Food as Bribe: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
▲{{quote| ''And [[Scooby Doo]], if you come through,''<br />
▲''Then you can have yourself a Scooby Snack!''<br />
▲''That's a fact!''<br />
▲A couple of lines from the original [[Scooby Doo]] cartoon theme song }}
Sometimes, things can get tough. You might be [[The Load]] or the [[Cowardly Lion]]. Your [[Five-Man Band]] really wants you to go into the [[Abandoned Hospital]] or to stand up to [[The Bully]] for the first time, but you find yourself incapable of going. What you need is the proper motivation. But would it be [[Only in It For
Food can be a very powerful motivator for some people. All you have to do is offer them a burger, or a french fry, and they're like putty in your hands. Sometimes, the food used can be anything, although, typically, it's [[Trademark Favorite Food|one treat in particular]]. And sometimes, depending on the situation, one will not be enough. You'd have to offer them the whole box. For animals, bribing them can be just as easy as offering them the food their species [[Stock Animal Diet|is known for eating]]. And if you ever come across a cop you just can't buy your way out of a ticket from, try offering him a [[Donut Mess
Compare [[Delicious Distraction]], which is when food is used to distract. Can be invoked with [[Trademark Favorite Food]]. Contrast [[Denied Food
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Ryuk and apples in ''[[
* In ''[[K-On!]]'', the band uses cake and other sweets to motivate [[Genius Ditz|Yui]] to join the band, practice, and study.
* In ''[[Angel Beats
* Fancy tuna for Haruhi in ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]''.
* In ''[[A Channel]]'', Run's mother promises her all the Kobe beef she can eat to motivate her to study harder and apply to a better high school.
* Hana of ''[[My Heavenly Hockey Club]]''. Just about any food will work, if there's enough of it.
== [[
* The ''[[Munchkin]]'' card game has a card called "Bribe the GM with Food." It serves as an instant level-up.▼
** As does "Pay For The Pizza."▼
* The protagonist of ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'' is motivated to do great deeds and work his butt off in training ... for food.
* ''[[Home Alone|Home Alone 3]]'': The brother's parrot only plays along with the scheme if you have
* In ''[[Strange Brew]]'', Bob and Doug McKenzie successfully bribe the secretary at Elsinore Brewery for information by using a donut: "Perhaps one of
▲* ''[[Home Alone|Home Alone 3]]'': The brother's parrot only plays along with the scheme if you have TWO crackers.
▲{{quote| "''Double, or nothing''"}}
▲* In ''[[Strange Brew]]'', Bob and Doug McKenzie successfully bribe the secretary at Elsinore Brewery for information by using a donut: "Perhaps one of THESE would refresh your memory?" She gives them a little information, but holds out for another before giving up the full scoop.
== [[Literature]] ==
* ''[[The Dresden Files]]'':
** Not a literal bribe, but dealing with the Eldest Gruff could well be considered this.
* ''[[Discworld]]'':
** In
*** Well, the Watch has been reformed so that they don't take bribes other than donuts and beer. Vimes doesn't take the beer, as he's a recovering alcoholic.
** In ''[[
*** Though they had been instructed to take all bribes offered, bring the people in question to a waiting room, and then lock it until Lord Vetinari decides what to do with them. Unfortunately they also dispose of any food bribes afterwards in fear of poison, which in this case even Lord Vetinari considered a crime against good cooking.
* [[Stephanie Plum]] is often bribed by her mother by food. Seeing as how she is a very good cook and Steph is often broke, it is a very powerful motivator. When regular food just won't do, [[I Was Told There Would Be Cake|cake]] will usually seal the deal.
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== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
* ''[[
* Kel on ''[[Kenan and Kel]]'' would do it for a bottle of orange soda.
* Used with Schultz on ''[[Hogan's Heroes]]'' regularly.
* ''[[Power Rangers]]'':
** ''[[
** In ''[[Power Rangers SPD]]'' . Piggy is an alien tipster who accepts food as payment (from both the good guys ''and'' bad guys) but it has to be the type he likes - food that is spoiled, rancid, and/or rotten.
* ''[[The Amanda Show]]'': Amanda's stalker Penelope Taynt tries to bribe Barney the security guard so she can sneak into Amanda's show. After failing to bribe him with money and jewels, Barney finally gives in when Penelope gives him a Pizza. A very nice slice of Pizza.
* In ''[[Seinfeld]]'', one surefire way to get Newman to shut up and/or go away is to give him a [[Trademark Favorite Food| Little Debbie coffee cake.]]
== [[
=== [[Card Games]] ===
* In ''[[Lost Souls MUD]]'', this is the most pleasant way of getting past Kerberos, the three-headed dog guarding the fiery portal from the cave of Tainaron to the River Tethys.▼
▲* The ''[[Munchkin]]'' card game has a card called "Bribe the GM with Food." It serves as an instant level-up.
▲** As does "Pay For The Pizza."
== [[Video Games]] ==
* In ''[[Portal (
* In ''[[
* The original ''[[The Legend of Zelda (
* ''[[
=== [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPG]]s ===
▲* In ''[[Lost Souls MUD]]'', this is the most pleasant way of getting past Kerberos, the three-headed dog guarding the fiery portal from the cave of Tainaron to the River Tethys.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* In ''[[Dominic Deegan]]'', Oracle for Hire, Garrit demonstrates why the testimony of talking animals isn't admissible in court by bribing Spark to change his story about Bumper in one story arc.
{{quote|
* A while back in ''[[General Protection Fault]]'', Trudy Trueheart obtained a stockpile of advanced alien weapons by bribing an Alien Overlord... with cheese. Apparently, Earth is the only place in the galaxy where cheese is made, and their attempts to synthesize it (see: cattle mutilations) have so far failed.
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* ''[[Scooby Doo]]'': Perhaps the [[Trope Codifier]]. Scooby Snacks have been used in nearly all incarnations of the show to motivate Shaggy and Scooby into going into some creepy places.
** Parodied in ''[[Futurama]]'', where Bender retracts his limbs and head into his body. Leela tries to coax him out with a beer. "Would you do it for a Bender-snack?"
** In one of the movies, Shaggy and Scooby think ahead and bring their own Scooby Snacks so Fred can't bribe them - unfortunately, Fred also brought milk, and points out they don't have any of that to go with them.
* ''[[Johnny Test]]'': Dookie will do anything for steak.
* On ''[[South Park]]'' when those evil Canadians came to take Ike back from the Broflovskis after rescinding the adoption he refused to get in their car, until they offered him [[Everything's Better
* ''[[
* A few episodes of ''[[Clifford the Big Red Dog]]'' showed that Mac refused to listen to what Jetta wanted him to do, unless he was offered a Tummy Yummy as motivation.
* Used a couple times in ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
* In ''[[Recess]]'', the main six try to bribe Brittany A. to give her sister, Ashley A.'s diary back, by using candy. It doesn't work.
** In another episode, the Ashleys bribe T.J. with candy to get him to hang out with them after realizing her found a $100 bill.
* In the ''[[
* From ''[[Animaniacs]]''; once [[Pablo Picasso]] realizes that the Warner sibs' painting actually sell, he hires them to paint them by giving them frankfurters. ([[A Worldwide Punomenon| "We get paid in Franks,"]] says Yakko.)
* In the pilot episode of ''[[Amphibia (TV series)|Amphibia]]'', Sprig is able to get past his little sister by giving her candy, and two episodes later, Anne's offer of Earth-candy sways her in a heartbeat. Justified, of course, as she's a toddler.
* In an episode of ''[[Beware the Batman]]'', Gordon gets information from a tough looking ex-con by giving him chocolate.
== [[Real Life]] ==
* [[Fancy Dinner
* Cory Montieth mentioned that the choreographer for ''[[
* Napoleon supposedly once faced an enemy army that was ill-supplied. He promised them food if they joined his army. It worked!
* Animal trainers are fond of using this trope.
* One bizarre example, in 1986, George L. Belair, Minneapolis city council candidate, tried to bribe seniors into voting for him by giving away free Twinkies, Ho-Hos, and other Hostess snacks. He was actually arrested on charges of violating the Fair Campaign Practices Act, and his defense was ”I had no intention of bribing anybody with Twinkies and Ho Ho's and a cup of coffee." While he didn't win the election, he was acquitted of wrongdoing, seeing as legally speaking, it's harder to clarify that food is intended as a bribe (rather than generosity) than it is when it's money or other valuables.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Food Tropes]]
[[Category:Motivation Index]]
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