MasterChef Italy: the most social culinary reality show there is

Everything we look at is exposed to openly expressed external judgment. Yes, because in the age of Social Networks everything bends to the universal judgment of the public, which decides what deserves attention and what does not. If a program is liked on the web it goes on, if not it falls into total oblivion. But what happens when a talent show is depopulated both on social networks and on the schedule? It becomes a major media case. Masterchef Italia is the current example, the cooking reality show aired on Sky Uno now in its 3rd Edition.

MasterChef Italy: supremacy on Twitter.

Viewers actively follow the program, participating via social networks and cheering on the participants, stage by stage. It comes, thus, to create a real network of loyal users who comment on the broadcast instantly with the airing and interact with each other. The MasterChef editorial team wanted to focus exactly on the exchange of opinions among its users through tweets/stats that encourage shares, comments and retweets, reinforcing the social dimension-especially Twitter. Kind of like saying “let’s throw out the hook and see what happens.” For this, the pre-MasterChef terrain has been well prepared through an excellent countdown of photos and tweets featuring the three judges-Carlo Cracco, Bruno Barbieri and Joe Bastianich. How can adrenaline not rise for the start of the broadcast with such a media bombardment? The ingredients – social, commercials, trailers – are certainly well thought out and aimed at creating suspense among users.
Once the reality show began, the authors and the web audience “clashed” to the tune of statuses on Facebook and Twitter, creating horizontal communication beyond all expectations. Millions of fans waited for the first episode, not only to see selections and dishes but also to witness the skirmishes between protagonists and social. On Jan. 2, the culinary reality show migrated to Pavia’s Ghislieri College for an “outdoor” episode in which the contestants, divided into two teams, confronted the palates of students and professors. During the entire broadcast, about 90 funny tweets were made about the exploits of the chefs and, as always, the social people responded enthusiastically and frequently, so much so that #MasterChefIt became one of the most popular hashtags on the web, getting about 57.89 percent retweets. For example, just before the finale, followers were asked to indicate their preference on social: Blue team or Red team?

Moreover, the absolute novelty, compared to other talents, is MasterChef Magazine, an extra section that summarizes each episode and follows a precise itinerary to get to know the places and typical dishes of the contestants, giving the opportunity to comment and, if anything, give some culinary ideas. Right from the start, for the first time, the participants are given the floor, free to propose new recipes and ingredients. Why? To make the program “hands-on” and enter everyone’s homes. In this way, everything becomes more accessible and familiar, facilitating interaction and spontaneous sharing also thanks to the support of web “Influencers,” among whom we have selected a Top 5, evident in our infographic at the bottom of the page.

Exalted personalities as the true ingredient of success

But what was the real key to success? Irony. The TV format already began as a share certainty, but the thing that really triggered the boom was theexaltation of the personalities of the three judges. Gradually, on the ironic reactions of the three chefs -to the contestants- a real TV pantomime was built, ushering in three new “figures,” each with a predetermined role: the ironic, the know-it-all and the gruff. Barbieri, Cracco and Bastianich don these masks, exalting and portraying pseudo-characters. If everything was initially born for fun, now Masterchef becomes a theater of laughter, winks and jokes that verge on excess. This mythification of the judges through the amplification of their different character traits has provided the real boost to success.

The fun atmosphere, however, is not restricted to the TV studio but has transcended boundaries by extending to Social, wallpapering each channel with pearls of wisdom and sympathetic images of the three chefs, especially Barbieri and Bastianich. The decision was then made to abandon traditional marketing canons and focus directly on the accentuated personalities that inspire users to share and retweet, pandering to the hysteria of the first actors and resulting in a Masterchef-Mania. Scrolling through the @MasterchefIt Twitter page and the judges’ official-Twitter message boards, one cannot help but smile at the multitude of image-quotes that become true web catchphrases. Some photos are uploaded by the authors themselves, while others are uploaded by users , who delight in creating cute collages with references to specific episodes of the episode. or sharing images of the judges with undoubted similarities and bizarre photomontages.

Every gesture, or individual, is taken as a cue for a possible status, both by the official editorial staff and the users themselves. Indeed, the amused attention is focused not only on the chefs but also on the contestants. Over the course of the episodes they too personify a role, constructed according to events,not necessarily related to the purposes of the competition but simply to increasing the audience. For example, during the Outdoor Test, aspiring chef Michele G. could not find salt; a user’s response was immediate…

As we can see from the Twitter Activity reported on our infographic, the real prey of the Twitter people is the contestant Rachida, often the subject of ironic phrases because of her repeated “theatrics” in front of the judges, counting as many as 423 followers. @Rachida is thus crowned the real star of social, in the presence of the three wise men her “Grazi-Grazi” now becomes a must and the new catchphrase of this 3rd edition. Through the characters of the talent, exuberant judges and histrionic contestants, a dense network of merketing is thus created out of the ordinary made up mainly of frolicsome interactions on social. This is also demonstrated by Social Activity with dizzying numbers of followers and tweets.

Among the judges, Joe Bastianich has the record of retweets and followers, counting 128,480 thousand and attracting numerous likes because of his “crippled Italian.” Among the contestants, some have not yet entered the twitter world, others have recently started to have an activity on social (such as Almo and Alberto); still others, such as Emma and Margherita like to continuously post updates about the program and their recipes, or photos with the contestants. Many users began to notice the virtual lives of the contestants and especially the judges even before following the program because they were intrigued by their success on the web. Growing, however, is not only interest in the dynamics in the studio, but also curiosity about cooking; good cooking! In this regard, the

 official website lends itself particularly well to enticing browsing through news, recipes, trivia, even giving the possibility of peeking at the biography of all the participants, their favorite ingredient and recipes, describing in detail the preparation and degree of difficulty, peppered with interesting tips. An excellent job of web design and especially of web marketing that entices viewers or simple food enthusiasts to approach the MasterChef world through its contestants. The three judges are no less impressive either, presented with quotes, specialties and above all with a psychological profile created by the users themselves, through a mini survey on likeability, charm and severity. The site becomes a real cookbook of culinary delicacies and experience in the kitchen, including the opinions of its followers. This means making a real marketing plan on the web; one that uses the competitors themselves as testimonials and spreads the message through people, who in their own small way, put their passion for real cooking on the line every day!

Put on your aprons and start watching MasterChef!