Discarded cones in Japan shop's bin show another side of Instagram food photos

With the rise in the use of social media, some tech-savvy millennials and Generation Z have been in a numbers race – fighting for the number of “likes”, “shares”, friends or followers on social media platforms.

But the question is, how far would you go to earn these numbers?

Gone are the days people unexpectedly saw something interesting and took a photo to share the new discovery with friends.

In its place, more common than ever, are people going out for the sake of taking photos (especially of food) that will give them “likes”.

What happens afterwards to the food… Well…

This was pretty apparent at Little Baby Dog’s, a dessert store that just opened in May 2017, in Aichi Prefecture, Nagoya, Japan. Twitter user ani__R shared her photos from her visit to the store, and they were telling.

As you can see, the desserts are colourfully decorated and pretty to look at, which is how Little Baby Dog’s quickly became a trending topic for young girls in Japan and found itself being featured a lot on Instagram.

But one look at the rubbish bin at the store tells another side of the story…

The rubbish bin’s purpose is for the paper wrapping the cone. Unfortunately, it has become a bin for people to throw away their uneaten cone after they’ve done their Instagram thing.

That’s not saying that most people wouldn’t take their photos and finish the cone. But it does not hide the fact that there are a handful who do throw away a perfectly good dessert once their purpose of taking their supposedly Instagram-worthy photo has been achieved.

Regarding the issue, the staff of Little Baby Dog’s have said, “While it is a pity, there are people like this. But that is not to say everyone does this. It is saddening for us to see people throwing away the soft cream after taking the photos.”

“In contrast, we are glad to hear people saying ‘It’s delicious,’ after finishing the cone. In hopes of getting more of such positive reviews, we are continuously working on improvements,” the staff said.

Undeniably, consumers can do whatever they want since they paid for the product. But this issue of food wastage in the quest for Instagram photos is likely not limited to Little Baby Dog’s or the shops in Japan.

By getting fixated on gaining all the “likes” and “shares”, friends and followers, are people missing out on more important things in life? Like actually eating the entirety of that good-looking ice cream dessert?

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