Sardinecore

A bit like an old lady muttering “there’s nothing new under the sun” when she sees her grandkids going on about how moustaches are now cool, I said something quite similar when I read about “sardinecore” in both the Telegraph and the Guardian yesterday.

I remember running a story about tinned fish back when I was food editor at the Sunday Times about four years ago, when there was a flurry of international brands going on sale here and our interest in oily fish getting more intense. 

Perhaps I didn’t realise that the tins would spawn (sorry!) a fashion trend – and I must admit that I don’t pay enough attention to TikTok to know when a subject is taking off with a new audience. I have younger colleagues for that and, of course, trusty PRs who I’m sure keep a close eye on all the platforms out there.

Sardinecore is a salutary lesson in never writing off a story or trend as ‘over’… There are new audiences for everything and one has to put jaded views to one side; this is also true of writing about subjects that are London-centric or about films and TV shows before they start. Sometimes they take a while to build up until they reach critical mass, i.e., when everyone’s talking about them. (See also The Bear, which I binged on day one and am bemusedly watching everyone else talk about it…) 

That’s the time to strike with a well-resourced story, especially if there’s the opportunity for merchandise within it!