One of the most unusual yet sensational internet trends is mukbangs. In short, mukbangs involve influencers and internet personalities eating large amounts of food on video. The trend started in South Korea but has since become popular all around the world. In China, mukbangs are so popular that President Xi Jinping has concerns that it affects the country’s food waste reduction efforts.
In this blog, we explore how brands can benefit from mukbangs as well as the different trends brands can tap into in the mukbang world.
Before finding out how brands can tap into mukbang, let’s find out more about what mukbang is. In Korean, the word Muk-Bang translates to eating broadcast. The trend began in South Korea where being a livestreamer was a profession known as BJ, Broadcast Jockey. Many BJs made mukbang videos where they would live stream themselves on AfreecaTV, a video streaming platform, eating large amounts of food that’s enough food to feed an entire family.
The eating show trend has since gone global in countries including the USA and shifted to platforms like YouTube. A simple search for mukbang videos on YouTube will turn up mukbang videos with millions of views, some even exceeding 100M. Needless to say, mukbang influencer videos are extremely popular.
The portion of food mukbang influencers eat is usually really huge which creates an abundant and visually appealing spread. As mukbangs grew in popularity, the trend shifted from live mukbangs in Korea to being combined with ASMR - another trend where people make videos creating oddly satisfying sounds that give people ‘tingles’. On YouTube, mukbang influencers slurp noodles loudly and make crunchy sounds that make the food look and sound delicious.
Compared to an ad of someone taking a bite of food, a video of someone eating a spread of food is more likely to entice and convince viewers on how delicious the food is. Especially for food brands, mukbang videos are a great way to showcase your food visually and are almost like live taste tests.
Mukbang trends not only spread among various mukbang influencers making mukbangs, they could also inspire audiences to try it out on their own. One example is the hot cheetos trend where people coat food like corn dogs, mozzarella sticks and hashbrowns with crushed spicy cheetos.
For food brands, having a mukbang influencer eat and promote your food could be a great way to bring awareness to any products and drive sales.
In the world of mukbang, influencers are constantly looking for new food to try and appeal to different types of audiences. Especially for ASMR mukbangs, creators like to try different foods that create different sounds.
As mentioned above, crunchy foods are loved by both viewers and creators. If your brand specialises in foods that make a crunch sound, partnering with a mukbang influencer can provide valuable benefits. Some popular crunchy mukbang foods include fried chicken and onion rings.
One of the most popular and long lasting mukbang trends is spicy foods. From spicy korean fire noodles to seafood and hot cheetos, spicy mukbang videos have inspired many people to also try these spicy foods.
Seafood boils are really popular among mukbang influencers. For seafood restaurants, collaborating with a local mukbang influencer could help attract more customers to your shop.
From mozzarella cheese pulls to cheese fondue and raclette, cheese is a very popular food featured in many mukbang videos. If your brand serves food including cheese such as pizza, mozzarella sticks or even cheese dips, it would be highly suited and relevant to mukbang viewers.
If your brand does not provide ready-to-serve food, there is still an opportunity for you to tap into mukbang as well. Many mukbang influencer videos also include food preparation. Brands that sell any food-related item from fresh seafood to frozen food can consider partnering with mukbang influencers such as Zach Choi ASMR that include cooking in their mukbang content.
Even though every mukbang influencer is in the same niche, their audience may be different depending on the foods they eat, where they are from and how their videos are formatted. In order to run an impactful influencer marketing campaign, it is important to ensure that the influencer you are collaborating with is reaching your desired audience. Find out insights about mukbang influencers such as their engagement rate and audience gender demographics on our influencer marketing platform. Request for a free demo today.
Get new blogs, case studies and our Market Landscape reports directly in your inbox.
We don't spam.
.png)
.png)