The Keith Lee Effect: How a Social Media Influencer has Changed the Game in the "Foodie" World

 As a self-proclaimed "foodie", food content on social media is something I strongly engage with; I even have a food Instagram page myself. From finding new recipes to make, or new restaurants to try, food content has gained extreme popularity across all social media platforms in recent years, especially TikTok. However, influencer Keith Lee has taken "food influencing" to the next level. 

Keith Lee is now most well-known for his food review videos on TikTok, where he tries food from many different small local restaurants, and gives the items an honest review. With now 13.8 million followers on TikTok, he has extreme power to help small restaurants who may be struggling. One of Lee's most memorable food reviews was of a local pizza restaurant in Las Vegas called Frankensons. Frankensons was on the verge of closing as they were struggling to attract customers, but as soon as Keith Lee reviewed their items and gave some of them a 10/10, they completely turned around. The owner said that the phones never stopped ringing, there were lines down the block, and people were even traveling from out of state just to try their food. This same effect has taken place across countless small restaurants causing them to see extreme financial growth. 

This is not a deal Lee has with restaurants...he doesn't get paid to say good things about small restaurants just to help them get back on their feet. He pays for the food with his own money and gives an honest review, then the consumers can do with that what they will. Lee has added a new perspective to the marketing world- how can brands utilize people and strategies similar to Keith Lee while still maintaining the personal and genuine feel? Gen Z is smart in terms of being able to spot a paid ad or sponsored post, making it more difficult for brands to utilize influencers. I know personally if I see a video of an influencer sat down and talking about a product or service, I don't necessarily feel it is genuine as I know they are getting paid to post. In Keith Lee's recent collaboration with Chipotle, we see a perfect example of how to successfully utilize influencers to create a successful and genuine marketing campaign. 

Aside from just trying food from small restaurants, Lee also tries different meals and menu hacks trending on TikTok. Consumers like to call something a "menu hack" when they discover a way to alter basic menu items, turning them into something better. Another TikTok influencer, Alexis Frost, reviewed a chipotle quesadilla where she added fajita veggies to it, and rated it a 10/10. Shortly after this became popular, Lee reviewed the exact meal and also gave it a 10/10. If Keith Lee rates a meal 10/10 AND consumers can access it easily, the result is predictable. Chipotle saw a total of 30.6 million views on content related to this meal after only a week of it being posted, and customers were consistently ordering this steak quesadilla with added fajita veggies. 

This trend presented a huge opportunity for Chipotle, and they jumped right on it. To honor Keith and Alexis, Chipotle added their custom orders as a temporary menu item. So consumers can go directly to the Chipotle app and order the "Keithadilla". This is a perfect example of how brands, especially food brands and restaurants, should utilize influencers, especially on TikTok. I know this example was fairly easy for Chipotle to execute as Keith and Alexis did a lot of the work for them, but there are plenty of influencers I see who frequently order specific meals from restaurants. Brands should seek out genuine people who seem to already enjoy their product, and go from there, in order to establish the most genuine and honest campaign. Local small restaurants can utilize people like Keith Lee to make a name for themselves, and larger chain restaurants can use these social media trends to open up new opportunities.