Trinity College Dining Services Embrace TikTok and Celsius Sponsorship: A Recipe for Controversy

Stale Corndog ’27

Trad Wife

Trinity College Dining Services has recently made headlines with their unexpected sponsorship deals with TikTok and Celsius. While these partnerships were intended to enhance the dining experience for students, they have sparked a wave of mixed reactions and raised eyebrows on campus.

As part of the TikTok sponsorship, Trinity College Dining Services invited one of the platform’s rising stars, Nara Smith, to campus. Smith, known for her unconventional and time consuming cooking methods, conducted an exclusive cooking class in Mather Hall, focusing on the timeless classic – peanut butter jelly sandwiches. In a surprising twist, Smith advocated for using mold in her recipes, claiming it adds flavor and an authentic 18th-century mouthfeel. She emphasized the importance of making everything from scratch, including the mold itself, and praised Mather Hall for their already state of the art mold making device, the bread box! While some students found this approach intriguing, others were left questioning the sanity of the dining services’ decision-making process. Nara Smith offered students an alternative for a quick meal if they couldn’t find anything appetizing in Mather Hall, all they need is 24 hours to painstakingly grind each peanut into peanut butter and $50 worth of strawberries and white sugar they can cook down into jam over a stovetop, that almost none of us have in our dorms, yet it will still be completed before your Mather Hall omelette. As a special treat, she allowed students to use her own yeast infection as a starter for baking sourdough bread. Yes, you read that right! Smith claimed that if you have a yeast infection, it’s a great opportunity to bake bread right from your own dorm room. This unique approach to bread-making left many students both fascinated and slightly disgusted.

Now, with the TikTok sponsorship, you can order food directly from the TikTok Shop, including the Chamoy Pickle kit. This new feature allows students to explore and purchase trending food items and kits directly from the TikTok app with meal swipes, meal plan dollars, or bantam bucks. The Chamoy Pickle kit has gained popularity on TikTok, with users creating unique and flavorful pickles using a variety of fillings and toppings. The Chamoy Pickle kit typically includes a big Chamoy Dill pickle, Salsagetti (spaghetti-shaped sour gummy candy), Fruit Gushers, Fruit Roll-Ups, Takis or Hot Cheetos, flavor powders, and flavor sauces. The process involves draining the neon red pickle juice, carving a tunnel into the pickle, and stuffing it with the various toppings. Finally, a Fruit Roll-Up is wrapped around the outside of the pickle to complete the creation. This dish boasts more vitamins and minerals than a typical Mather Hall meal, making it a great option for students. 

The partnership with Celsius, a popular energy drink brand, has also raised concerns among the Trinity College community. Recent revelations have exposed the brand’s involvement in a pyramid scheme, leaving many students skeptical about its presence on campus. Reports suggest that stacks of Celsius energy drink cans have been prominently displayed at The Bistro. This has led to speculation that the college may be inadvertently promoting a questionable business model. Students are now questioning the ethics behind the sponsorship and whether it aligns with the college’s values. While energy drinks are often consumed as a pick-me-up, the sugary nature of Celsius’ beverages has led some students to view them as a meal replacement option. With its potent caffeine content, this beverage holds twice the amount found in a typical cup of coffee, making it undeniably appealing. The original 12 oz can boasts a robust 200 milligrams of caffeine, surpassing the quantity found in a regular cup of coffee and slightly exceeding that of a standard 16 oz can of Monster. Its smooth consumption is accompanied by an artificial, subtly fruity flavor that tricks the mind into thinking it’s a healthier option. With reports of frequent stomach bugs and gastrointestinal issues in Mather Hall, some students have turned to Celsius’ energy drinks as a substitute. After experiencing multiple instances of tummy aches and diarrhea, the appeal of a quick and easy meal replacement becomes more understandable. Celsius recommends drinking a can every morning and two to three more during the day, to have the desired on the edge of insanity results. Consuming too much caffeine can increase one’s heart rate warning Celsius is not liable for any consumption related illnesses. You’ll need an intervention to curb this addiction, but after all why would you want to?