The Instagramification of Food
How Instagram is ruining our meals
Have you noticed the rise in absurdist cuisine? One block away from our L.A. office a new restaurant is opening that serves fried chicken and donuts. Don’t get me wrong, I love fried chicken. But this seems to be part of a trend where food is made to be photographed rather than eaten and it is making me queasy.
Consider the Unicorn
The latest entrant in this field is Starbucks’ Unicorn Frappuccino. This limited edition brightly colored beverage was perfect Instagram-bait garnering over 152,000 uses of the hashtag #UnicornFrappuccino. The now retired Unicorn joins the likes of Taco Bell’s Doritos Locos Tacos and Pizza Hut’s hot dog stuffed crust as marketing ploys that are slightly tough to stomach.
Tile and Neon
Restaurant interiors are stepping up their game as well. It seems every new restaurant or cafe has the obligatory mosaic tile floor or neon sign. Somewhere on the premises there will be a snarky slogan or hashtag. Each element is a carefully art directed branded moment that is guaranteed to be ‘grammed. These are the new rules of retail — even beyond the restaurant world.
A fascinating synergy between our online and offline lives has developed. Increasingly, we venture out into the real world to generate content for our digital lives. Many brick and mortar retailers are built simply to drive shares on social media.
Increasingly, we venture out into the real world to generate content for our digital lives
Art in your latte
Beyond Starbucks, coffee has become a superstar of the Instagram. Latte art has become a symbol that separates high-quality artisanal cafes from the rest. The common foam tulip was only invented in 2004 in Greece but it has become the mainstay of expensive lattes around the globe. More recently, this trend has been amplified to stand out on the feed. The best foam artists have blown past the simple tulip into a new world of foamy possibilities: turtles, cats, and apparently Ryan Gosling… There is no denying the talent and how visual striking this is — of course, by the time you get your drink it’s cold.
Chef’s Table
This trend has also spread to the highest ends of cuisine. Netflix’s Chef’s Table showcases some of the world’s most famous chefs and their most elaborate dishes. Food has become a primary source of elite entertainment where the bill quickly mounts to several hundred dollars. Restaurants are destinations, dishes are trends.
They say, “You eat first with your eyes” — but you need to eat with your mouth at some point. So, the taste of the food should never be sacrificed for the look of it. Lately, I’ve been hungering for food that is made to be eaten not shared. Even beyond food, museums seem to be designed for the art to be photographed rather than appreciated. Today there is still a need for immediate and personal experiences. There is still an intrinsic value to food and art that consumers are increasingly craving — even if there is no hashtag associated with it.
