If you are a fan of the ASMR genre (YouTubers often remain silent, trying to convey the most authentic sounds of eating to viewers), you must know the name Ssoyoung. Her real name is So Young, a South Korean YouTuber who owns a food channel with over 3.45 million subscribers. Although she only uploaded her first video in early December 2018, she has amassed nearly 400 million views today with a series of famous nicknames such as “the queen of face reveals,” “the extravagant queen,” “the seafood queen,” “the queen of expressions,”…
Although “devouring” delicious food and creating sounds while eating is not unusual for mukbang – ASMR YouTubers, Ssoyoung’s video-making style is truly a “breeze of fresh air.” She loves eating raw food, especially seafood. Instead of sitting down to eat normally, Ssoyoung attracts viewers by “struggling” with the animals, grimacing as she handles them, only to sit down and eat calmly as if nothing ever happened.
Ssoyoung’s “unconventional” video making style quickly attracted a large audience and followers.
Many viewers believe that Ssoyoung’s style is completely different from the majority, and her authenticity has contributed to her success today. However, recently, Ssoyoung has faced a lot of criticism alleging that she is intentionally “abusing” and “torturing” live animals.
A prominent example is Ethan Klein, the operator of the “h3h3 Productions” channel with over 6.6 million followers on YouTube. He recently uploaded a video titled “ASMR Has Gone Way Too Far.” The main content of this nearly 14-minute video condemns Ssoyoung’s video-making methods.
Klein began his vlog by cutting a series of clips from a video titled “Dancing Live Squid” – one of the standout products on Ssoyoung’s channel with over 24 million views. He believes the South Korean YouTuber is merely exaggerating her cruel actions by chopping the head off a live squid and filming it for her audience.
“She clearly enjoys torturing animals. Is cruelty one of the main contents she is aiming for? With this video, I believe that is true,” Ethan Klein added before continuing to play a clip of Ssoyoung covering a live octopus in sauce and placing it on a grill. Not stopping there, the famous YouTuber also introduced a clip of Ssoyoung wandering in a garden when she stumbled upon a live octopus wriggling on a tree, after which she picked it up and ate it very calmly.
The male YouTuber and his wife continuously expressed their horror while watching Ssoyoung’s video of eating live seafood. He believes she is intentionally “abusing and torturing” animals to gain attention.
Within just a few days, his clip garnered nearly 1.7 million views. Below the vlog, many comments supported his viewpoint while criticizing Ssoyoung. “I am really glad that content creators are bringing the right awareness about this to the audience,” or “Honestly, I don’t understand why she receives so much support. The way she expresses herself and laughs while killing them looks horrifying. I think YouTube should review this case” are among the comments left by most viewers.
Tyler Rugge, a YouTuber focusing on animal-related content, recently uploaded a video titled “Mukbang YouTuber Ssoyoung, Who Attacks and Kills Animals in Front of the Camera.” In it, he expresses the opinion that Ssoyoung should be removed from the YouTube platform.
“She tortures and kills animals before eating them, right in front of the camera. I don’t understand how the YouTube team can allow these moments to be broadcasted,” the male YouTuber with over 332k subscribers expressed angrily in his video. In another video posted shortly after, Tyler Rugge also clarified that he is not criticizing from a “cultural” standpoint but is solely advocating for the welfare of living animals in general.
When contacted by Insider for a comment, the “Korean Mukbang Queen” Ssoyoung did not provide any response. As for YouTube, a spokesperson officially stated to Insider: “Our Trust & Safety team operates globally and establishes different policies based on each country and region. We always have strict regulations related to animal abuse – cruelty. YouTube is still reviewing which videos violate these terms.”
YouTube is still reviewing cases of live animal abuse in uploaded videos. However, whether Ssoyoung’s channel faces any issues as per the criticisms remains unmentioned.
Source: Insider