Avika Sharma
I just don't understand the hype surrounding ASMR, especially when it comes to food and drink.
A lot of my friends love food ASMR, and will spend their evenings watching YouTube or TikTok videos of mukbangs (videos of people eating) or storytimes involving people chewing their way through a personal tale. And I, for one, hate it.
The sounds, sights, and general over-consumerism of it all just puts me off immensely.
Honestly, ASMR, especially food ASMR, just doesn't do anything for me - why would I spend my time listening to people consume their dinner when I do that regularly in my house anyway? I understand why people like cooking videos, but when it comes to actual food or drink consumption, the sounds, sights, and general over-consumerism of it all just puts me off immensely.
For me, the sound of someone chewing their food loudly drives me mad.
Maybe it also has something to do with my misophonia, which is when you have a very adverse reaction to certain sounds, including sounds of people eating. For me, the sound of someone chewing their food loudly drives me mad, which does probably contribute to my hatred of food and drink ASMR, but this is only part of the reason why I dislike it.
Either way, I don't see the appeal of someone stuffing their face as a form of entertainment, especially when some reports suggest that these videos are leading people to unhealthy lifestyles or poor relationships with food. But, each to their own, I guess.
Olivia Carter
Personally, I don’t have any creators that I watch consistently but rather, I love to find Youtube channels such as TeaBang, who throw together compilations of different content creators, for those of us that get bored of the same thing after 5 minutes. I find this to be the best way to consume (excuse the pun) my Mukbang intake as I find myself to be quite specific when it comes to what I am actually willing to watch. ‘Clean’ eaters are my go to as, the messier, the worse, in my opinion.
Despite watching those in front of me eat blinding amounts of noodles and fried chicken, I still feel there are problems within the community that must be addressed. I found that there was a micro-trend some time a go, in which creators were outdoing each other in how crazy what they were eating could get. This sometimes consisted of eating sea creatures whilst alive, which really disgusted me but somehow fascinated countless others worryingly.
Whilst many have their niches in such communities as food and drink ASMR, I like to stick to the safety of the compilation channels, where I can decide what’s okay for me, and skip what isn’t. I find there is a comfort in watching something as mundane as eating, as I don’t need to think about anything, but rather, just the imagination of my favourite foods.
Nonetheless, food and drink ASMR will always be my go-to in a time of boredom, and when I hear that first sip of a crisp, cold Pepsi-Max, then I know it’s time to finally relax.
