A Guide to Children’s Culture for Out-of-Touch Adults: Who Is Nikocado Avocado?
This week I’m studying Nikocado Avocado, a YouTuber who has fooled the whole world. I’m also looking at what happens when brain-rotting slang gets into the Senate, and identifying the ‘stress core’ and the ‘core Britishness’. So, cook up 17 pounds of pasta and let’s go!
Viral Video of the Week: “Two Steps Ahead”
YouTuber Nikocado Avocado went viral this week with the greatest plot twist in internet history. To give you an idea of why the video of Avocado saying “fooled you” was viewed more than 40 million times in less than a week, you’ll need some background.
Avocado began his strange career eight years ago as a militant vegan, but after spending a few months on YouTube, he decided to give it up and start eating everything. Skinny Kid pioneered ” mukbang videos “, where subjects eat as much food as they can. He soon became the undisputed king of space, not only due to his ungodly consumption of chicken nuggets and fire noodles , but also due to his manic, manic energy and emotional problems. Avocado sparked internet drama of historic proportions as millions of fans, haters and trolls watched the car crash of his life in slow motion.
All this mukbang will add up to weight, and during his YouTube performance, Avocado gained up to 411 pounds. As he gained weight, his videos often talked about his health problems, but he never stopped eating. He did things like mukbang right before his surgery . As he became heavier, his mental state seemed to deteriorate and he became more and more upset with each video.
About four months ago, Avocado stopped posting videos online. This led many to speculate that he had died or had such serious health problems that he could no longer post. But this week Avocado showed up again. And he’s skinny .
Avocado says he’s lost 250 pounds. He accumulated two years worth of content and during this time he secretly lost weight without being discovered by anyone. He also seems to have lost the uncontrollable energy of his previous videos. It seems it was just an act.
“While everyone was pointing at me and laughing at me for overeating, I was in complete control of the situation the entire time,” he explained to NBC News . “In fact, people are completely captivated by online personalities and obsessively watch their content. That’s where the deeper level of overconsumption lies.”
So was all this really a “social experiment”? It’s hard to say. Avocado’s persona always seemed fake before the reveal, but he was indeed fat. He’s been accused of doing literally anything to get views, and the elaborate two-year hoax seems to back that up even more than eating himself to death. And he may not be as upset as his old self, but that’s not the smartest way to live his life either. But props for this: the dude fooled everyone .
Brain rot in the Australian Senate
Brain rot slang made its debut in the Australian Senate recently when 29-year-old Senator Fatima Payman gave a speech she said was aimed at Generation Z and Generation Alpha. Her words were so thick with teenage slang that it’s hard to believe any other Australian senator understood a word.
“Australian Sigmas,” she began, “I say it’s the stupid government that has put restrictions in place. Not just now, but for a long time to come. the government that I head.” They are capaholics, they are also japaholics. They yap non-stop about how their cost of living figures are changing the lives of all Australians, just put some fries in your bag bro.”
“While some of you cannot vote yet, I hope that when you do, it will be in a more aggressive Australia, for a government with more aura. Skibidi,” she concluded.
Whether this speech will lead to a more aggressive Australia remains to be seen, but it has attracted a lot of attention from people who don’t usually think about Australian politics (like me). It also serves as a reminder that older people (at 29, Payman is a millennial) should not speak in youth slang.
If you want to translate the entire speech, my guide to Gen Z and Gen Slang covers just about every non-traditional word the senator used.
The Beetlejuice Lip Trend Is Causing Makeup Controversy Tok
Makeup and influencer drama usually remains low-key, but the Beetlejuice-influenced lipstick controversy eludes Tok Makeup. It all started with popular beauty bloggerLuara Reisinger , who posted a video on TikTok demonstrating how to create vertical stripes on your lips , sort of like a Beetlejuice costume. First, paint your lips with a bright color. Then you squeeze them and apply black eyeliner. Bam, instant striped lips for everyone. But this technique doesn’t work for everyone .
Apparently, if you use lip filler, your lips won’t wrinkle enough to take Beetlejuice, and if you’ve had lip surgery , you’re even more out of luck. This is a problem for some beauty influencers, who often become static by not disclosing that they’ve had work done that most people can’t afford. Influencers who sell products based on the premise that anyone can look the way they look are the focus of the Beetlejuice lip trend.
According to Sarcasm Generator, the situation is “an influencer’s nightmare.” Because now beauty influencers who have already done the work have to either not make videos with Beetlejuice lips and make everyone suspicious of them, or be open about their lip filler.
What is the “stress core”?
Stress core or “stresscore” videos are gaining popularity on TikTok this week. As the name suggests, the idea is to create videos that are as stressful to watch as possible. The first #stresscore video was created by Huguebas and features an unbalanced washing machine with precariously placed detergent containers on top, accompanied by loud, frantic music. However, the most popular are the stress-inducing videos, which feature sped-up footage of SpongeBob SquarePants and the soundtrack from the movie 21 Pilots . They are really hard to look at.
What is the “British core”?
While we’re on the core, let’s talk about the British core. For some reason, British things have been popping up more and more lately: British pop singer Charli XCX defined summer with the word “brat”; influencers react emotionally to Big Ben ; damn, Oasis are back together. So people online are paying attention and hashtagting very British things, like this collection of British memes and these guys .