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Jake Paul shared a funny video where he was wearing a fat suit and was among piles of fast food as a comic wink to his upcoming heavyweight boxing fight. The video, which was set to catchy music and went viral almost instantly, brought about many comments on the net, and a big part of them was about the waste problem of food shown through the video.
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The social media influencer and fighter, Jake Paul released a short and amusing video clip at the beginning of the week. In the video, Jake Paul is sporting a fake belly, is sharing laughter with buddies, and has a large selection of food on the table which includes pizza, hamburgers, and wings from Dog Haus. The caption read, ‘I love being a heavyweight 😍 @doghausdogs.’ The video, which uses a segment of a song, appears to have a fun twist on the eating restrictions in the heavyweight division, where fighters do not have to cut weight.
However, many viewers perceived the situation more critically than humorously. The audience’s response mainly highlighted the food waste that was not shown being consumed but rather thrown away in the video. One critic of the video said strongly, ‘They got all that food just to waste it.’ This sentiment seemed to be shared widely as another person remarked, ‘All that gone to waste for a five-second video.’ The criticism soon widened to general social commentaries, where one asked, ‘Can you imagine such a massive food waste while other folks are starving and still have to eat? 👏👏 congrats.’
The followers of the social media star from other countries were also expressing their concerns. A comment in Spanish pointed out, ‘In Africa, there are many starving kids, I wonder if you knew,’ while another English-speaking netizen remarked, ‘What a sad situation this guy is in, how much food he wastes while others are dying of hunger.’ The commentary even spilled over into the conversation where one person defended it by saying ‘it’s his money’ and the other one retorted ‘I won’t eat because there are people who can’t, smart move!!’
Some viewers while talking about food waste also speculated that the clip was too ludicrous to be real. A couple of users even questioned if the video was done with the help of AI. ‘That’s got to be AI?’ was the viewer’s question. Others told that it was a prop, saying, ‘Rich people with lots of money can recreate any Hollywood scene in their living room….he is wearing a fat suit.’ For some, the joke was funny enough, one fan wrote, ‘I don’t know man, if I had a fake belly on, I would be laughing my ass off 😂.’ Another person simply praised the food saying, ‘Pizza and wings look 🔥.’
Furthermore, the video sparked some discussions about boxing. A viewer equated the video to Jake Paul’s upcoming opponent and commented, ‘This is a full cheat code meal right here 😂 but that Dog Haus combo gonna have Joshua seeing stars,’ thus alluding to the coming fight. Another person joked about his workout, writing, ‘on track to make weight! 🤝’
Jake Paul, the YouTuber who shifted to a hard boxing career, is well-known for his expensive yet efficient promotional tactics and social media. This latest post of his fits within his constant hype of making things somehow, sometimes even through controversial, visuals. Even though it was an easy-going comment on his switching to the heavyweight category, the clips still shone a light on one of the influencers’ ongoing PR problems—the public image of their being a luxury lifestyle that is disconnected from reality. He has recently vowed victory in an upcoming exhibition fight.
The digital argument gradually segregated between those who saw it as a harmless funny skit and those who spotted the sign of wastefulness and greed. It is a fact that almost instantly a promotional video could be turned into a battlefield of more serious cultural debates, particularly, if it concerns the issue of inequality of wealth and resources. For Jake Paul, the engagement is a byproduct, yet the response appears to be a cautionary tale that each piece of content gets public interpretations that are often miles away from its original intent. He and Gervonta Davis have also announced a personal boxing match on Netflix.
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Jake Paul is no stranger to staging wild promotional stunts, like a gas station hold-up for a fragrance launch. In other news, he recently donned a Santa suit to promote a Walmart partnership with Sean O’Malley. He also took to social media to celebrate Jutta Leerdam’s World Cup medal victory.
