Food Network and Foodies: Loved and Hated?

Last week I brought about the topic of how blogs are becoming more popular when choosing to view food entertainment. Due to the increasing popularity of Food Network and many other networks’ food oriented programming, the food industry is moving in a new direction. Food entertainment is beginning to show face all over bookstores, magazines, television, blogs, and commercials but some people are having a hard time with the idea. This week I chose to comb the blogosphere in hopes of finding some information on my topic of choice, the new dislike for foodies becoming a topic of entertainment and the effects of food network on advertising. The first blog I came across, The Daily Beast (see top left), written in the style of satire by, was created to address issues of interest to the editors. The post, “Foodies Make Me Sick,” discussed one writer’s hatred for people referring to themselves as foodies. Comedian Jessi Klein (VH-1, CNN, Comedy Central) wrote the original post, which made everything she disliked magnified in a humorous way. It did however raise an interesting question about the use of the term foodie in every day culture. After looking on another food-oriented blog, I realized that it did anger some foodies, which made for some interesting controversy. The next post I stumbled upon a post from one of my favorite blogs, Food Network Addict (see right). This post entitled, “Alton Brown New Face Of Welch’s, Can’t Compete With Cute Kids,” discusses how Food Network star Alton Brown has become the new face of Welch’s Grape Juice and that the traditional cute kid is gone for the next year. I chose to comment on each of the posts in hopes to get a response about the popularity of food entertainment and its effects in the advertising world. My comments can be found on each of the blogs as well as below.



“Foodies Make Me Sick”-My Comments:


First off, I would like to thank you for taking the time to write this article. After reading the article I realized that some people probably do feel like foodies are just a bunch of snobs with nothing else to do. Comedians tend to make a big deal out of little things, which is great, but this still raised the point about foodies. You opened your article with, “The other day I passed a fancy new restaurant in the West Village from whose windows camera bulbs were popping with lightning intensity. I assumed there was a fancy-pants magazine photo shoot in progress and peeked to see who was posing. A model? An actress? SJP? Wrong. It was a chicken dish, bathed in professional lights, the center of attention for a team of attendants who were hovering off to the side, waiting to attend to the chicken’s every whim. A surreptitious little piece of tinfoil was propping up the chicken into a sexier, more angled pose, the poultry equivalent of a girl on the cover of Maxim,” which I found hilarious. Obviously you realized this is a food photography shoot, which can be tough due to the nature of cooking.

Just as comedy, music, acting is a craft, so is the art of food design as well as cooking. Due to the increasing popularity of food as entertainment on television, movies, and in magazines do you feel that comedians are going to continue to use foodies in their acts? Do you feel like the term foodie is being thrown around too much and that it is turning negative? I am a foodie, but not of the obnoxious foodie persuasion. I did not feel offended at all by your post, in fact I think that sort of foodie needs to gain a new appreciation for what food really is and not just the status. Do you feel like being a foodie is a fad? I think given your job is entertainment, it would be interesting to see your thoughts on what might happen to food entertainment if it is considered a fad.


“Alton Brown New Face Of Welch’s, Can’t Compete With Cute Kids”- My Comments:

I would like to thank you so much for this post as well as your blog. Your blog is one of my favorite daily sites to visit. It is interesting to see how Food Network personalities are becoming spokespeople for so many food companies. It is great to see how advertising is taking to the popularity of food television. Already we have seen Paula Deen as the face of Smithfield Foods. You stated, “With the cute kids gone and Alton in, will you buy more grape juice?” This is an interesting question especially when looking at advertising recently. Alton Brown is respected and expected to know all things scientific. When thinking about Welch’s, I always tend to think of the cute little kids.

Do you think by making this change, it might take away the nostalgia of the grape juice? Will this be a positive choice in advertising for this company? I feel like it is a huge possibly that by choosing Alton, such an exciting Food Network personality, the grape juice may be put on the back burner. The association to watch Alton’s shows may take precedent over buying the grape juice. I feel that this is a huge step forward for food entertainment and am very excited about it. I would love to hear your thoughts on this matter, of course in your very fun and light way. You seem to understand what the personalities are doing and the direction in which they are headed.