Mukbang culture has been around for a long time, as a way for people to eat on behalf of others and get mouth-watering at the sight of food deliveries from food influencers.
However, after some concerns arose about TikToker Jelly Bean Sweets, people questioned the darker side of mukbang content.
They call it gross, unhealthy and downright weird, and wonder why we enjoy watching these videos and if there is a darker side to mukbang content.
Why do people find mukbangs satisfying?
Market observationMukbang culture originated in Korea in the early 2010s and was posted primarily on YouTube. The word combines the words for “eat” and “broadcast.” Since then, it has become a huge worldwide phenomenon, reaching new heights on TikTok.
Similar to ASMR videos, mukbang content falls into the “oddly satisfying” category for some people. Popular mukbang influencers like Jane Mukbangs and Dylan McArthur have garnered over 100 million likes on their eating content alone, which often includes massive amounts of food, messy eating, and lots of chewing noises.
People enjoy watching these videos for a variety of reasons, and psychologists at Nottingham Trent University have found that people watch mukbang videos and generally engage with mukbang content, namely as a source of entertainment.
However, they also found that people use the videos to eat vicariously without potentially harming their own health (so-called “feeder content”). Moreover, they also offer them a way to escape reality and feel less lonely if they often eat alone.
“Watching others eat online can make people feel more satisfied and relaxed. By providing social connections and a chance to temporarily escape the hurdles of everyday life, it is no surprise that ‘mukbang’ has become such a sensation over the years,” the study confirmed.
Are mukbangs becoming anger bait?
As with most online trends, people keep going further and further to get more views and go viral. This has caused mukbangs to become bigger, messier, and grosser.
TikTokers like Moe Eats now film mukbangs in their cars and sometimes even fry already fried foods like Big Macs in their vehicles.
This content is more rage bait than satisfaction, as people watch in fear as others eat the biggest mess possible.
The most disgusting trend people identified in 2024 was the candied chipotle burrito. People would dip their burritos in vats of hot sugar and then eat them after they dried like candy.
The darker side of Mukbang culture
Viewers have started to notice this change in mukbang content, and new opinions are forming about the food trend, with some people claiming the content is becoming toxic.
Some people worry about the health of mukbang influencers who eat multiple fast food meals a day, and some are just sick of seeing these haunting videos without a trigger warning on their FYP:
“No, seriously what happened to mukbangs where people eat at a normal pace and talk to you like you’re their friend?” noted one user, missing the chatty vlog style of mukbang content that first became popular on YouTube.
Another commented, “Like, why do you dip everything in Cane’s sauce?” This was a reference to the popular fast food trend of ordering a large tub of sauce at Raising Cane’s.
“I liked the 45-minute mukbangs where they eat with a friend and talk about life. Now it’s someone crying alone in the dark and stuffing their belly,” said one user, commenting on the darker turn these videos seem to have taken.
“I’m an avid mukbang fan, not because I watch them instead of eating them, but because the sound is really soothing. But when I see sauce dripping everywhere, grrr, especially the wriggling sounds,” said another.
Following the death of a YouTuber during a food livestream in July 2024, people are becoming increasingly aware of the dark side of this content, which encourages overeating and social isolation.
However, these disagreements are not hurting the popularity of mukbang videos on TikTok as the popularity of food influencers continues to grow. Whether people are watching these videos because they find them genuinely satisfying or because they find them gross remains to be seen.
