Buzzfeed's Tasty videos are my not-so-guilty pleasure and favorite past time. I watch videos of how to make food for literally hours. When I saw "food porn" mentioned in Robin's original post, these videos were the first thing to pop into my head.
Why do I and so many other people enjoy watching these videos? I don't necessarily watch them to learn how to cook/bake, sometimes I just watch them for fun or when I'm trying to fall asleep. But what is it about these specific videos that I find so much pleasure in? Is it because my mom let me help with baking when I was younger and watching videos of other people baking reminds me of that subconsciously? Or just because what they make in the videos always turns out perfect?
Our society is pretty split between having healthy, organic, home cooked meals and having McDonald's (or a similar fast food restaurant) for most meals. I think these videos give both of these groups a chance to feel like they really are living healthy. Watching someone prepare a salad counts as eating it right?! Anyways, I think I really enjoy watching Tasty videos because I am a perfectionist, and they always mix and bake and cook everything to perfection, and I love it. Not only do they show you how to make things, they also show you how to use advertised foods and even cars, sometimes. Now, the company has grown so much, they offer their own cooking utensils line.
I really see Latour's idea of economics driving production in this because Tasty produces videos which show a recipe that calls for a specific brand of meat (for example), they use the tools that they sell, and cook on the One Top--which they also produce/sell. Tasty has turned cooking tutorials into a real business and money maker. They pry on the constantly hungry hearts of American people and make us yearn for the food they are making, which often leads to us making that food using their utensils, so even though it costs nothing to watch the videos, it costs a lot to make the food they show us.
I linked a Tasty video in case anyone has never seen one. Enjoy the mozzarella sticks you never knew you needed!
https://tasty.co/recipe/bacon-chicken-wrapped-mozzarella-sticks
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I love watching the Buzzfeed Tasty videos as well! I grew up watching Food Network with my mom all the time, which looking at now totally goes with Latour's idea of the economics of food. Product placement and sponsored segments of these shows can really influence buyers because the channel as a brand has so much power with an established audience. Buzzfeed has definitely found a way of cooking video production that people are able to watch anywhere at anytime since most of the videos are so short and are all over Facebook.
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