"What I Eat in a Day" Videos: A Spoonful of Bullshit

        The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and your favorite YouTuber is slowly getting out of bed and walking downstairs to make some celery juice. Welcome to a “What I Eat in a Day” video, a YouTube trend that has been popularized in the past few years, featuring bikini pictures for thumbnails like the one to the right. In these videos, creators walk viewers through their daily meals and snacks, often labeling them as “healthy” and “how to lose weight."

        These videos are the epitome of how philosopher Harry Frankfurt describes “bullshit” in “On Truth, Lies, and Bullshit.” He describes "bullshitters" as people who do not care about the truth, and may not even know what really is the truth. They simply say whatever they need to say in order to serve their purpose. In this case, these YouTubers’ purpose is to get more views, subscribers, and therefore money.

        The problem with these “What I Eat in a Day” videos is that the creators’ bullshitting can have serious effects on not only the viewers, but the creators themselves. Take the video below by Alisha Marie for example:

        In the video, Alisha claims to be promoting weight loss through her diet. A diet that you too can conveniently become a part of by clicking the links in the description box to get her favorite snacks, blender, or spices! Product placement like this is extremely common is these daily eating videos, and epitomizes bullshitting. Alisha is not a nutritionist; she doesn't know if the products she is plugging are really going to be good for her viewers. However, she is just bullshitting - saying what she needs to say to suit her purpose, which is to get viewers to use these products and continue to support her channel.

        With blatant disregard for the truth, these videos can become dangerous for the viewers. Upon watching Alisha's, it is apparent that she is basically starving herself for the results. She works out twice a day, yet she does not eat carbs. Instead, she eats only vegetables all day, saying every hour or two how she's starving by the time her next meal or snack rolls around. Many young girls watching this type of video who are looking to lose weight will try to follow this advice, harming their bodies and developing a poor relationship with food in the process. Meanwhile, Alisha's profiting big time from the views, subscribers, and product placement.