Mukbang

A mukbang or meokbang, commonly known as an eating show (Korean: pronounced [mk.pa] (listen)), is an online audiovisual broadcast in which a presenter eats a variety of foods while engaging with the audience. It gained popularity in South Korea in 2010 and, together with K-Beauty, K-pop, and Korean drama, has since contributed significantly to Hallyu, becoming a recognized worldwide trend. Foods are devoured in front of the camera, including pizza and noodles. Mukbang sometimes serves as an educational tool by exposing viewers to local delicacies or dining establishments.

Typically, a mukbang is taped or live broadcast through a webcast on websites like AfreecaTV, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch. In the live version, the mukbang presenter converses with the audience as they write in the live chat room in real time. Eating shows are growing in popularity on internet broadcasting platforms and operate as a virtual gathering place and forum for online people to actively communicate.

Mukbangers in Asia and North America have become more well-known on social media and turned mukbang into a lucrative business. Mukbangers make money from advertising, sponsorships, endorsements, and support from fans by preparing and eating food in front of a huge audience on television. However, mukbang has been under increasing fire for encouraging unhealthful eating patterns, animal brutality, and food waste.

Etymology

The Korean terms for “eating” and “broadcast/show” are combined to form the word mukbang (also spelled meokbang). Therefore, it would be analogous to “eatcast/eatshow” morphologically.
Historical context
Korea has a long history of having a cuisine culture built on restrained manners and healthy eating habits.
However, a new culinary culture that is defined by online eating has evolved in Korea (mukbang). It was first made popular in 2009 on the real-time internet TV provider AfreecaTV, and it is now common in cable channels and terrestrial transmission. This kind of programming places a strong emphasis on how handsome the food preparer is. Due to reduced production costs than reality entertainment programs, cooking and eating programs are becoming popular with broadcasting firms.

A host will engage with viewers in internet chat rooms throughout each program. Through mukbang, many presenters make money by taking contributions or working with advertising networks. Online streamers that perform their own mukbang streaming outside of Korea have helped the practice gain popularity in other nations. In order to highlight these, Twitch 2016 added additional categories including “social dining.”

According to a piece in The Economist, Koreans’ pervasive fear and discontent about their nation’s protracted economic downturn might be partly blamed for the popularity of eating competition programs. The Wall Street Journal and The Huffington Post have both published articles on mukbang. Other kinds of eating shows, such as those that use ASMR on websites like YouTube, have rapidly embraced the Korean phrase for eating shows, “mukbang.”

Other Asian nations including Japan and China have quickly absorbed the impact and appeal of this South Korean food show. Mukbang is referred to as “Chibo” in China; presenters turn their material into short films and vlogs and post it on social media sites like Weibo.

Culture

Mukbang was created by a solo-eating populace in South Korea who enjoyed watching actors and actresses eat in movies and television programs.

It has been observed that traditional dining culture, which centers on using the same shared dishes at the family dinner table, contrasts with this.

It has been said that watching might make one feel as if they are eating in their place. People who stream mukbang are known as broadcast jockeys in Korea (BJs). The high amount of interaction between BJs and viewers, as well as between viewers, adds to the sociability of creating and enjoying mukbang video. For instance, radio jockey Changhyun took a little break from engaging with his audience to listen to a fan’s instructions on what to eat next and how to consume it.
The stream’s path may be influenced by viewers, but the BJ still has control over what they eat. Another method that gives the impression of a shared experience in the same space is ventriloquism, in which BJs mimic the behaviors of their fans by feeding themselves while pointing food toward the camera in a feeding motion.

According to research by Seoul National University, approximately 100,000 YouTube videos between the months of April 2017 and April 2019 used the word “mukbang.” According to the article, the popularity of mukbang may be mostly attributed to its ability to reduce the sense of loneliness brought on by eating alone. Psychologists establish the groundwork for future research on the possible drawbacks of utilizing mukbang, or virtual eating, as a replacement for social encounters in a pilot study on mukbang-watching and mental health from February 2022. The apparent sexual attraction of mukbang might be another factor in its popularity. Researchers have stated that watching mukbangs may fulfill eating fetishes and have discussed the sexualized gaze that is created by seeing hosts in such a private and personal setting. Mukbang has also been likened to another carnal video genre, pornography, and characterized as a multi-sensory experience. It has been suggested that the stringent restrictions on sexual and pornographic content in Korea may be a factor in mukbang’s rise to popularity. Researchers compare the lowered enjoyment of sex from excessive intake of pornography to the lessened satisfaction of food from fervent mukbang viewing. Other research contends that people who watch mukbang do it for amusement, as a diversion from reality, or to enjoy the ASMR elements of mukbang, such as the noises and feelings of eating.

Varieties

The “cook-bang” () show, in which the streamer incorporates the preparation and cooking of the foods displayed as part of the presentation, is a well-liked subgenre of the trend.

Gamers from South Korea have sometimes broadcast mukbang as pauses in their overall broadcasts. According to a representative of the service, this category is not necessarily specific to mukbang but would leave the concept open to interpretation by streamers within its parameters. Twitch started testing a dedicated “social eating” category in July 2016 due to the popularity of this practice among local users.