So far, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, the food-dropping family animation, has taken around £3.5m at the UK box office. And forecasts are good for it to continue such a bounty.
For those who've missed it, the plot involves a perky scientist who tries to combat world hunger by working out how to turn water into snacks, with mixed results. Is it a film to inspire moderation or jubilation in its viewers? Nausea or gluttony? And, is it good for the meatball industry?
At first, the results of our special investigation were inconclusive. Waitrose and Marks & Spencer both reported stable sales. Leon, posh lunch joint renowned for its meatballs, recorded just the barest increase (3,475 portions were sold in the week beginning 7 September; 3,620 portions in the week after that, 3,614 in the subsequent seven days).
Hopes of a breakthrough improved when one spokesperson for a UK supermarket idly wondered if the film had enjoyed the backing of any food producers. For a second, we sniffed our own Watergate. But, sadly, a few calls confirmed that no meatball manufacturers were involved in the making of the film.
And then came the call back from Ikea. They had, their press office confirmed, noticed a 72,163 week-on week increase in meatball sales in their UK cafes, as of 20 September. Even when you break that down, it's quite a stat. Each Ikea meatball meal contains between 10 - 20 balls. Taking an average, that means about 4,811 extra people ordered meatballs at Ikea last week.
The reasons for the Swedish furniture outlet's hogging of these extra sales are easy to explain: it's where you go to fill up your children cheaply and relatively healthily, maybe even on the way back from an out-of-town multiplex. Under 10s aren't usually so jazzed by a Leon. What our survey doesn't take into account, of course, is how many people rustled them up from scratch. Nor how many people have eschewed meatballs in favour of other yummy stuff featured in the film: jelly (primarily), plus hamburgers, spaghetti and pancakes.
That's where you come in: have you cooked, or felt under pressure, even subliminally, to eat meatballs over the past fortnight? Indeed, have you ever been inspired in your noshing by a film - whether prompted by overt product placement or not?
It caused a small stir earlier this year when US sales of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cookery mushroomed after the release of Julie & Julia, about one woman's quest to cook her way through the mighty tome in a year. Did you rustle up a Boeuf Bourguignon when you'd got back to the stove? Did you stock up on orange tic tacs after watching Juno? Put on some pasta after seeing Big Night? Head out for some butter after Last Tango in Paris? Do let us know.
