Promise Apple by Hadley & Reynolds, 2015, digital advertisement and two correspondence letters (posted left)

Promise Foods is a speculative company that genetically engineers a "naturally" caffeinated apple. The project includes both an advertisement for the Promise Apple and behind-the-scenes documents revealing how the Promise Apple reaches the market.

The project takes something from the background of food production – genetic engineering – and thrusts it into the foreground. The speculative company takes GMOs, which often have a negative connotation, and attempts to make them desirable by blurring the line between natural and artificial. The apple is "naturally" caffeinated through genetic manipulations of caffeine precursors already present in apples.

The Promise Apple sidesteps U.S. food safety regulations through a loophole wherein certain compounds – including caffeine – are allowed to be added to a food based on the determination that they are generally recognized as safe (GRAS).

Website: www.promisefoods.us