The gooey mess known as Pink Slime has suddenly become a public relations mess too. But, how did it go from a food additive to a food disaster in record time? A large part of the answer lies in the power of social memes and the ability of key audiences to spread it like a contagion.
Figure 1 - Pink Slime
Let’s break it down. In this case, the food additive included in some forms of processed beef came with a descriptive slang name and an iconic image: pink slime. (Figure 1)
In its basic form, pink slime a substance made from the rendered connective tissues and intestines of cows. Because those tissues are susceptible to e-coli contamination, they are processed with ammonium nitrate to kill the bacteria and act as a preservative. For years the FDA has approved the additive as a safe filler for meat products. But when an image and video of the substance appeared in the news reports in early March about its presence in school lunch hamburgers, pink slime became a household word as fast as parents could hit the “send” button on their computers. As a Google Trends analysis shows, pink slime went viral in a matter of 24-hours and has not let up since. (Figure 2)
Figure 2 - Google Trends
Three key factors are involved here. First, the image itself of the pink slime became what social psychologist Jaap Van Genneken would call a strong replicator. In other words, it’s an iconic image that developed and sealed an emotion in the minds of the viewer. In this case, the image leads to the very human response of questioning what this substance is doing in our food—especially our children’s food at school.
Second, the image sealed itself in the minds of an important audience. That audience is mainly women, in particular, the mothers of school children.
Third, these women not only saw the image of the pink slime included in stories in various news media, they spread the story to their friends and peer groups in social media. My own audience research among social media users indicates that women are heavily invested in, and are heavy users of social channels. They not only use social media as a way of discovering news from their friends, but to share news and issues that are important to them. When this story broke, the image, the issue, and the salience to their children and families created its own perfect recipe for a modern-day social issue contagion. (Figure 3)
Figure 3 - Contagion Model
The result has been a sudden abandonment of meat products containing the so-called pink slime. Several major grocery store chains have now said they have stopped ordering beef products containing the additive. One of them is Twin Cities based SuperValue which owns and operates Cub Food stores throughout the Midwest. Here’s its statement:
“We’ve heard concerns from many of our shoppers about the inclusion of finely textured beef in some of the ground beef products available at our stores. Effective today, we have made the decision to no longer purchase fresh ground beef products that contain finely textured beef.” -SuperValue
The power of the contagion lies in the statement’s first sentence. Consumers spoke up. SuperValue listened. It’s a 21st century lesson in the speed of which issues closely tied to strong memes can spread, and the power of key audiences armed with a “send” button.
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