What's been eating me lately Vol. 6 - Mukbangs

What's eating me is this very fascinating and entertaining 'eating show/eating broadcast/eating chat room.

"The Diva" one of the most popular meokbang stars in S. Korea.

Mukbang/Meokbang - is where people eat in front of their webcam and broadcast it across the Internet for others to watch. If the viewers like what they see, they allocate “star balloons”, which gets converted into money. People can earn several hundred dollars each time they broadcast themselves eating. The word mukbang is derived from the Korean word for eating (muk-ja) and broadcasting (bang-song). - via expansesocial

I'm not sure where it originated but it was popularized in S. Korea during the 2000s. It's essentially a web show where you watch someone eat and you pay them for how much they "entertain" you. Read: They get paid to eat. Where do I sign up?

Usually large quantities of food are involved but not always and not in every broadcaster. I believe what draws people in apart from watching someone eat are the sounds they make and how they eat it. It's not for everyone to be honest. Some people might even be turned-off by the excessively loud slurping noises and crunches these "BJs" make.

But man am I hooked.

I've watched a couple of more famous eating broadcasters and while they are fascinating, no one has held my interest for long, even if they did order 3 boxes of chicken with sides of fries, a box of pizza and a pack of canned coke.

Except this particular guy.

The way he eats is so inviting (sometimes shocking) and he always interacts with his viewers when he can (ex. when his mouth isn't full noodles+beef+lettuce+soup). And yes okay, he's cute.

This entertaining (and a tiny bit perverse) type of show doesn't always show just one person eating. It can be a group of friends or family. Or it can show someone cooking then eating what they cooked. Basically Mukbang would be a show where someone is eating period.

I hope I expanded your horizons today. Excuse me while I go back to Banzz' channel to watch him eat. And yes that does sound weird.

xx,

CJ

PS. The Mukbang phenomena was popularized at Afreeca.tv - a social platform similar to YouTube. It's a paid service wherein you anyone can buy virtual money to give to the broadcasters and be broadcasters themselves.

PPS. Top earners take home at least a few hundred-thousand dollars in ONE broadcast.
PPPS. He burns what he eats by (being genetically gifted and) furiously exercising. He has a very short clip of him climbing a rope.



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