Soul Train

Soul Train is the television show that became Johnson Products’ national marketing engine in How Black hair care grew Black power. The episode says George E. Johnson saw the show live, believed it should be broadcast in color, financed a color pilot, and later helped make it national.

For the wiki, Soul Train is a media-distribution case as much as a cultural-history reference. Johnson Products’ Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen ads appeared as part of the sponsorship deal, and George Johnson credited the show with a large rise in sales between 1971 and 1975.

Key Claims

• The show made Black style, music, dance, and hair visible at national scale.
• Johnson Products used Soul Train sponsorship to connect Afro Sheen with the cultural world where natural hair was being celebrated.
• The episode treats the relationship as reciprocal: Soul Train gained financial support, while Johnson Products gained attention, legitimacy, and category authority.

Connections

• George E. Johnson, Johnson Products, and Afro Sheen - sponsor, company, and product context.
• Black Hair-Care Market Ownership and Community-Embedded Business - business and culture branch.
• Consumer Brand Moat - media and identity reinforcing brand memory.
• Hair As Political Identity - visible hair and style as public identity.