The latest food trend taking over social media

It's the latest food craze that has got social media buzzing. With hundreds of thousands of views across TikTok, the strawberries and creme sandwich from M&S has sparked a lot of chat since it launched earlier this week.

There have also been more than 50,000 searches on Google for the unusual new treat, with it featuring in the top ten trends and more than 37,000 likes in 48 hours on the store's original Instagram post.

An image showing people from three different TikTok accounts trying the new strawberries and creme sandwich that has gone viral — Image caption,
TikTok has gone viral with people trying the new sandwich for themselves. It is made with strawberries and a cream-like soft cheese between two slices of sweet bread, based on the strawberry sando - a dessert from Japan.

You may also have noticed that different news sites have featured reviews of the sandwich, where one of their reporters will try it on camera. This often happens when a new product becomes popular, as readers will be curious about it and want to know more for themselves. But what is it about food posts on socials in particular that make them so appealing?

Why does some food and drink go viral on TikTok?

That's the big question. From bars of chocolate made in Dubai, to Dua Lipa’s mix of pop, pickle juice and peppers, we just can’t seem to get enough of sharing food and drink trends on social media.

If an influencer with a huge following posts about a new product, this can help it go viral. In the case of the Dubai chocolate bar, food influencer Maria Vehera filmed herself trying it for the first time in a post that now has more than 130 MILLION views and just over seven million likes. In the case of Dua Lipa, the singer - who has been playing sell-out stadium gigs across the UK this summer - has more than 11m followers and her fans are more likely to share content that she posts, which helps it to go viral.

An image showing a Japanese sando - a fruit sandwich with strawberries and cream between two slices of bread as well as one piece of citrus fruit — Image caption,
The sando is a fruity sandwich that originated in Japan

As for sandwiches and strawberries, these are both foods that people can relate to. This unusual combination could make people feel a strong emotional reaction - especially in the UK where we don’t associate sandwiches with desserts. It’s these reactions which can make people share posts about them - which is how trends begin.

We can also relate to eating sandwiches, so if something is familiar to us, we’re also more likely to share it, based on a 2020 study by the University of Leeds. It also helps that this is a time when strawberries and cream will be on people’s minds more than usual as we hit Wimbledon season and this food combination is closely connected with the tennis championships.

A sweet recipe for viral videos

Emotional Appeal – Emotions play a big part in making videos go viral. Videos that make the viewer feel a strong emotion are more likely to be shared. And who doesn’t feel happy or get enjoyment from watching videos about delicious food?

Relatability – If the topic of the video is something lots of people are familiar with and can relate to, this will help the clip go viral too. And the taste of sweets and snacks is something most of us are more than familiar with.

Shareability – Having a video that people want to share with their friends, will go a long way to making it go viral. And so an eye-catching, engaging video of someone eating a colourful sando, ticks the box.

You can find out more about food and drinks trends that have got people talking on social media in this Other Side of the Story collection.

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