Why I hate Mukbang

Hello and welcome to this video about

mukbangs. Oh God, I hate that word so

much. So today we're going to be talking

about the phenomenon that is eating in

front of a camera, also known as a

mukbang, and why I hate it so much. I

think it's safe to assume that most people

understand what a mukbang is, but in case

you're one of those people who have never

heard of the term before, let me explain

briefly. Basically, it's a trend that

originated in South Korea, and it's

actually a Korean word combining the 2

words of eat and broadcast together to

create the wonderful sounding word

mukbang. During a mukbang, a sad and

lonely individual will eat his dinner

whilst recording himself, and then other

sad lonely individuals will watch him

eating his dinner whilst recording

himself. There's also other variants of

mukbangs where instead of eating the food,

they cook the food. This is known as a

cookbang, otherwise known as a cooking

show. Whereas I can understand the appeal

of watching someone cook since it actually

takes skill, I have absolutely no idea why

anyone would want to watch someone eating.

What is so fascinating about watching

someone stuff their faces whilst making

disgusting pig sounds into a microphone?

Because I have absolutely no idea why

anyone would want to watch this rubbish.

But for whatever reason, millions and

millions of people do love it. I could

imagine a mukbang being kind of enjoyable

if the person doing it was having some

kind of interesting, intellectual,

stimulating conversation, but in most

cases the person doing the mukbang doesn't

even say anything, and if they do say

anything, then it's the most mundane,

boring nonsense you could ever imagine.

So whilst I was researching for this

video, I watched several mukbang videos

and came across several mukbang channels,

and I can honestly say it was all utter

drivel. I just could not imagine myself

actually watching this kind of content

unironically and enjoying it. I think one

of the reasons why some people enjoy

watching mukbang is because maybe they are

just really fat and they're trying to lose

weight, and somehow by watching someone

else eat it reduces their own cravings.

I'm not sure how that works because

watching other people eat usually just

makes me feel more hungry. Maybe they're

just so damn lazy they can't even be

bothered to get up off their fat asses to

make their own food. They just hop onto

YouTube and watch someone else eat. And if

these mukbang channels are helping people

lose weight, then I guess it's a good

thing. But you know what's also a good

thing? Um, you know, exercising and having

a healthy diet. In a world where obesity

is becoming more and more prevalent, I

guess that if mukbangers are helping

reduce the number of fatties in this

world, then G-good job, I guess?

Now, the other group of people who I

believe enjoy mukbangs are not the

fatties. They are the lonely, lonely

people who have no friends, and maybe they

enjoy the social aspect of being able to

enjoy their meals with someone else who's

also enjoying their meal. And in a world

where technology and social media are

making people more and more isolated and

withdrawn from other people, I guess

mukbang provides some kind of service to

these types of people. I really don't see

the point of watching a mukbang if I'm

feeling hungry, because if I'm feeling

hungry, I'll simply walk over to my

refrigerator, take some food out, and eat

it. Why would I torture myself and watch

someone else eat something tasty when I

could be eating it myself and enjoying it

myself? I guess I could kind of see the

appeal if the person doing the mukbang was

a cute, hot girl, but then again, if I'm

interested in watching a hot, cute girl,

there are other activities that I would

rather be watching her participate in.

Rather than the consumption of food items.

I think it's kind of comparable in a way

to the adult entertainment industry,

because when you think about it, when you

watch an adult video, you're watching 2

people do something that you wish you were

doing yourself. It makes sense to me why

someone would want to watch an adult

video, because if you're single and you

don't have a woman and you're too lazy to

get on the train to go visit your nearest

red-light district, well then your

choices, your options are kind of limited.

For example, if you wake up one morning

and you feel in the mood for some adult

fun, you could use your imagination or you

could open up pHub and watch some adult

videos. The difference with food is,

well, I've never woken up in the morning

feeling hungry and thought to myself,

hmm, I think I'll watch some mukbangers on

YouTube. No, I'll just get out of bed, go

over to the fridge, and get some food and

have something to eat. I think most people

have food in their fridges or their homes.

Most people don't have a woman stored in

their fridge or closets for easy access

unless you're some kind of crazy person.

But when you watch adult videos, at least

you can get some kind of satisfaction

because you can climax all by yourself.

But when it comes to mukbang, I don't see

how you can gain the same kind of

satisfaction unless you have a special

ability where you can actually trick your

body into thinking that it's had something

to eat. And if you're capable of doing

something like that, then that's actually

a pretty nifty trick. I've seen channels

where they've only had a couple thousand

subscribers grow to enormous sizes

in under a year. I've seen one channel

grow from 2,000 subs to 2.4 million

subs in under a year, and it's just crazy.

He uploads videos, new videos every single

day, basically doing the same thing,

eating food into a microphone, but

different types of food, and he gets

millions of views every time. People just

love it. They can't get enough of it.

They don't get bored or tired with the

repetitive nature of his content. They lap

it up. It's just a really strange idea for

me to grasp as content creator on YouTube,

because I bet you anything if I constantly

made videos about the same thing over and

over again, people will get bored and

they'll stop watching. But for these

mukbang channels, that doesn't apply for

some reason. And you might be thinking,

oh Daniel, you're just jealous because you

don't get as many views for doing that

kind of stuff. And yeah, you're damn right

I'm jealous. I wish I could make content

like that on my channel. I wish I could

just make videos where I'm just sitting

there eating food into a microphone

getting millions of views. Unfortunately,

I don't have that kind of audience. I

don't have an audience of people who want

to see that kind of content. And trust me,

I've tried making that kind of content,

and I know that sounds kind of

hypocritical, but you know the saying, if

you can't beat them, join them. And yes,

I have in fact made my own ASMR mukbang

channel where you can see— I'll show it to

you now. I'll link it in the description

as well. And it's just kind of like an

experiment to see if I can also get

millions of views just by eating food. I

doubt it would happen, but you know, if

you don't try, then you'll never know. I

think that if you think of all of the

content, all of the different types of

content that are on this fabulous website,

mukbang videos must be the most lazy,

low-effort, boring kinds of content on

this entire website. Unless there's

channels dedicated to watching paint dry.

And that's fine, I've got nothing against

boring content. People can make whatever

they want. The thing that I don't

understand is how do so many people, how

do millions and millions of people

actually find mukbang? How do they find

this stuff interesting or entertaining? I

just don't get it. Maybe I'm getting old,

maybe I'm too old to understand all this

stuff on the internet now. But if for some

people watching other people eating on the

internet is a form of entertainment for

them, then I think that's just kind of sad

and pathetic. I've heard that a lot of

people watch mukbangs because they feel

lonely. I think it's kind of depressing to

think that our society has gotten so bad

that there are millions of people who feel

that lonely. Lonely enough to actually

want to have some kind of virtual friend

on the internet who they can share their

meals with. Then— I don't even know what

to say to that. I'm just trying to imagine

the type of person who genuinely enjoys

mukbang content. Do they come home from

work or school, open up their computer,

open up YouTube, and they see a new upload

from their favorite mukbang YouTuber?

They, they click on the video with

excitement and anticipation. Oh, I can't

wait to see him eat fried chicken again.

Oh, I can't wait to see him eat pizza

again for the 100th time. It hasn't gotten

boring at all. I could watch him eat pizza

1,000 times and it would still be just as

exciting and exhilarating as the first

time was. It's just so weird and bizarre

for me. What kind of person actually

derives enjoyment and entertainment from

watching someone else eating food? These

people must be very easily entertained.

Maybe they could see a bumblebee fly past

and they wet their pants. These mukbangers

must be making so much money from the

views they're getting, and it's just kind

of depressing that we live in a society

where people who eat food in front of a

camera for a living are making 10 times

the money that doctors are making. They

make 100 times more money than policemen

or firemen who risk their lives are

making. That's just kind of sad to think

about. I have nothing against the people

who are doing it, the people who are

making that kind of content. I mean, good

for them, good for them finding a way to

make loads of money by doing something

that's pretty easy, doesn't take any skill

to do, isn't difficult to do, is something

that every human being on this planet

does. I have nothing against them, it's

just that their audiences and the millions

of people who enjoy that kind of content

are just a little bit alien to me. I just

can't imagine actually watching a mukbang

video from start to end unironically. The

only ones I've watched are because I was

curious to find out what all the fuss,

all the hullabaloo was about, and

unfortunately I didn't get it. I couldn't

get it. Don't understand it. Don't want to

understand it. It's pretty stupid.

Another strange thing is that a lot of

these people who enjoy mukbang content,

one of the main reasons why they enjoy it

so much is because they like the sound of

chewing. They like it when the person

who's making the video, they like it when

his lips are smacking and his mouth is

close to the microphone and they can hear

all the chomping and chewing and the

slushing around. I just don't understand

what kind of sicko would actually find

those disgusting noises pleasurable in any

way at all. Because when you think about

it, what is chewing? It's when food enters

your mouth and then someone uses saliva

and mixes it all up and churns it into a

paste using their teeth. It's disgusting

to think about, let alone actually enjoy.

I just can't imagine the kind of person

who sits there in his living room

listening to some person on the internet

chewing and he's enjoying these

sounds. What the hell? Okay, so let's give

it a little test. I'm going to take a bite

of my sandwich right here and I'm going to

eat it very close to the microphone and

let me know if any of these sounds makes

you feel good inside.

Oh, I just

listened back to it after recording it and

it sounds absolutely disgusting. It just

sounds gross. How does anyone actually

enjoy that? I think it sounds gross and

disgusting, and I was the one who made it.

I just— I just hope this is some stupid

internet trend or a fad that's gonna die

out eventually, but I just don't see it

dying out because it's just getting more

and more popular, and I think it's here to

stay. I think we're stuck with it. So

those were my thoughts on mukbang, and if

you're the type of person who does enjoy

mukbang, I just want to ask you, why?

Why? What is great about it? What is so

good about it? Because I don't understand.

And if you like this style of video where

I just do a voiceover with drawings in the

background, then press the like button.

And if this video gets a lot of likes,

then I guess I'll, I'll make more videos

in this style because it was actually

quite fun to make. And now I'm going to

finish the rest of my sandwich so I can

make a video about it and put it onto my

ASMR Mukbang channel. Don't forget to

subscribe to that channel if you're

interested in watching me eat food.

I'm sure it'd be very entertaining. And

until next time,