Get Paid to Eat on Camera: The World of Mukbanging – MoneyMagpie

Lydia


24th Apr 2023

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Mukbanging: Is it as dirty as it sounds? Well, it depends on how messy of an eater you are. Mukbanging is a YouTube trend that started around 2010 and has picked up in popularity in recent years. So, what is it all about and why should you try to make some money from it?

AfreecaTV, with broadcast jockeys cooking and eating meals on stream. As eating is a very sociable activity in Korea many individuals will not goout to eat alone so instead tune in to their favourite streamers while they eat.

Much like we love a good tv dinner in the UK, Koreans like to have company when they eat. Live streaming mukbangs is a great way to get audience interaction as they can comment. This gives viewers the ability to suggest the best dipping sauce to go with the food they’re eating.

Mukbangs began to rise in popularity when American and English YouTubers started to make YouTube videos in the same style. These are pre-recorded videos that people can watch as and when they like, making their favourite creators more accessible.

There are many big YouTube mukbang creators that focus on a mix of food reviews and real-life stories. There are thousands of results for mukbang on YouTube and google so there’s certainly a lot of content to get through.

 

is 불닭볶음면 먹방 Mukbang Fire Spicy Noodle by DONA 도나, it is a ASMR style mukbang with a comedy element. With a staggering 595,828,239 views since its upload on September 4^th 2020, it is clearly very popular.

The most popular talking style mukbang is by the YouTube creator group the Sidemen with 33 Million views. Titled SIDEMEN REUNITED MUKBANG and lasting over an hour in length, it shows the group members sitting around, talking and completing challenges.

Mukbangs make for easy watching, you don’t have to be fully paying attention like when you watch TV, you can just have them on for background noise. They started as a way to not eat alone and still many university students and adults living alone use them for this. For some, eating alone is not a pleasant experience so being able to switch on a video and have someone eating alongside them is extremely comforting.

 

Timmy’s Takeout

With 1.49 Million subscribers, Timmy is not the biggest star on the list but he is one of my favourites! The American YouTuber does full menu reviews of takeout chains. From McDonald’s to Taco Bell, he has covered them all. I enjoy watching his menu reviews just to see what other countries McDonald’s is like as well as living vicariously through his ability to eat gluten.

Nikocado Avocado

Combined across all his channels, Nikocado has a subscriber count of 5.944 million so to say he’s popular is an understatement. He posts a mix of videos of him eating alone and eating with friends. From spicy noodle challenges to menu reviews, he does it all.

DONA

With over 11 million subscribers over their channels, DONA is very popular. They focus more on the ASMR side of mukbanging but also integrate some comedy in as seen in the video mentioned earlier. They are more on the side of the original Korean style of video.

 

, MenKind have a whole host of fun lights and even lightsabre salt and pepper grinders. Have fun with your background and be creative!

Get your food in!

In essence, this seems obvious because you’re filming yourself eating but you need to choose what food. ASMR creators favour foods such as noodles to slurp and lobsters to crack. Storytellers might choose burgers or chips; food reviewers often purchase the whole menu! Some people do spicy noodle challenges while others eat a plate of cheese – the choice is entirely up to you!

Start filming

Now it’s time to start filming and eat away! Have a plan in your head of what you want to talk about and get chatting. Maybe imagine you’re at dinner with a friend having a wholly one-sided conversation after all mukbanging is supposed to be social.

Upload your first video

Now it is time to upload your video – remember to add in your intro and outro slides and ask everyone to like, subscribe and share. Share the link to the YouTube video on social media and remember to keep pushing it out. The more times you share it the more likely people are going to see it.

Stay consistent

YouTube success is not going to happen overnight so remember to stay consistent. You could start with a video a week while you get going and then gradually increase it over time. As with any side hustle success is not instantaneous so keep at it and see where it takes you!