The Allure of Tide Pods: Why They Look (and Smell) Good Enough to Eat

Biological Influences

According to the author of Nutrition Education: Linking Research, Theory, and Practice, “Humans are born with unlearned biological predispositions toward liking the sweet taste and rejecting sour and bitter tastes” (Contento, 2016). The author also notes that this predisposition remains through the duration of our life and is universal across all cultures. Tide Pods smell like fruit (at least the Original scent does) and trigger an innate need to find and consume food. This relationship between smell and hunger plays a large role in the attractiveness of Tide Pods, since both scent and color are known to either trigger or suppress hunger.