From Ocean Spray to overnight fame: The TikTok effect on food
Whether we like it or not, TikTok has become one of the most powerful engines of consumer influence, especially in the food sector. What used to be shaped by advertising budgets and lifestyle magazines is now often determined by a few seconds of user-generated video. Even mainstream news outlets increasingly rely on TikTok clips for entertainment value, giving them additional visibility and reach.
The scale is extraordinary. Over the past few years, we have seen countless foods enjoy their “TikTok moment.” Recipes and products like baked feta pasta, the Grimace Shake, Chipotle menu hacks, pink sauce, cucumber water, and matcha lattes have all dominated online conversation at different points. Each of these moments reached hundreds of millions—sometimes billions—of viewers. Most of the trends were short-lived, but they captured the imagination of consumers and, crucially, influenced what they bought.
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Perhaps the most iconic of all TikTok food moments happened five years ago this week, when Nathan Apodaca uploaded a simple video of himself skateboarding down a highway with a bottle of Ocean Spray cranberry juice in hand, singing “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac. The clip was viewed more than two billion times, inspiring billions of additional recreations. Context mattered. The video was released after months of lockdowns around the world. People saw a random man, without a mask or even a helmet, gliding freely down the road. It was simple, soothing, and liberating. Even Mick Fleetwood recreated the video, giving it an intergenerational stamp of approval.
For Ocean Spray, the impact was priceless. Although the company never disclosed the sales effect, industry estimates suggest a significant boost. Ocean Spray gave Apodaca a new truck and a lifetime supply of juice, which was a modest investment compared to the marketing value generated. In fact, that single TikTok may have been one of the most cost-effective advertising campaigns in the company’s history.
From an economist’s perspective, these episodes reflect the changing dynamics of food marketing. Commodity boards and food companies have long invested heavily to capture consumer attention. TikTok, by contrast, delivers instant, global visibility without traditional costs. The challenge lies in the unpredictability of virality. While every food company would love to engineer a TikTok moment, most cannot. Trends arrive without warning, capture attention for a brief window, and then vanish, leaving companies scrambling to keep up.
The generational divide around TikTok is also worth noting. Older consumers often dismiss the platform as frivolous or dangerous, especially given ongoing debates over data security and privacy. Yet younger consumers treat it as both entertainment and education. They discover recipes, explore new food products, and even take nutrition advice from TikTok. In other words, it is shaping not just what people buy but how they learn about food.
For the food sector, the lesson is unavoidable. TikTok is no longer a sideshow. It is part of the demand signal, one that can occasionally redirect entire categories of consumer spending. Companies that understand this dynamic, and that prepare for the volatility and opportunity that come with it, will be far better positioned to thrive in tomorrow’s food economy.
