Posted on 04/07/2019 8:37:55 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
A FREAKY trend that has taken YouTube by storm involves guzzling huge volumes of food in front of total strangers.
Known as mukbang videos, the viral clips show young women and men scoffing enormous meals in front of hoards of people online.
Mukbanging is a strange trend that's sweeping YouTube
Some make millions from their channels and are regularly branded a "sexy turn on" by their fans.
Originating in South Korea, mukbang (pronounced "mook-bong") involves watching people binge eat via a YouTube live stream.
The phrase comes from combining the Korean words for eating (muok-da) and broadcast (bang song).
Mukbang stars – some of whom make £7,000 per month – will sometimes spend hours ploughing through 4,000 calories' worth of food.
Stars live stream themselves ploughing through copious amounts of food YouTube
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Stars live stream themselves ploughing through copious amounts of food
Dishes range from spicy ramen to cereal, buffalo wings to McDonald's and a host of Korean dishes.
But the trend has now spread further than the Asian peninsula, with a growing fanbase in Britain and the United States.
Viewers say the weird clips helps relieve stress.
"I prefer the seafood, crab and ramen videos," American mukbang fan Sammy Bosch told Today.
"While watching others eat rich food you can fantasise that you are eating it. For me, I associate food with pleasure. So, watching these videos makes me feel happy."
And it's great for fame-hungry "mukbangers", too.
Earning money from fan donations, adverts that play before videos and corporate sponsors, some have built vast media empires around their odd hobby.
Christi Caston, a mukbanger from Texas, posts to the channel YummyBitesTV.
Mukbangers often chat to their audience while eating
Caston says she makes twice as much cash as she did working a nine to five.
"I mukbang every day, and I make a comfortable living from it," she told Today.
But gorging on thousands of calories in one sitting can take its toll on mukbanging's biggest names.
Nicholas Perry, 26, has confessed he suffers from severe cramps and problems with his willy following recordings.
Both men and women get involved
"Most people, when they think about it, are not willing to destroy their bodies for money,” Perry, who runs the channel Nikocado Avocado, told Men's Health.
"I started having erection problems,” Perry admits. "It never happened until I started doing mukbangs.
"I can’t fall asleep because I feel like my digestive tract is on fire, and then I’m running to the bathroom. I’m sitting on the toilet crying."
But despite the problems, Perry said he never sees himself quitting YouTube.
Instead, the YouTube mogul says he might document a weight loss journey once the mukbanging gets too much.
Meals range from Buffalo wings to sugary cereal
Gluttony. One of the seven deadly sins.
Nobody can beat Molly.
I picked the wrong week to try to lose weight.
IOW, I can Mook Bang but no more bang-bang.
I'm not even that big, and I used to be able to put away that much pasta (or Big Macs) easily. Guess I missed out on my chance.
I’ve been wasting millions of YouTube dollars worth of bingeing that I could have been making because I was keeping it secret.
Are these videos popular in North Korea?
Yep—but that is inconsequential when your goal is notoriety and faux fame in the eyes of make believe “friends” on social websites. Pure unadulterated crap in the hope of worthless, empty recognition for nothing.
Exactly.
What is “scoffing” food?
Is that bogtrotter for “scarfing”, as in scarfing down?
The use of “guzzling” to describe eating seems odd too.
I associate that word with drinking.
Maybe it’s an Irish thing.
It’s Millennial “I don’t know the exact word I want to use but can’t be bothered to use technology to find it” writing.
Somebody is making this shit up
Wow, this trend is like 10 years old.
Yep—but that is inconsequential when your goal is notoriety and faux fame in the eyes of make believe “friends” on social websites. Pure unadulterated crap in the hope of worthless, empty recognition for nothing.
George also had that massive block of cheese too.
I think i’m too old and it’s to dangerous anyway but i could be a competitive eater
there’s something to aspire to :)
No thanks. Not even a pic. Nope.
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