A summer job with the insects ice-cream
Last month, I was finding summer jobs on the internet. I will only be in town till July 9th, so I could only look for temporary jobs in two to three weeks. I found this job ad that promised a really nice salary. I gave it a try and went up to their office for an interview. During the interview, the interviewers kept asking if I am an adventurous person who likes trying new stuff. It scared me a bit but I just went with it. It's the salary after all.
The job turned out to be a promoter giving out free insect ice-cream on the street. At first, I thought it was just a joke or prank. Soon I found out that it's the real insects they are talking about. I didn't want to try at first, but the ice-cream itself is too yummy that I nearly forgot about the bugs inside. Now, I found myself totally accepting it.
In fact, they are promoting the Economist magazine with a really cheap trial price. Since the magazine had a story about why eating insects make sense last year, they use this as a marketing strategy to attract people with insect ice-cream and let people have a taste on what kind of stories the Economist might have.
According to an article in the Economist last year, the world population is reaching 11 billion at the end of the century. With all the food shortage problems and global warming issues, insects act as a more sustainable food source than meat and crops. They are protein-rich and has nearly no fats. Most importantly, they are cheaper to raise than any livestocks.
The ice-cream is from the Italian brand i-Scream while the bugs are imported from Thailand. The bugs are carefully raised and treated to become edible. They are dead and cooked before mixing into the ice-cream and added extra on the top.
They have four flavours in total, including chocolate, strawberry, berry and chocolate with strawberry. Each has their special insects in it. Personally, I like Choc Hopper the best, which is chocolate together with grasshoppers. The grasshoppers are crunchy like nuts while the chocolate is so rich and smooth. If you would like another texture, you can go for strawberry with mealworms, the worms give a more chewy texture instead.
After having the ice-cream, you may want to take a picture with the Pixta. Pixta is like an iPad with a special kind of Instagram that has frame designated for the campaign theme. After taking the picture, you may choose the filter you like and a frame that corresponds to your ice-cream flavour. You may then give your email address so that the picture can be sent directly to your mailbox. After that, you can save the photo and share it on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.
We serve the ice-cream in crowded places, from 12PM to 4PM on weekdays and around 2PM to 6PM on weekends with an ice-cream trike. Some people screamed and walked away while some excitedly accept them. Usually, their focus were completely dragged to the bugs and never realise that we are actually selling the magazine subscription but not the ice-cream. Even I explained, they were not really listening, until they had their ice-cream in their left hands, phones on their right hands.
Nearly 5 hours under the sun each day, I sweat a lot and got so much tanner. I bear the impoliteness of some customers and still had to fake a smile and go on. This summer job is not easy, but it's creative and interesting. I am still happy to be part of this innovative marketing campaign. I do not regard myself as a super excellent promoter, but I am learning to become one in the future.