For centuries, the guiding principle of getting humans to plunk down their hard-earned legal currency for any given object has been: “Make it sexy.” If a patty of ground beef can be sexy, why not dead bugs in a can?
Enter SexyFood, a French Belgian startup that’s trying to get you to eat bugs — hopefully with more success than we’ve ever had. I checked out SexyFood’s website to figure out what, exactly, it is. Essentially, the premise of the business is that if you put exotic-sounding bugs — Queen Weaver Ants! Black Scorpions! — in a black-and-gold can with Chanel-ripoff lettering, people will want to eat them enough to warrant charging 15 American dollars for the pleasure. Also, this:
SexyFood is the sparkle, the little plus that can change everything. One only has to place a can of edible insects next to a bowl of potato chips to shake an evening up and trigger an effusion of emotions.
(Well, yes — except using “emotions” in plural may be generous. I think it’s just the one emotion, and that is “THOSE CRICKETS BOUT TO CRAWL RIGHT INTO THE BEAN DIP!!!”)
To continue:
All your guests will react differently: envy, curiosity, fear, horror, laughter … but they will certainly not remain emotionless. You will experience this surprising discovery together, and it will not be forgotten any time soon.
I am all for eating insects. Really, I am — they’re an incredibly sustainable source of protein. But I’m not sure that the best way to sell that particular eating habit is to say, “You will undergo a complete emotional catharsis upon seeing a fancy can of edible arthropods.” The better message may be: “If those crickets do crawl into the bean dip, it will still taste delicious — but with a li’l extra crunch! Mm-mmm!”
