Mukbang

A mukbang (UK: /ˈmʌkbæŋ/ MUK-bang, US: /ˈmʌkbɑːŋ/ MUK-bahng; Korean: 먹방; RR: meokbang; pronounced [mʌk̚p͈aŋ] ; lit. 'eating broadcast') is an online audiovisual broadcast in which a host consumes various quantities of food (generally from easily accessible and popular fast-food restaurant chains) while interacting with the audience or reviewing it. The genre became popular in South Korea in the early 2010s, and has become a global trend since the mid-2010s. Varieties of foods ranging from pizza to noodles are consumed in front of a camera. The purpose of mukbang is also sometimes educational, introducing viewers to regional specialties or gourmet spots.
A mukbang may be either prerecorded or streamed live through a webcast on multiple streaming platforms such as AfreecaTV, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitch. In live sessions, the mukbang host chats with the audience while the audience types in real time in the live chat-room. Eating shows are expanding their influence on internet broadcasting platforms and serve as virtual communities and as venues for active communication among internet users.
Mukbangers from many different countries have gained considerable popularity on numerous social websites and have established the mukbang as a possible viable alternative career path with a potential to earn a high income for young South Koreans. By cooking and eating food on camera for a large audience, mukbangers generate income from advertising, sponsorships, endorsements, as well as viewers' support. However, there has been growing criticism of mukbang's promotion of unhealthy eating habits, particularly eating disorders, animal cruelty and food waste. With mukbang becoming more popular, dietitians have expressed concern about this trend and have proposed a ban on any food related content on social media.
The word mukbang (먹방; meokbang) is a clipped compound of the Korean words for 'eating' (먹는; meongneun) and 'broadcast' (방송; bangsong).
Prior to the 21st century, Korea had traditionally had a food culture based on healthy eating practices and strict Confucian etiquette. However, a new food culture since the late 2000s has emerged in South Korea characterized by internet eating culture (mukbang). It was first introduced on the real-time internet TV service AfreecaTV in 2009 and has become a trend on cable channels and terrestrial broadcasting. This form of programming emphasizes the attractiveness of the person who prepares the food. Eating and cooking shows are effective programs for broadcasting companies as production costs are lower than reality entertainment programs.
The 1982 Danish film 66 Scenes from America contains a scene with a similar concept to the modern mukbang in which artist Andy Warhol eats a Whopper hamburger from the fast food restaurant chain Burger King.
Academics have linked the origins of mukbang in South Korea to widespread feelings of anxiety, loneliness and unhappiness among many South Koreans, driven by the hyper-competitive nature of the country's socioeconomic conditions and society. Consequently, mukbang gives them an opportunity to relieve some of these stressors.
In each broadcast, a host will interact with their viewers through online chat rooms. Many hosts generate revenue through mukbang by accepting donations or partnering with advertising networks. The popularity of mukbang streams has spread outside of Korea, with online streamers hosting mukbang in other countries. In 2016, Twitch introduced new categories like "social eating" to spotlight them.
Articles about mukbang have also appeared in The Huffington Post and The Wall Street Journal. The term "mukbang" has been widely adopted in other types of eating shows, such as those featuring ASMR on YouTube. This eating performance from South Korea has also rapidly spread in influence and popularity to other Asian countries, such as Japan and China. In China, mukbang is called "chibo"; hosts make their content into short videos and vlogs and upload them onto social media platforms like Weibo.
The contrast to the traditional eating culture that revolves around eating from the same communal dishes at the family dinner table has been acknowledged.
Mukbangs provide a virtual social dining experience that helps alleviate loneliness through creating a sense of companionship for socially isolated individuals who seek connection through shared meal experiences. The growing popularity of these videos reflects a real social need, as shown by UK statistics where 15% of viewers report not having a shared meal with family members in over six months.
It has been suggested one can vicariously satisfy the desire for food by viewing. In Korea, individuals who stream mukbang are called broadcast jockeys (BJs). As a result, high level of interaction BJ-to-viewer and viewer-to-viewer contributes to the sociability aspect of producing and consuming mukbang content. For example, during broadcast jockey Changhyun's interaction with his audience he temporarily paused to follow a fan's directions on what to eat next and how to eat it. Viewers may influence the direction of the stream but the BJ retains control over what he or she eats. Ventriloquism, by which BJs mime the actions of their fans by directing food to the camera in a feeding motion and eating in their stead, is another technique that creates the illusion of a shared experience in one room.
A study conducted by Seoul National University found that within a two-year time frame (April 2017 to April 2019) the term "mukbang" was used in over 100,000 videos from YouTube. It reported that alleviating the feelings of loneliness associated with eating alone may be the primary reason for mukbang's popularity. In a pilot study from February 2022 on mukbang watching and mental health, psychologists lay the foundation for future investigation into the potential detriments of using mukbang, or virtual eating, as a substitute for social experiences. Another reason for mukbang viewing could be its potential sexual appeal. Researchers have argued that mukbangs can be viewed to satisfy eating-related fetishes, and have commented on the sexualized gaze brought about by watching hosts in such a private and intimate state. Other studies argue that individuals who watch mukbang do so for entertainment, as an escape from reality, or to get satisfaction from the ASMR aspects of mukbang such as eating sounds and sensations. Watching mukbang videos often creates an parasocial interaction between the mukbanger and the viewer, and it could also increase the likelihood of solo-dining of viewers.
A popular sub-genre of the trend is "cook-bang" (쿡방) show, in which the streamer includes the preparation and cooking of the dishes featured as part of the show.
South Korean video game players have sometimes broadcast mukbang as breaks during their overall streams. The popularity of this practice among local users led the video game streaming service Twitch to begin trialing a dedicated "social eating" category in July 2016; a representative of the service stated that this category is not necessarily specific to mukbang, but would leave the concept open to interpretation by streamers within its guidelines.
Mukbangers incurring income from such videos can earn from advertising. This performance of eating can allow top broadcasters to earn as much as $10,000 a month which does not include sponsorships. Live-streaming platforms like AfreecaTV and Twitch allow viewers to send payments to their favorite streamers.
Creators can also earn income through endorsements, e-books and product reviews. Bethany Gaskin, under the name Bloveslife for her channel, has made over $1 million from advertising on her videos as reported by The New York Times. Popular mukbanger Soo Tang, also known as MommyTang, claimed that successful mukbangers can earn about $100,000 in a year.
In July 2018, the South Korean government announced that it would create and regulate mukbang guidelines by launching the "National Obesity Management Comprehensive Measures". The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced the measures, which were intended to address binge eating and harm to the public health caused by mukbang. Criticisms were levied against the ministry: the Blue House petition board received about 40 petitions against mukbang regulations, which maintained arguments such as "there is no correlation between mukbang and binge eating" and "the government is infringing on individual freedom."
A study, which investigated the popularity of mukbang and its health impacts on the public, analyzed media coverage, articles, and YouTube video content related to "mukbang" and concluded that people who frequently watch mukbang may be more susceptible to adopting poor eating habits. In a survey involving 380 non-nutrition majors at a university in Gyeonggi Province, and their tendencies to watch mukbang and its close variant, cookbang, a significant 29.1% of frequent mukbang-watchers self-diagnosed negative habits, such as increased intake of processed and delivered foods or eating out. Mukbang has also been credited as a dietary restriction device for curbing food cravings and excessive watching may be correlated with the exacerbation or relapse of eating disorders.
A netnographic analysis of popular mukbang videos on YouTube revealed a significant number of viewer comments expressing fascination with the ability to remain thin after ingesting large amounts of unhealthy foods, a major subcategory of which attempted to explain this phenomenon by citing intense physical exercise by the hosts, physiological quirks such as a "fast metabolism", or by attributing it to the host's Asian ethnicity. BJs' experiences with fat shaming and their underweight counterparts' with speculation for purging and engaging in other unhealthy eating habits off-camera were also noted.
In 2019, Ukrainian-born American mukbanger Nicholas Perry, known as Nikocado Avocado, shared that the amount of binge eating from mukbang has taken a toll on his health, leading to issues such as erectile dysfunction, frequent diarrhea, sleep apnea, mobility problems and weight gain.
In 2023, Indian Mukbanger Ashifa, known as Ashifa ASMR, the biggest mukbanger in India, shared that the food shown in mukbang videos cannot be consumed all in one go. She resorts to eating the food in multiple sittings and just edits the videos to make it a continuously shot video. According to her, this fact has been disclosed in her disclaimers as a caution to the viewers to prevent unhealthy eating habits.
In 2024, the Philippine Department of Health considered banning mukbang videos in the Philippines following the death of a content creator in Iligan City after a stroke.
Excessive amounts of food can be consumed and wasted during mukbang.
To prevent weight gain or other health risks as a result of overeating, some mukbangers chew food and then spit it out, but edit their videos to remove the spitting, to create the false impression that a large volume of food has been consumed. In 2020, South Korean mukbanger Moon Bok Hee, channel name Eat With Boki, was criticized for allegedly spitting out her food in her videos. This came after dubious editing portions was observed in her videos, leading many of her viewers to doubt their authenticity.
In 2020, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping launched the 'Clean Plate' campaign, calling on the nation to guard against food waste. This campaign prompted state-run media outlets such as CCTV to run reports critical of mukbangers. Users on several Chinese apps received warnings about their mukbang contents and faced an influx of negative comments. Later, Douyin promised to have stricter verification on food-related videos. Other media platforms, including Bilibili and Kuaishou, have encouraged not wasting food.
Several mukbang streamers have received criticism for alleged cruelty to live sea creatures before and during their consumption in their mukbang videos. Streamer Ssoyoung has been accused of inflicting excess harm to creatures such as fish, sharks, crabs, squid, and octopuses. In one instance, Ssoyoung poured table salt onto a basin of live eels. In another, squid that Ssoyoung poured soy sauce on were observed moving, but this was perhaps the result of involuntary movement due to salt interacting with the nerves of dead squid.
A study in 2021 which addressed mukbang and the effect of influencers' food consumption on their viewers showed that engaging in "problematic mukbang watching" was positively associated with eating disorders and with internet addiction. In addition, academics and dietitians added that mukbangers and their viewers often have a bad relationship with their eating habits, and its popularity only serves to further encourage such behaviors.
A sulbang (술방, pronounced [sulpaŋ]) or eating show with alcohol videos can be watched by anyone including minors, which may inadvertently stimulate alcohol consumption among teenagers.
In 2021, China passed an anti-food waste law, which, among other things, bans the streaming of filming or sharing mukbang videos. Chinese leader Xi Jinping called such acts of food waste a "distressing" problem that threatens China's food security. Fines of up to $16,000 also were imposed on TV stations and media houses that produce and broadcast them.
In 2024, following the death of Dongz Apatan, a mukbang vlogger, the Department of Health Philippines proposed the banning of mukbang videos, which was later reduced to a regulation on content creators to make videos based on the healthier "Pinggang Pinoy" food guide rather than to infringe on their right to freedom of speech and expression.