Spud sentiment in the media continues to improve

The widespread popularity of potatoes as America’s favorite vegetable naturally leads to their frequent appearance in the press. However, occasional misinformation can jeopardize the potato’s reputation.

Potatoes USA swiftly addresses any misinformation by closely monitoring press coverage and the sentiment of published stories.

Between Oct. – Dec. 2022, traditional media coverage of potatoes experienced a significant increase in positive mentions, primarily due to a rise in articles highlighting holiday-themed potato dishes.

While health-related discussions about potatoes are prevalent in traditional media, the focus shifted to cooking and preparation methods during the holiday season, leading to a more positive tone. Articles exploring the culture and history of potatoes also gained traction around this time.

Social media posts featuring potatoes reached a record high in volume since monitoring began in July 2021. Cooking and preparation-related content constituted 83% of these posts, which remained the top theme throughout 2022.

The tone of this coverage was notably positive, with traditional media producing nearly four positive articles about potatoes for every negative piece. Meanwhile, potatoes earned about 16 positive posts on social media platforms for each negative post, marking the most favorable sentiment on record. Throughout 2022, over 50% of traditional media coverage and over 70% of social media posts were positive. Meltwater provides media monitoring, and social posts are pulled from YouTube and Twitter. Hillenby manually aggregates the data and analyzes the tone and reach, categorizing the articles by media platform and topic.

Tone and reach are scored on a 1-3 scale, with 3 indicating the most positive tone or broadest reach. Potatoes USA accepts no liability for the content of this information or the consequences of any actions based on any information contained herein.