The internet thought allowing people to eat off your face was a job
The absurdity of the internet shouldn't surprise us, but it still does...
This is a classic example of how you shouldn't believe everything you watch.
A video from August 2023 that went viral has resurfaced, creating just as much confusion as last year. It shows a couple dining at a table with a man seated between them. The man has a food mask on his face.
Imagine a plastic contraption that can attach to a person's face and has food hanging off it. It's not so easy to imagine. Luckily, you don't have to.
Video courtesy of Instagram - please note the video contains profanity and is not for sensitive viewers.
The audio in the video led people to believe that the man who had the food rack on his face was earning $10,000 (R177135,50) a month for letting people eat food off his face.
Read that again! How absurd does that sound? What's worse is that many people believed it to be true.
It was only after the video went viral last year (2023) that the maker of the video spoke up online. Food Mask U (@Foodmasku), an artist, shared that he created this video to shine a light on food inequalities and the exploitation of workers.
Alright internet. If you’re going to make my work viral, let’s at least do it on my account! I can’t believe the video of @benjybradshaw and @alliwalk eating my food masks at @theinvisibledog is being watched by millions of people. Although it’s out of context, the ones who know it’s me and the ones who do the research and find out the truth have been so kind and helpful. I love all the tags and all the comments that have put the piece into context and explain that there is no restaurant paying $10 k a month for rich people to eat off of people’s faces. I wish I had $10 k a month for my art! But most artists like myself can barely make a fraction of that. I’m happy the piece even out of context is forcing people to talk about food inequalities and exploitation of workers. I only wish more of these meme accounts credit their sources. It makes such a big difference!
Foodmasku is an artist who makes masks from the food that he eats.
"The Foodmasku Instagram account started in April 2020 after a colleague couldn’t turn off a filter that made her look like a pickle. Foodmasku took his dinner, placed it on his face and said, “Hey, I have a filter on as well!” He heard laughter for the first time in a month." (Foodmasku.com)
He initiated the video of the couple eating off the man's food mask with the intention of making art and highlighting a specific message, but it was taken out of context and went viral.
Although he was grateful it went viral, even if for the incorrect reasoning, he said he would appreciate it if meme accounts credited their sources.
Check out one of his most recent posts - courtesy of Instagram.
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Image Courtesy of Instagram