The latest issue of Wired Magazine is all about food, and it makes for fascinating reading. From Alton Brown's tour of an innovative new fake meat plant, to an article by the head chef of Momofuku extolling the virtues of molecular gastronomy, this magazine is everything you could hope for from a Wired food issue.
But I was particularly struck by an article about the trend for "stunt foods" in fast food marketing. Like many people, I'm equal parts fascinated and repulsed by stunt foods, from the Burger King bacon chocolate sundae to the KFC Double Down. It seems like every month some new, stranger hybrid beast lurches into the fast food scene.
And like a lot of other bloggers and social media hipsters, I just have to try it.
Imagine my surprise when the article's author Sophie Egan points out at length that basically, I'm to blame for this. The KFC Double Down was the first pioneer in the stunt foods category, and it crushed the competition thanks mainly to the thousands of people who posted about it on their blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and every other social media outlet.
Every time you talk about one of these stunt foods, it creates buzz. And the more buzz, the more likely it is that another fast food chain will follow suit. A Cinnabon pizza! Chili cheese fries burrito! Pop Tart ice cream sandwiches! And yes, the indomitable Doritos Locos Taco.
I feel culpable in this. The first thing I did when I heard about the Double Down was tweet about it. The same day I learned about the Burger King chocolate bacon sundae, I drove out to track one down, try it, and blog about it. (It was… not good.) And here I am, talking about these deliciously revolting foods again. I can't stop!
Sorry not sorry. All hail these pinnacles of contemporary western cuisine! Except the Double Down. That's just gross.
Image courtesy Flickr/Mike Saechang
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