The company, owned by Campbell’s, wants to generate more clicks highlighting the plight of those unpopular beets and other less trendy but nutritious fruits and vegetables. It has devised an algorithm to track hashtags on Twitter and elsewhere on the Internet and other mentions of 24 keywords for different vegetables, fruits and all those fatty, sugary favorites. Then, using alluring photographs, humor and music, the website lets visitors click on the Pomegranate Piñata, the Pizzabot or the Guac-a-Mole to get a sense of the numbers behind the item’s popularity on the web in real time. Visitors can play a musical Carrot Keyboard or follow the Burger Snake. The goal, say Bolthouse executives, is to remind consumers that a fresh strawberry is just as beautiful as those found in a dessert like a tart — and healthier.
“Somehow, industry has used marketing to an incredibly powerful effect to glamorize and normalize the daily consumption of unhealthy foods and drinks,” said Nancy F. Huehnergarth, president of Nancy F. Huehnergarth Consulting, a food policy consulting firm. “Well, why not use some of the same techniques to try to level the playing field?”
Link to the full article.
Article originally published in The New York Times.
No comments:
Post a Comment