When life gives you lemons, make lemonade

Marketing

A commercial for Super Bowl LV advertising Bud Light Seltzer Lemonade mentions 2020 being a "lemon of a years" (a reference to the COVID-19 pandemic) showing lemons literally falling from the sky. Someone was about to say the phrase but someone else cuts him off by saying they already knew it.

As the term can also be seen as a positive outcome of marketing, there are a few marketing agencies such as Make Lemonadein London who have adopted the phrase to represent their business.

Music

In 2008, Atmosphere titled their fifth studio album When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold, with reference to the original phrase.

In 2016, some music critics reported that Beyoncé's sixth studio album title, Lemonade, was a reference to the optimistic phrase, referring to the themes drawn in the album, and also with her promotions and marketing strategy for the project. Some journalists wrote that the speech delivered by the singer's grandmother-in-law Hattie White at the end of the song "Freedom" was a clear reference to the motto and inspired the album title. White said in the speech that "I had my ups and downs, but I always find the inner strength to pull myself up. I was served lemons, but I made lemonade".

Cinema, television and video games

The initial opening theme for Mystery Science Theater 3000 included the lyric "Joel says when you got lemons, you make lemonade." This was changed when the show was broadcast nationally.

In Portal 2, one of the supporting characters, Cave Johnson, gives a speech through a recorded message where he contests whether one should make lemonade when life gives one lemons. When he finds out that he has a terminal illness, he goes on an angry rant, saying that life should not give out lemons at all, threatening life itself with burning its house down by using combustible lemons.

In Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024), the main protagonist, Po, stated "When life gives you lemons, make pear juice and blow everyone's minds!"

In the Parks and Recreation episode "The Bubble" (S3 EP 15), in a tough office relocation, Andy Dwyer, a supporting character, uses the motto to encourage coworker Tom Haverford by claiming "I read that once on a can of lemonade. But I like to think that it applies to life." In a talking head, Tom says that he doesn't want to turn lemons into lemonade, but would instead prefer to "slice them up into wedges and throw them into vodka tonics."

Literature

Warren Hinckle's 1974 autobiography detailing his time as chief editor of Ramparts is called If You Have a Lemon, Make Lemonade.