fail-people think they have a good idea and then don't know how to operate the business side of the enterprise.  She sure didn't like having to hear the opinions of others even though she did what Marcus had asked her to do.  I think it may be different once the cameras are off and Marcus is gone.  Her overspending is going to lead to new debt.  I believe that $500,000 debt was accumulated in a very short period of time.  

[Thrifty]

I don't think Marcus was telling Andre not to be mad.  He was telling him to cool it and not keep scolding her, because that just tends to escalate the tension and make things worse.

[seacliffsal]

I guess I just think it's okay to scold someone who has hidden a $500,000 debt.  Obviously Andre got over it as later on he and Erica were very positive and supportive with each other.  But, I think in the moment, it's okay for people to express their feelings and I didn't think he was abusive, just very not happy to find out ON CAMERA what he found out. 

[Whimsy]

1 hour ago, Thrifty said:

I don't think Marcus was telling Andre not to be mad.  He was telling him to cool it and not keep scolding her, because that just tends to escalate the tension and make things worse.

I agree.  It seems to me that Andre just continuously belittles Erica.  He even straight out said he didn't like the business. 

The one part of this episode that REALLY bothered me was when the trained, world-class chef was telling Erica how to do things she got defensive.  Yes, he could've been a bit nicer (chefs are notoriously mean), but he was concerned about chicken contamination!  Of course, I'm a bit more sensitive to this issue due to the fact that my daughter is currently in culinary school herself.  I get that Erica was feeling a bit attacked, but she's a home chef.  What she wants to do for herself and her family is one thing, but when you're feeding other people you need to be very careful.  It also bugged me that she would have her hair net on the tippy top of her head while her long locks of hair were just free falling all over the place.  She was missing the whole purpose of the hair net!  This one concerned me more because she normally wouldn't be cooking the chicken for all of her customers, but she was standing over those mixing bowls and stuff putting together the mixes!!

Despite that, it sounds like she has a good product.  Everyone only seemed to have positive things to say (unless they edited out the criticisms so Marcus can make lots of money).  With the products being packaged somewhere else, I'm less worried about hair falling in.

[toodles]

I'm losing interest in this show.  I miss the business side of things.  I don't care about the Dr Phil moments and the all wise Marcus.  That is all.

[seacliffsal]

I agree toodles, this season just seems "off."  I'm also getting tired of Marcus as family therapist/relationship expert.  He also seems to coddle more and more of the business owners rather than expecting them to follow basic business principles; I'm think of Monica Potter and the clothing guy with the huge beard.

[TVbitch]

I know DRAMA is ratings, but really, even on CNBC?! It's been a couple years now since Marcus went full on Dr. Phil. And I think a lot of the drama is staged or enhanced to make the episodes more "exciting." In the first few seasons when Marcus was all business but occasionally got into it with somebody which was real and a wow moment. Now it's just the expected formula for every episode. I much prefer letting it be real.  

[cooksdelight]

I knew this woman, Erica, looked familiar. I looked up the company and she appeared on Shark Tank 4 years ago. She got a $100K deal with Barbara. I would give anything to know what happened between them, as the deal did go through... but now the woman is half a million dollars in debt when she calls Marcus???

On their website, they have four products. FOUR. And the packaging looks nothing like what was on the show.

https://southernculturefoods.com/collections/shop

I think there is a lot more to this story than we were shown.

Edited February 8, 2018 by cooksdelight

[cooksdelight]

They are still selling the ice cream shaped containers... on Amazon.

https://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_4_16?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=southern+culture+foods&sprefix=Southern+culture%2Caps%2C231&crid=33BPCJS4SJZV

[cooksdelight]

I checked their Facebook page and found this comment:

Quote

I went on your website there was 3 items to buy 2 of which were sold out. I called the phone number on the page and it's been disconnected.
The company did get back to me regarding signing up as a wholesaler as I own a cafe but when it tells me to go to a link the link is no longer there.

And anyone who mentions the phone issue, she comes in to tell them to email her. 

[seacliffsal]

I really think that Marcus should have mentioned her earlier foray into reality t.v. and investment.  Good detective work cooksdelight!  There is so much more to this story.  I did find an article that stated that the deal with Barbara from Shark Tank broke down, but on this particular device that I'm using it's difficult for me to bring that link over.

The whole episode had a lot of questionable elements.  Those loans she took out with 40% interest just boggles my mine.  So, she spends her way into trouble and then seeks relief via a t.v. show?  

[cooksdelight]

I wouldn’t have bothered researching if I didn’t recognize her from Shark Tank, and if her website didn’t look so pitiful.

[Showthyme]

1 hour ago, cooksdelight said:

I knew this woman, Erica, looked familiar. I looked up the company and she appeared on Shark Tank 4 years ago. She got a $100K deal with Barbara. I would give anything to know what happened between them, as the deal did go through... but now the woman is half a million dollars in debt when she calls Marcus???

On their website, they have four products. FOUR. And the packaging looks nothing like what was on the show.

https://southernculturefoods.com/collections/shop

I think there is a lot more to this story than we were shown.

It was surprising to only see 4 products on the website and Marcus wasn’t tweeting about it either. I wonder if the deal fell apart. I might try the chicken batter.

[cooksdelight]

Their Facebook page is equally pitiful. Their phone has been disconnected and they are only taking orders via email. A week to process any order.

[attica]

14 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

I knew this woman, Erica, looked familiar. I looked up the company and she appeared on Shark Tank 4 years ago.

I had the same feeling of familiarity, and I thought it might have been Shark Tank, but I didn't bother to look her up. Good work! Maybe she has a CNBC contract, so they just keep slotting her into shows?  With no actual business? :)

[Thrifty]

Here is a truncated version of her Shark Tank appearance, just the pitch (56 seconds long).

[attica]

Hmm. Here's a follow-up piece on what-all happened, post Shark: https://2paragraphs.com/2017/09/southern-culture-pancake-mix-100k-deal-fell-through-after-shark-tank/  She even went on QVC! Now I'm starting to think Erica's a person who wants to be on teevee more than she wants to make waffles. (not that there's anything wrong with that, necessarily.)

[cooksdelight]

And NONE of the stuff she said she was doing as of 2016 ever came to pass. I think Barbara might have gotten a look at the books, or at Erica’s “I’m the boss” attitude and smartly walked away. I’m beginning to think Marcus has done the same thing, judging by her website and all of that old food for sale on Amazon.

[Amarsir]

Problems all over this business. She really did need his discipline. There's a deleted scene where it turns out the "16 oz packages" they were selling only contained about 10 ounces. A copacker will at least save them from lying to customers.

Andre really seemed like he was trying to shift over to Marcus's side, put his arm around him, and say "So you better shape up like Marcus and I." Now I don't know if that was sexism, or being star struck, or just being sick of this businesses's problems and wanting an ally. It was rudely delivered and Marcus was right to call him out on it. And yet every time Marcus added "but you're not wrong..."

The stuff tastes good and the inventory looked pretty well organized to me. I can see how she makes a good first impression to investors. Thus I hope we get a quick follow-up to confirm if the deal tanked and why.

[JasminePhyllisia]

On 2/7/2018 at 10:51 AM, toodles said:

I'm losing interest in this show.  I miss the business side of things.  I don't care about the Dr Phil moments and the all wise Marcus.  That is all.

That about sums it up for me.

[Thrifty]

After some of the other analyses, it again feels like this is one of those businesses like that clothing company from 2 weeks ago.  Someone had a passion, but no business sense, and thought the passion alone would create the business.  I call it "Restaurateur Syndrome".

Edited February 9, 2018 by Thrifty
Fixed spelling mistake.

[cmfran]

Yesterday I saw the pancake mix on final sale closeout (hmm) at my local Kroger.  At half price, I figured why not try it? I bought the Banana Pudding flavor and was not impressed. It barely had any banana flavor, and overall it didn't taste different than any other big-box pancake/waffle mix. It also wasn't sweet at all, so I had to drown them in syrup. Which is strange, since I remember Marcus mentioning they didn't really need syrup.

[cooksdelight]

I’m starting to get mad at Marcus. First we have the fakeout with the guys who have women working in the sweatshop so we only see that for 20 minutes. Now this mess. He’s starting to lose credibility with me.

[Thrifty]

27 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

I’m starting to get mad at Marcus. First we have the fakeout with the guys who have women working in the sweatshop so we only see that for 20 minutes. Now this mess. He’s starting to lose credibility with me.

I don't get what you mean.  He devoted an entire episode and apparently made a deal during filming.  It's not really a fakeout if the deal fails afterwards.

[cooksdelight]

It was a bait and switch, to me, when he only spent 20 minutes with the guys, then the rest of the hour with the dog barkery people. I changed the channel.

[Thrifty]

5 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

It was a bait and switch, to me, when he only spent 20 minutes with the guys, then the rest of the hour with the dog barkery people. I changed the channel.

I know, from the Rayjus episode.  But what makes this episode a fakeout?

[cooksdelight]

When I’m expecting an hour episode about one company, and instead get 20 minutes, then 40 minutes of an old company I have no interest in.... he misled me by not showing the barkery people in the promos.

[Kenz]

I had never heard of mouth.com. (that name is not appealing). They have some of her products for sale. $7.00 for a small pancake box, plus shipping standard rate $11.99), seems like a lot to me, to say the least.

https://www.mouth.com/collections/mouth-x-southern-culture

Edited February 10, 2018 by Kenz

[cooksdelight]

That’s the same stuff she has for sale on their website (I don’t remember the prices right off the bat) and none of the new packaging design. I wonder what the expiration dates are on this stuff?

[Thrifty]

3 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

When I’m expecting an hour episode about one company, and instead get 20 minutes, then 40 minutes of an old company I have no interest in.... he misled me by not showing the barkery people in the promos.

I'm talking about this episode, not Rayjus.

[cooksdelight]

4 hours ago, Thrifty said:

I know, from the Rayjus episode.  But what makes this episode a fakeout?

I didn’t say it was this episode, I was referring to the Rayjus. This particular episode seemed off, in that it’s obvious from her website, Facebook page, and what she’s selling on Amazon that their deal didn’t finalize. I wish he’d told us the truth.

[Thrifty]

2 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

I didn’t say it was this episode, I was referring to the Rayjus. This particular episode seemed off, in that it’s obvious from her website, Facebook page, and what she’s selling on Amazon that their deal didn’t finalize. I wish he’d told us the truth.

I think he did tell the truth as it was at the conclusion of filming several months ago.  Whatever caused the deal to fall through would have happened after they finished up with this episode.

[seacliffsal]

I would really like Marcus to follow up with all of these businesses.  I think he has made some really bad decisions, so it would be interesting to see how all of these businesses played out for him.

I'll also be interested in seeing on which reality show Southern Culture will show up on next...

[Thrifty]

7 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

I would really like Marcus to follow up with all of these businesses.  I think he has made some really bad decisions, so it would be interesting to see how all of these businesses played out for him.

I'll also be interested in seeing on which reality show Southern Culture will show up on next...

Well... they run promos for "Billion Dollar Buyer" during this show.  I don't know what that show is about, but maybe that one?  It looks similar.

[cooksdelight]

He could have added a note at the end, sort of how the crime shows do when someone is caught long after filming ended.

[Thrifty]

8 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

He could have added a note at the end, sort of how the crime shows do when someone is caught long after filming ended.

I guess, but he's never done that before.  It seems like an unfair standard to ask that he start now.

[cooksdelight]

If he keeps taking on businesses that he later abandons for whatever reason, I think he owes it to viewers to tell the whole story.

[tobeannounced]

2 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

He could have added a note at the end, sort of how the crime shows do when someone is caught long after filming ended.

I have always wished Marcus would do this. So many shows like this give a little follow-up blurb at the end. The Profit episodes seem to end so abruptly to me because they don't give any follow-up.

[cooksdelight]

4 minutes ago, tobeannounced said:

I have always wished Marcus would do this. So many shows like this give a little follow-up blurb at the end. The Profit episodes seem to end so abruptly to me because they don't give any follow-up.

Exactly my point! Drives me nuts. If he’s going to have a show, and leave viewers hanging until he decides to do a followup a year later... tell him I won’t keep watching just to be left hanging! LOL

[attica]

On 2/10/2018 at 2:47 PM, cooksdelight said:

I wonder what the expiration dates are on this stuff?

Psst: expiration dates are lies.

[cooksdelight]

17 minutes ago, attica said:

Psst: expiration dates are lies.

Yeah, I know that for the most part. I do the water test for eggs because those dates are ridiculous. 

[ae2]

On 2/10/2018 at 10:04 PM, seacliffsal said:

I would really like Marcus to follow up with all of these businesses.  I think he has made some really bad decisions, so it would be interesting to see how all of these businesses played out for him.

I'll also be interested in seeing on which reality show Southern Culture will show up on next...

Her own, apparently. She definitely seems to be more interested in the TV exposure than growing her business.

Also, concerning washing raw chicken, this advice is dated. The CDC recommends you do not wash your raw chicken. 

[Amarsir]

I think text on screen at the end that says "actually the deal didn't close" would only raise more questions than it answers. The problem to me is that they're overstating the commitment in the first place. "Here's my check" is actually not a release of the check, and not just in this case where he laid a contingent but every case. So it always seems they're further along then they are, and thus the show gets into this spot where they already aren't representing properly. That's not even a schedule problem, it's just them overstating for drama.

[Thrifty]

Anyone know when the next new episode is?  I thought I saw something about a followup on that ice cream parlor, but now I can't see anything in TV Guide or anywhere.

[ae2]

7 hours ago, Thrifty said:

Anyone know when the next new episode is?  I thought I saw something about a followup on that ice cream parlor, but now I can't see anything in TV Guide or anywhere.

The clip on the site says Feb 27th.

[Amarsir]

The show is on hold until after the Olympics.

[cooksdelight]

On her Facebook page, she danced around a question regarding what happened with Marcus, and why she has so few items on the website. She said they are rebranding the company. Still???

[Thrifty]

11 hours ago, Amarsir said:

The show is on hold until after the Olympics.

I've been seeing that with a lot of my favorite shows.  What a drag.  But I guess I wouldn't expect regular programming to try and compete with the Olympic.