Posted by Adam Kuban, September 14, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Yesterday I did the 100 Chinese Foods meme and mentioned that I'd check in today with the 100 Japanese Foods to Try meme. Here it is.
This one was started by Maki Itoh on her blog Just Hungry. The idea, again, is to copy and paste the list into your own site, bolding the items you've tried.
The interesting thing about Maki's list is that it goes way beyond the Japanese foods we know and love in the West. Sushi, sashimi, and noodles barely make an appearance here. It's a real eye opener.
My list appears after the jump. It seems the other folks here at SE are burnt out on 100 foods memes. Maybe they'll chime in in the comments.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, September 13, 2008 at 8:00 PM
OK. Memes are spawning memes are spawning memes. It's like an experiment gone out of control. Mutations are rampant, and they're spreading like viruses. You remember The Omnivore's 100, right? Then there was The Traveling Omnivore's 20. Then the 10 Texas Sausages to Eat Before You Die.
Now, the blog Appetite for China has birthed The 100 Chinese Foods to Eat Before You Die. The rules are similar to Omnivore's 100: Copy the list, paste it into your own blog, and bold all the foods you've had.
There's also a 100 Japanese Foods to Try list, but I'm saving that post for tomorrow. My Chinese list, after the jump.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, September 6, 2008 at 9:00 PM
Last week we blogged about Very Good Taste's Omnivore's 100 list. A meme in which you highlight the items you've tried from a list of 100 and post it on your blog. (We posted our lists here.)
This week, Sarah DiGregorio of the Village Voice blog Fork in the Road came up with a list of her own. The Traveling Omnivore's 20. Like the 100, but location-specific—e.g., barbecue burnt ends in Kansas City, boudin noir in Paris. Our traveling lists appear here, after the jump. We encourage you to post your own!
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, August 28, 2008 at 10:30 AM
This is really great. The blog Very Good Taste has come up with a list of 100 items that every omnivore should try in his or her life. And has turned it into a meme. Basically, you copy the list from Very Good Taste's The Omnivore's 100 and post it to your blog, bolding the items you've tried and striking through any you would never try. Oh, just go visit VGT for the nitty gritty. Below is my list, as well as those from the gang at the Serious Eats office.
Continue reading »
Posted by Raphael, June 2, 2008 at 3:15 PM
Turns out that Taco Bell, back in January, had used focus groups operated by Q & A Research to shape the idea for a rip-off of the fast food drive-thru meme. I got in touch with Matt Whitlock, who participated in one of the focus groups—most interesting is that the producers actually took the feedback to heart and reshot the commercial:
The next clip was actually with actors and it was more along the lines of what is played on TV right now, and people said the same thing, but we gave our input. We said it would be better if it looked like it was a YouTube video, like bad quality, amateur film, because the one they showed us was all professionally shot. I brought up the McDonald's rap that I saw on YouTube, and the lady laughed because the next clip she showed was that exact commercial. I actually told them they should have found the original people and paid them to do the Taco Bell rap-commercial!
Previously: Taco Bell Commercial Co-opts Drive Thru Rap Video Meme
Posted by Raphael, May 27, 2008 at 12:15 PM
It was only a matter of time before some big corporation caught wind of the drive-thru rap video phenomenon, previously covered here on Serious Eats back in April. Drive-thru rap videos on YouTube date back to 2006 but only recently have hit the mainstream. The basic premise: People drive up to the drive thru, usually with a friend providing beat-box, and rap with intentionally difficult-to-parse orders to confuse the employees on the other end of the intercom—the whole affair videotaped and uploaded to YouTube for all to see.
Now, Taco Bell (or an ad agency working for them) has co-opted the meme, keeping the appearance of a homemade video but adding pretty glossed up close-ups of the food—and sanitizing it of its humor, spontaneity, and originality. Some might say homage, I say rip-off.
Interestingly, but unsurprisingly, the Taco Bell commercial has created a feedback loop of sorts: The drive-thru rap video meme has reached a whole new, national audience, and new videos have appeared on YouTube likely drawing inspiration from the rip-off itself.
After the jump, the commercial, as well as some of the original inspirations.
Continue reading »
Posted by Raphael, April 28, 2008 at 10:00 AM
The Rick Roll. [via Everlasting Blort]
Related: The Rickroll Cake
