ST. LOUIS — Players from as far away as Australia are playing Popcorn Imagery. People Magazine has called about doing an interview. Ant the man at the center of it is from our area.
Brent Moore's day job isn't as much fun as his Facebook popcorn game.
"I work for a retail business and then I do popcorn on the side," said Moore, laughing.
The idea started a little over a year ago when Moore posted a photo of a popcorn piece that looked like a swan on his personal Facebook.
"15 people responded, and there was more attention with each post," Moore said. "Somebody suggested I make this a game."
The game is simple. Exactly at 5:53 p.m. each day, Moore posts a photo of a popcorn piece for people to guess what it resembles. The 5:53 start time is a family secret.
The winner gets a bag of popcorn. Other prizes include Popcorn Imagery t-shirts or gift cards.
Negativity on TV and the internet was the catalyst.
"So I was just sitting there eating popcorn, watching the news on TV and there was just crime after crime stories. They're just negative stories. I just so happened to look down at one of the pieces of popcorn that I was fixing to put in my mouth," said Moore. "And I said, man, that, that looks like a swan with his neck put back in its wing. So I thought it was pretty cool. So I just took a picture of it and I posted it on my regular page and said, 'what do y'all think this looks like?' And we probably had about 10 or 15 people start replying."
And that's how Popcorn Imagery by Scounder was born. Scounder is the nickname Moore's father gave him back in the day.
Moore said the game is growing internationally. Shayler Mercelsanca-Fife, a restaurant supervisor in Perth, Australia has been playing Popcorn Imagery for a couple of months.
"I found it fun in like an adult and a kid way," said Mercelsanca-Fife. "So, I like looking at the different types of popcorn and seeing what you can see out of it. I really enjoyed it. I think the one that I actually won on was a hippo standing on a ball.
In honor of National Popcorn Day, Moore will host multiple rounds on Saturday, Jan. 19.