It's all digital

Porn that’s good for you

‘Farms’ find a scandalous way to market the perks of healthy eats.

We’re all adults here, so let’s talk about something controversial. Porn. As in, www.FoodPornIndex.com.

The Bolthouse Farms-powered website is looking to promote the less glamorous fruits and vegetables that populate grocery stores and greenhouses across the nation. To do so they post scandalously delectable photographs of beets and berries and all sorts of fruits and veggies.

The website uses an algorithm to track Twitter hashtags and other Internet mentions, aggregates the data, and creates a host of information, all contained within fun to click on packages. When users arrive on the site’s landing page they sit through a brief loading screen. When the load is finished the site splits itself in half, healthy foods on the left side, unhealthy foods on the right. The user can see the number of mentions that unhealthy foods garner in comparison to healthier alternatives.

Each side of the page is divvied into 12 interactive boxes. If you’re savvy enough to click on one of the boxes, an interactive game or activity will pop up. For instance: if you click the avocado box you’ll be taken to a game called “Guac-A-Mole,” which is patterned off the classic “Whack-a-Mole” games, except you use your mouse to smash avocados into guacamole.

Clicking on the melon box will take you to a hypnotic “Meditating Melon” page where a digital Yogi guides you into a melon-y trance. It’s surprisingly relaxing.

Venture to the other side of the screen, to the unhealthy food squares, and click on one of the boxes and have a much odder experience. Clicking on the pizza square will take you to the “Pizza Bot,” a machine that apparently creates horrifying pizza pies. The Pizza Bot starts with a simple pizza and then adds pepperoni, bacon, hot dogs, Buffalo wings, enchiladas, tacos, and chili cheese fries, ultimately creating a monstrous creation of heart-clogging terror.

Fun and games aside, the site is designed to bring attention to a glaring disparity in digital food promotion. The vast majority of Internet users have seen a post about food in their timeline or newsfeed, most of us have even Tweeted a brownie pic before. But few have stopped to consider that the Internet has become a veritable wasteland for nutritious snacks. People just don’t send out pics of beets or peppers like they used to.

This is where FoodPornIndex comes in. The site is an attempt to bring attention to the disparity while enumerating the many positives that come with a delicious avocado. Using creative marketing to push healthy foods isn’t a new concept, but it’s one that has grown dusty in the toolbox. Throw in a few interactive digital games and Bolthouse may have found a way to boost the whole industry.

And the site has already drawn some major press. First Lady Michelle Obama has worked with Bolthouse before and the farm will give a presentation at the Partnership for a Healthier America, whose keynote speaker is Mrs. Obama. The New York Times did a piece on the website.

So the next time you start to Tweet that picture of your chili cheese fry covered pizza, consider sending out a picture of your tomato instead, you’ll be helping to make Food Porn a little healthier.

– Chris Mosby

For more: http://goo.gl/kEXqhb

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