With more than 300 million users, it’s hard to stand out on Instagram. But one Australian man has found a way to to attract followers by combining two popular trends on social media – humor and food – in a very unique way.
Meet 22-year-old Phil Ferguson of Melbourne. According to Eater, Ferguson has quite the hobby that’s sure to spawn imitators now that it’s all over Instagram. He knits hats and headgear to resemble instantly recognizable foods, strikes a pose with them in photographs, and posts them to his Instagram stream. Here are some of our favorites (find the rest at chiliphilly).
There’s no doubt that his crocheted representations of food are spot-on and comical at the same time, but another reason may explain the excessive amount of likes his memorable pictures are getting: In each picture, Ferguson wears an intentionally over-serious facial expression, which is in stark contrast to the over-the-top humor of his hats. A good number of Ferguson’s pictures are based off well-known food emoji, though some of his works of art are nothing more than his personal spin on condiments such as ketchup and mustard.
#5 Sauce Head Realness. MORE FOOD. Here I am serving tomato sauce and mustard on the face! Was a bitch to make but fun none the less! A photo posted by Phil Ferguson (@chiliphilly) on
A quick review of his Instagram stream found an assortment of pictures featuring various food items, from a full eggplant headgear and a birthday cake hat, to a sushi roll balaclava and a sprinkled donut beret; there are a few non-food exceptions, like a panda, a screw, and a homage to Donkey Kong. For posting just 41 pictures, starting just 10 months ago, Ferguson has already amassed a following of more than 50,000 people.
All this begs the question, how ever did Ferguson get into this weird and wacky art form? According to a brief BBC interview, he worked at a burger shop after moving to a new city. There, he was inspired by all the food that he was always around. His first creation was of a potted plant, but this quickly progressed to more food-based crochet work.
A photo posted by Phil Ferguson (@chiliphilly) on
His creations always got great reaction from people, which is why he keeps making them. Sometimes, though, putting everything together can be a challenge, as when he had to crochet around a wire hanger for his ketchup-and-mustard hat.
Ferguson has no plans to stop, so keep watching his stream for more zany, expertly crafted food-inspired headwear.
