Binge-Eating and Food Waste Are Issues—Will “Big Eater” Videos Lose Their Monetization? Popular YouTuber Draco Reveals the Truth

Will eating challenge videos no longer be eligible for monetization?

“I suddenly got a reply on X from a stranger saying, ‘You’ve finally been freed from hell, haven’t you?’ I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about.”

In South Korea, the suspension of monetization for binge-eating and diet videos is causing a stir. According to a September 22 report by the South Korean broadcaster SBS, a YouTuber with approximately 440,000 subscribers reported that their channel had been demonetized. Another diet-focused YouTuber reportedly received a notice of a guideline violation and voluntarily deleted 339 of their past videos.

Behind this lies a crackdown on videos that promote eating disorders. YouTube has stated its policy of not allowing ad revenue for content that encourages binge eating or the abuse of laxatives. This is to prevent ad revenue from fueling such behaviors. However, not all competitive eating videos have had their monetization suspended across the board.

As this topic gains traction in Japan as well, the reply mentioned at the beginning was received by the competitive eating YouTuber Dracö. Was his own channel affected? We spoke with him directly.

“To cut to the chase, I haven’t received any notification that my channel’s monetization has been suspended. However, ever since the guidelines regarding eating disorders were revised in ’23, I’ve always been concerned about how this might affect my competitive eating videos.”

Was there some major development? Why were the videos deleted? Dracö immediately began his research and eventually tracked down a YouTuber who had had a large number of competitive eating videos removed.

“Even though this person creates big-eating content, for some reason, the word ‘diet’ was included in their account name. They might have been uploading videos of themselves eating a lot on cheat days… but I couldn’t figure out the exact reason why their videos were taken down.”

Draco believes that around the same time, a popular and influential international competitive eating YouTuber with a large subscriber base stated , “I think I’ll eat in moderation from now on.” Draco sees this as one of the factors that contributed to the spread of the rumor that “you can no longer make money from competitive eating videos because they violate the guidelines.”

“When I watched that person’s video, they said, ‘There’s no longer a demand for me, so maybe I’ll just eat in moderation from now on,’ and then went on to talk about a project where they’d eat a lot at a market. It was just a part of their statement that had been taken out of context—they weren’t saying they were going to stop competitive eating. I don’t think Google deemed competitive eating videos a violation of the guidelines; I believe the Korean creator’s videos were taken down for a different reason.”

Competing in “The Original! Big Eater Championship”

Draco started posting on YouTube when he was around 20 years old. “I never intended to make a career out of competitive eating,” he says.

“Someone I met online told me, ‘YouTubers can make good money these days.’ So, on a whim, I tried posting some competitive eating videos. I didn’t set out to make a living from it right from the start.”

Draco has continued posting competitive eating videos for over 12 years since then and even landed a spot on “The Original! Competitive Eating Championship” (TV Tokyo), though he wasn’t originally aiming for a spot on broadcast television.

“Viewers on my channel started asking, ‘Aren’t you going to be on TV?’ And on online message boards, there were threads saying, ‘Maybe you’ve got a shot at making it on TV with your competitive eating.’ So I thought, ‘Maybe I’ll try appearing on TV secretly, without telling anyone around me.’”

On *The Original! Big Eater Championship*, he impressively advanced to the finals and finished in third place.Other competitive eating YouTubers who participated included MAX Suzuki (45), Rascal Arai (35), the Harapeko Twins (35), and Moeno Azuki (38). The support he received from viewers of his videos led to his TV appearance and served as a catalyst for expanding his reach.

One of the reasons Draco cites for the surge in views is a video in which he was seen shedding tears while eating kohakuto (a traditional Japanese sweet made by boiling down sugar and agar).

“I ate a huge piece of amber candy that I’d made myself, and that was really tough. I had a high fever of 40 degrees at the time, so tears just naturally welled up.”

The video that garnered the most views was filmed at “Kadofuji,” a Jiro-style ramen shop, and has been viewed over 10 million times.

“I think the thumbnail made a strong impression. It showed me eating a massive bowl of ramen served in a mortar… though I was just eating something that’s actually on the restaurant’s regular menu (laughs).”

What was the most grueling eating challenge he’s ever done?

“Probably the butter challenge. During a live stream, I ate about six whole large chunks. I’m sorry to get a bit gross here, but afterward, I had diarrhea that looked like café latte for a while… It was really rough.”

As he’s continued his competitive eating career for so long, he’s also noticed changes in his body.

“Since I inevitably end up consuming too much salt, I’m careful about what I eat before and after these challenges. Maybe my metabolism has slowed down compared to before, but I sometimes get bloated or gain weight.”

On a daily basis, she does about one to two hours of aerobic exercise—mainly walking—and goes to the sauna once or twice a month. She manages her health by consulting with a doctor she’s close to and using AI and wearable devices.

“I pay for my own meals at the restaurants I visit for shoots. Technically, it’s a business expense, but since I’m not a regular employee, it doesn’t feel like the money I spend gets reimbursed. Even so, I don’t find it burdensome.”

Just how much does he earn from these big-eating videos, which take so much time and effort to produce? Instead of giving a specific figure, Draco used a car as an analogy to describe his monthly income.

“If I’m not too picky about the condition, it’s enough to buy a used Lexus GS.”

He woke up one morning to find his TikTok account had disappeared

Although Draco says he hasn’t received a monetization suspension notice on YouTube, he has experienced a sudden loss of income on another video platform.

“When I woke up in the morning, a viewer messaged me saying, ‘Draco’s TikTok account is gone!’ I thought, ‘That can’t be right,’ so I checked—and I couldn’t log in anymore… I contacted TikTok, but they wouldn’t tell me why I was banned.”

On TikTok, he not only posted videos but also hosted live streams. When his account became inaccessible, the income he had been earning dried up.

“My TikTok earnings were about the same as one month’s rent for a typical studio apartment in Tokyo. Since I was also making money from live streams, it really hurt.”

Losing a platform to post videos means losing not only income but also the connection with the people who watched his streams. Even if he can no longer earn money from his competitive eating videos, Draco says he wants to keep posting.

“There are viewers who look forward to my videos. I believe competitive eating is one of Japan’s traditional performing arts that dates back to the Edo period. It would be sad to see it suppressed, so I want to keep doing it.”

To keep his career going, he’s also taking on work outside of video production. He’s currently involved in managing a galette shop in the Dogenzaka area of Shibuya, and he even works behind the counter himself at times.

“Overseas, competitive eaters sometimes get sponsors. It would be great if that trend took off in Japan, too. To help make that happen, I’m looking to start other businesses as well.”