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In time, the word “beatnik” took on new meaning and shifted from being an insult aimed at the writers from the Beat Generation into being a label for poetry-reading kids who wore turtlenecks and played bongos in underground coffee shops. Similar to the grunge label in the 1990s and today’s hipster label, the term “beatnik” became less about the self-expression that was rooted in the Beat Generation and more a corporate-made identity meant to push products, books, and movies. When they weren’t using the stereotype to sell products, they villainized it. Oftentimes in TV shows and films, they’d portray “beatniks” as violent drug addicts with no moral values. Ginsberg stated, “If beatniks and not illuminated Beat poets overrun this country, they will have been created not by Kerouac but by industries of mass communication which continue to brainwash man.”