Bits: BuzzFeed and the Food Craze

View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Thursday, July 27, 2017 [For the latest updates, go to nytimes.com/bits »]( [Ben Kaufman, who oversees BuzzFeed’s Product Lab, checking the app and eyeing a steak being cooked by Alexis deBoschnek.]( Ben Kaufman, who oversees BuzzFeed’s Product Lab, checking the app and eyeing a steak being cooked by Alexis deBoschnek. Melissa Lyttle for The New York Times [BuzzFeed Is Turning Food Videos Into a Profit Empire]( Overhead instructional videos of people making food have swept the internet. Making sliders or onion rings? Such videos online have snagged more than 160 million views each. Behind the craze is one company, writes Farhad Manjoo, the technology columnist for The New York Times: Tasty, a division of BuzzFeed, which has [mastered the art of making these videos]( and regularly churns them out. Tasty has been so successful — and profitable through its brand-sponsored videos — that it is now turning its digital food machine into real-world products. This week, Tasty will start selling Tasty One Top, an app-connected induction cooktop, for example. And last year, Tasty released a made-to-order cookbook. Tasty’s success gives a peek into how social-media-fueled companies can extend their digital properties into other realms, Farhad writes. Just as Hollywood used movies to create ecosystems of products — hit records, toys and other merchandising — now digital media companies can make online content and experiences for people hooked on their phones andsell them a plethora of other products too. -- Pui-Wing Tam Read More State of the Art [How BuzzFeed’s Tasty Conquered Online Food]( By FARHAD MANJOO Those overhead food videos that you watch and watch? BuzzFeed’s Tasty has mastered the format to become one of the world’s most popular content producers. ADVERTISEMENT More From The Times [Jeff Bezos Becomes World’s Richest Person, Surpassing Bill Gates]( By NICK WINGFIELD A bump in the price of Amazon shares was enough to move Mr. Bezos above Mr. Gates, the Microsoft co-founder who has topped Forbes’s billionaires list 18 out of the last 23 years. [Foxconn Says It Plans to Build Factory in Wisconsin, Adding 3,000 Jobs]( By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ AND VINDU GOEL White House officials highlighted President Trump’s negotiations with the world’s largest contract electronics maker, to secure the project, which they said would represent a $10 billion investment. [Bitcoin Exchange Was a Nexus of Crime, Indictment Says]( By NATHANIEL POPPER Alexander Vinnik, of Russia, was accused of being the mastermind behind a black market Bitcoin exchange, which helped launder billions of dollars. [Facebook’s Profit and Revenue Surge, Despite Company Predictions of a Slowdown]( By MIKE ISAAC Facebook executives have been cautioning investors that the social-networking giant’s growth might start to slow. The latest earnings report suggests that hasn’t happened yet. [Goats of Instagram]( By LAURA M. HOLSON The internet’s new favorite pet is giving cats and dogs a run for their money. [Digital Artist Yung Jake Scores With Emoji Portraits]( By GUY TREBAY Darling of YouTube and the art world circuit, he hits his stride with pointillist celebrity portraits made from emoji. Tech Tip [Why One Antivirus Program Is Better Than Two]( By J. D. BIERSDORFER Multiple antivirus applications generally do not coexist well together on the computer because they need to monitor the same areas of your system. HOW ARE WE DOING? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to [bits_newsletter@nytimes.com](mailto:bits_newsletter@nytimes.com?subject=Bits%20Newsletter%20Feedback%20223). ADVERTISEMENT LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. WANT MORE NEWS ABOUT CALIFORNIA? Subscribe to our California Today newsletter and get the news and stories that matter to Californians (and anyone else interested in the state), delivered weekday mornings. Sign up [here](. FOLLOW BITS [Twitter] [@nytimesbits]( Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »]( | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps. [Subscribe »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Bits newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise]( Copyright 2017 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018