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Food trucks owe a great deal of their popularity to Twitter, since the social media site is arguably the most efficient way to get the word out about a lunch, dinner, snack, or event serving stop. But for the second season of The Food Network's "The Great Food Truck Race," Twitter might be the extra ingredient that's spoiling the brouhaha.The OC Register breaks down how Twitter users spread the word about trucks and their stops around the country for the show, which does not premiere on the Food Network until August 14th.
When it comes to reality competition shows, networks often keep a tight rein on participants and the media, which was definitely the case with season one of "The Great Food Truck Race," when our meetings with a couple of the participating trucks were arranged by Food Network PR reps, and the contestants we interviewed, including ultimate victors on the Grill 'Em All Truck, had to be tight-lipped and vague about details of anything beyond the opening episode. Sounds like things were going down the same way this year, notes the Register: "Food Network reps - clearly underestimating the power of social media this year — repeatedly ignored the media’s attempt to confirm the lineup of trucks. Truck owners also kept quiet."
However, going into big cities to shoot episodes, the crowd couldn't help but Tweet about which trucks were where and doing what. Locals from the trucks' home cities also kept tabs on the Twitter chitter chatter and posted updates as the season progressed.
The Register includes some spoilers; we'll leave it up to you to decide if you want to know some of the season's results. What we can tell you is that a whopping five of the eight participating trucks are from SoCal: L.A.'s Cafe Con Leche, San Diego's Devilicious, Costa Mesa's Seabirds, L.A.'s Sky’s Gourmet Tacos, and Irvine's The Lime Truck. No matter how the influence of Twitter on food television proves to affect the show's marketing, one thing the truck lineup tells us is that SoCal is still the driving force in the food truck scene.
