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How the Food Industry Pays Influencers to Shill Blueberries, Butter, and More

bonappetit.com

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Re: How the Food Industry Pays Influencers to Shill Blueberries, Butter, and More

#61

Post by whatamidoingyo »

user_7832 wrote: post #53
whatamidoingyo wrote: post #23

Wait, are blueberries "shilled"? I had no idea, but I indeed "shill" them myself. Eating blueberries early in the morning has improved my digestion. They also make me feel really good throughout the day. So much so, I've made numerous attempts at growing blueberry bushes myself (unfortunately I don't have a green thumb). Likewise with coconut water, a habit I developed in Thailand. If they're shilled, so be it. It wo…

How much do you need/typically eat to feel its effects? I've never felt anything despite hoping for some benefits from them, I wonder if I'm not eating enough of it.

Typically 2-3 handfuls (~5-8 berries per handful). A lot, actually. Sometimes I can't stop eating them when I get started, haha.

Maybe it's placebo, I don't know. But I had occasional stomach issues which seemed to have gone away once I started consuming berries.

Re: How the Food Industry Pays Influencers to Shill Blueberries, Butter, and More

#63

Post by el_benhameen »

7thaccount wrote: post #47
whatamidoingyo wrote: post #23

Wait, are blueberries "shilled"? I had no idea, but I indeed "shill" them myself. Eating blueberries early in the morning has improved my digestion. They also make me feel really good throughout the day. So much so, I've made numerous attempts at growing blueberry bushes myself (unfortunately I don't have a green thumb). Likewise with coconut water, a habit I developed in Thailand. If they're shilled, so be it. It wo…

2/3 of my bushes died. One is still going strong. It takes time. They also need acidic soil.

I’m a decent gardener, but I’ve killed every blueberry bush I’ve planted. Given the rest of this thread, I assume it was some sort of plot by Big Blueberry to keep me hooked on their supply. Oh well.

Re: How the Food Industry Pays Influencers to Shill Blueberries, Butter, and More

#64

Post by ghaff »

ryandrake wrote: post #49
ghaff wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have trouble marshaling any outrage in this particular instance but anyone with a base level of intelligence knew that "Got Milk?" was a paid for advertising campaign while you may not know if some blog or Tik-Tok is the legit opinion of an enthusiast or is pay for play.

At this point we have decades of dealing with this. Shouldn't the default assumption be that someone promoting a product online is being paid to do it, until they somehow demonstrate that they are not?

I prefer to just maintain a healthy skepticism. After all, even if I'm getting an honest opinion, it doesn't mean my needs and preferences are the same as the reviewer's.

Re: How the Food Industry Pays Influencers to Shill Blueberries, Butter, and More

#65

Post by wdh505 »

whatamidoingyo wrote: post #23

Wait, are blueberries "shilled"? I had no idea, but I indeed "shill" them myself. Eating blueberries early in the morning has improved my digestion. They also make me feel really good throughout the day. So much so, I've made numerous attempts at growing blueberry bushes myself (unfortunately I don't have a green thumb). Likewise with coconut water, a habit I developed in Thailand. If they're shilled, so be it. It wo…

Blueberries like alkaline soil i think. Have you tested the soil?

Re: How the Food Industry Pays Influencers to Shill Blueberries, Butter, and More

#66

Post by geodel »

Scoundreller wrote: post #58
dboreham wrote: post #43

That said, blueberries and butter are great. Remember: pretty much everything you see is in service of someone's business model.

Store bought blueberries are garbage. Even the frozen “cultivated wild” (wtf is that) ones. If it’s not bought from the side of the road in northern Ontario or Quebec (and probably some other places), you don’t know what you’re missing.

Agree. Same is true for medicine. Store bought ones are garbage. I always buy from vendors selling at street corners.

Re: How the Food Industry Pays Influencers to Shill Blueberries, Butter, and More

#67

Post by willismichael »

ethbr1 wrote: post #12
Simulacra wrote: post #5

I'm amazed that people still depend on "influencers" to make decisions. After all we've seen over the last 10 years of sponsored posts, and "influencers" people still blindly follow their lead.

It's a three step process: 1. Convince people they're part of your group, make them feel special for being part of that group, and make yourself their identity. 2. Don't straight-up recommend the product. Say things similar to "This is great for people like us!" Insinuate that people truly in the group would want this product (and therefore, wanting this product makes you part of the group). 3. Profit. Identity / gro…

That's an amazing business plan. Usually step 2 is just a question mark.

Re: How the Food Industry Pays Influencers to Shill Blueberries, Butter, and More

#69

Post by taeric »

IncreasePosts wrote: post #55
taeric wrote: post #51

I... don't remember butter boards? I'm growing convinced that the worst thing with regards to how effectively targeted social media is, is in how it convinces journalists that they know what people are talking about and doing.

You don't remember the dumb social media trend that was popular for 2 weeks with .1% of the population a year ago?

Right, this is my point. I would wager a lot of things that are hitting a minority of people still manage to have good coverage on journalists as a demographic.

I don't know that this is happening, of course. Would love to have insight into it, but articles like this certainly strengthen my belief that it is happening.

Re: How the Food Industry Pays Influencers to Shill Blueberries, Butter, and More

#70

Post by Solvency »

this is an absolutely outrageously stupid title. The entire world is a massive processed food advertising and marketing engine. We are pumping processed garbage hyper palatable foods full of sugar and wheat and bad oils and then advertising them to children with lovable cartoon characters. And that's just barely scraping the surface.

The idea that some evil influencer sect are inappropriately schilling blueberries is one of the most perverse counter tactics I can possibly imagine by said industry.

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