On September 6, Youtuber Nikocado Avocado, or Nicholas Perry, posted a video titled “Two Steps Ahead.” In the video, Perry revealed what appeared to be a startling weight loss.
Perry posts “mukbang” videos, or content where people eat food for entertainment. Certain mukbang creators, such as Perry, eat extreme amounts of food in a short time. Sometimes these creators post very regularly, causing extreme weight gain.This has created a growing concern on the internet for these creators as well as the impact this type of content may have on its audience.
Followers of Perry had watched him gain weight and discuss it over many years while posting these extreme mukbang videos. In what he called “The greatest social experiment of my entire life”, Perry explained how he had tricked the entire internet. The “experiment” required him to gain over 250 pounds and pre-record videos to post over the next two years. During this time, he would lose the weight and return once he had lost it all. Though it may seem unbelievable, a large portion of viewers accepted and even celebrated this. Commenting things like, “Let’s be real. This is what we hoped for rather than facing his passing due to complications caused by his heavy weight.” Comments like this contribute to the idea of celebrating deception when it matches what you believe to be right. This is discussed in an article by The Conversation, stating, “Despite his deception, the comments and resulting media coverage are largely lauding him for his weight loss and clever trickery.” Viewers had been urging Perry to lose weight, and despite the deception, they were happy that he had finally done it.
A few days later Perry posted a TikTok looking as he did before. Saying the entire experiment was fake. As it turned out, Perry had not lost any weight, and his “Two Steps Ahead” video was pre-recorded. He said, “Don’t believe everything you’re told, including from me. Y’all have the IQ of a bag of rocks.”
Google Trends- Nikocado Avocado
This seems to be the final word on Perry’s “experiment.” He will most likely go back to posting the same content and return to his previous level of popularity. Perry had previously explained his stance on attempting to lose weight before the experiment, stating, “I’m over it; it doesn’t work. I keep trying; it doesn’t work. I have accepted that I’m fat. And I think most people just should, actually.” Playing into the public urging him to lose weight, Perry was able to gain 48 million views on his “Two Steps Ahead” video (double the views on his second most popular video). He also has peaked in popularity according to Google Trends, which uses data from Google and Youtube searches over time.
So was Perry really two steps ahead? From a monetary standpoint, yes. But since Perry revealed he did not, in fact, lose weight, his popularity has decreased, proving that audiences are mostly interested in content that plays into their personal beliefs. This can become a big problem as Perry and other popular extreme mukbang content creators will continue to exploit problems like overconsumption and obesity for monetary gain, while it is widely ignored. This is not harmless content, and though Perry might have been “two steps ahead,” it did not have the social commentary effect he expected. His goal, in his own words, was to show that, “While everybody pointed and laughed at me for over-consuming food, I was in total control the entire time… In reality, people are completely absorbed with internet personalities and obsessively watch their content. That is where a deeper level of over-consumption lies — and it’s the parallel I wanted to make.” Instead, Perry’s audience simply patted themselves on the back for “convincing” him to lose the weight and continued to avoid the uncomfortable conversation about the real effects of his content. As it usually goes, the internet has already found something more interesting to latch onto.
Works Cited
Barbuti, Angela. “Exclusive | Popular ‘Mukbang’ YouTuber lost 250 pounds and won’t reveal how — but expert divulges possibilities.” New York Post, 14 September 2024, https://nypost.com/2024/09/14/us-news/mukbang-youtuber-nikocado-avocado-wont-reveal-how-he-lost-250-pounds/. Accessed 17 October 2024.
Beckett, Emma. “YouTuber Nikocado Avocado’s extreme weight-loss hoax isn’t admirable – it’s fatness being exploited for engagement.” The Conversation, 11 September 2024, https://theconversation.com/youtuber-nikocado-avocados-extreme-weight-loss-hoax-isnt-admirable-its-fatness-being-exploited-for-engagement-238562. Accessed 17 October 2024.
Google Trends. “Nikocado Avocado, Past 5 years.” Google Trends, Google, 2024, https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&geo=US&q=%2Fg%2F11mhw4vygf&hl=en. Accessed 17 October 2024.
Nikocado Avocado. “EATING THE WORLD’S SPICIEST BLUE HEAT TAKIS FIRE NOODLES Mukbang & Recipe.” YouTube, YouTube, 29 October 2023, https://youtu.be/CBfkJuDSOcg?si=nA6rbxoeCLPGkQsV. Accessed 17 October 2024.
Nikocado Avocado. “Two Steps Ahead.” YouTube, YouTube, 6 September 2024, https://youtu.be/HkGjoRPpWqA?si=B-GO92MuGsGMO1-F. Accessed 17 October 2024.
Yang, Angela. “YouTuber Nikocado Avocado bamboozles viewers with secret weight loss transformation.” NBC News, 8 September 2024, https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/nikocado-avocado-secret-weight-loss-rcna170142. Accessed 17 October 2024.
