WattAgNet: The egg vs. Kylie Jenner: No competition

Just how popular are eggs? Well, apparently, they are more popular than reality TV personality Kylie Jenner.

Over the weekend, a picture of a simple egg still in its shell has become the most popular photograph on the social media platform Instagram.

In January, Instagram user @world_record_egg posted the picture, along with the message, “Let’s set a world record together and get the most liked post on Instagram. Beating the current world record held by Kylie Jenner (18 million)! We got this.”

As of around noontime on January 14, this egg photo not only broke the record set by Jenner, of “Keeping up with the Kardashians” fame, but is getting close to doubling the amount of likes the Jenner photo received.

That’s pretty impressive.

The egg, when you think of it from a consumer standpoint, is pretty simple and humble, which is quite the contrast from the members of the seemingly pretentious Kardashian/Jenner family.

I will admit that back in my days as a track and field athlete, I looked up to her father, Bruce Jenner, an Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon. But that family’s 15 minutes of fame should have long since passed, and I hesitated to blog about this subject because I don’t want people to think I’m validating their relevance.

And perhaps that is the message that Instagram users are trying to send: That the egg is more intriguing than any member of that family.

I know without breakfast favorites like omelets, scrambled eggs and French toast, plus eggs used as ingredients any many of my favorite foods for other meals, my diet would be lacking.

Opportunity for egg industry

The egg industry really should have some fun and use this Instagram phenomenon to promote itself.

Perhaps the industry is already thinking that.

Here’s some feedback that I’ve got from those in the sector:

“On behalf of America’s egg farmers, we’re thrilled to see the egg get the recognition it deserves. We always knew eggs were incredible … now the world has confirmed it,” said Anne Alonzo, CEO and president of the American Egg Board (AEB).

And Ken Klippen, president of the National Association of Egg Farmers, has this to say: "We are delighted to see people appreciating the egg. It's what farmers producing them along with AEB have claimed for decades."