China’s “mukbang” stars are great – for punishment.
The nation’s parliamentarians have proposed legislation banning viral videos, in which vloggers consume huge amounts of food for an international audience in millions of double digits. The video trend has become a kind of fetish, with beautiful women finding success as they eat their way through giant lobsters, noodle bowls, burgers stacked on burgers and more.
The law would impose a fine of up to 100,000 yuan (about $ 15,290) on any content creator, animator or business that deals with raw food waste, including TV shows and even catering services, China News Service reported on Tuesday. according to the Chinese-English news site SixthTone.com.
The trend of excessive consumption started in South Korea and quickly spread to Asia and the rest of the world, with millions of viewers on YouTube, Facebook and various Chinese social networking sites such as WeChat and Weibo. Livestreamers have since made lucrative careers out of such videos.
The draft law is made up of 32 articles that elaborate China’s principles of responsible consumption, regulatory and disciplinary measures, and define how much is too much.
President Xi Jinping recently campaigned for a “fight against food waste” as food shortages loom globally. His promise follows criticism from state-run China Central Television, which has beaten “big stomach stars” for encouraging noise and waste. Later, the China Association of Performing Arts industry, which oversees online entertainment, said it intended to censor “fake food, induced vomiting, promotional overeating and other wasteful behaviors,” according to Sixth Tone.
The state sought to change the discourse on food waste, starting with young Chinese people. In October, child protection laws were updated to encourage “anti-waste” and price[ing] food.”
The “Clean State Campaign” began in August, when the Wuhan Food Industry Association introduced new limits on how any food can be served during group buffets. The phrase “N-1”, as it is called, refers to the restriction imposed, in which the parties are allowed to order a quantity of dishes equal to the number of persons in the group, minus one.
“We will promote the N-1 model. If there are 10 people, they are allowed to order nine servings, “they said in an open letter to the Chinese newspaper The Paper.” If that’s not enough, I can add more dishes later. “
In addition to the dissipative nature of such stunts, mukbang can also lead performers to dangerous situations, such as a Chinese vlogger who almost sucked his eyeball out of the socket while trying to eat a live octopus. Despite declaring her face “disfigured” by the cephalopod, she also promised the audience: “I will eat it in the next video.”