Instagram star Ben Passer. Photo courtesy of Star Tribune.
Summary: A lawyer has become an Instagram star, accumulating almost 30,000 followers.
In modern day society, millennials have developed “side hustles,” hobbies, jobs, or gigs that they do in addition to their day job. For attorney Ben Passer from Minnesota, his side hustle is being an Instagram celebrity, thanks to his pictures and reviews about everyday junk food.
Passer has a website and social media accounts using the name @snackcellar, and Star Tribune recently interviewed the attorney about his moonlighting gig.
Passer photographs junk food but in an elegant way. He scours grocery stores like Hy-Vee for items on his list, and he told Star Tribune that if one store doesn’t have what he wants, he has no problem hunting around town for it.
“Edy’s has a new pumpkin spice latte flavor that might be here, too,” Passer said. “The fun but maddening thing is if I don’t find it, I’ll go to two or three more stores until I do.”
Passer, 28, describes his account as a “classy place for not-so-classy food.” Recent posts include pumpkin pie Rice Krispy treats and Quaker Oats gingerbread spice granola bars.
Passer reviews these fun junk food items for his almost 30,000 Instagram followers, and Star Tribune said that the millennial works out religiously so that he can eat everything from ice cream to Ding Dongs.
“These Cinnamon Toast Crunch Bites are salty. Like, ‘Auntie Anne’s pretzels that you buy at the mall because you’re not gonna fit in that pair of jeans you want anyway salty,’ ” Passer wrote on one popular post. “The fleeting sweetness from the filling almost instantly gives way to the overpowering saltiness of the dough, which has minimal cinnamon sugar flavor despite its outer coating.”
Because of his following, Passer receives snacks from big food companies such as Hostess, General Mills, and Keebler who are seeking reviews from internet influencers.
“[Influencers] play a key role in cultural relevance and consumers’ consideration process,” Brad Hiranaga, General Mills vice president of marketing, told Star Tribune. “The value of working with influencers is that their followers trust their opinions and see the information and experiences they share as personally relevant.”
Passer’s two years of Instagramming led to him even meeting the co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s. He described the experience as “incredible.”
But while Instagramming seems to be a fun side hustle, Passer said that he plans to continue working as an attorney.
“It’s been a fun ride,” Passer said. “Where it goes from here I don’t really know.”
Source: Star Tribune