Rapper Rick Ross and his #shoutouttoallthepear catchphrase got the pear industry booming.
In May, an inebriated and shirtless Ross told Tim Westwood how he dropped a few lbs: He exercises, does “RossFit,” and eats “pears now and shit like that.”
Because of the rapper and his endorsement, things really took off for the pear.
Modern Farmer asked a very important pear-related question: could Ross’ ringing endorsement, and the meme that it spawned, actually affect pear sales IRL?
USA Pears’ spokesperson Kathy Stephenson tells MF, “On behalf of our 1,600 pear growers from the Northwest region, we are pleased that Rick has mentioned the health benefits of pears.” Stephenson says that although they haven’t seen an increase in sales at this early stage, they have seen increased pear usage and mentions on social media.
Modern Farmer writes, “Rick Ross fans are giving the USA Pears and Twitter account shout outs and they have scooped up a couple hundred new followers from this. They’ve also seen fans boasting about their own love of pears, trying to outdo Ross.”
Here’s an in-depth look at how Rick Ross has inadvertently affected the popularity of pears.
Pear emoji use has skyrocketed
As of writing this, “:pear:” is the 568th most used emoji in the world, according to emojitracker.com.
A fan asked Rick Ross to sign a pear
Shout out to whoever asked Rick Ross to sign a pear.
A full-fledge pear meme has spawned
https://twitter.com/chimairamark/status/535800873973465088/
https://twitter.com/Krazygio/status/535568597188612097
“This wouldn’t be the first time that pop culture inadvertently affected food sales,” points out Modern Farmer.
Reese’s Pieces sales climbed 65 percent after E.T., and L.A. shawarma joints reported up to an 80 percent increase in sales after that once scene in The Avengers.
[via Modern Farmer]