Grandma's Instant Noodle YouTube
An unpopular instant noodle recipe channel gains a fanbase through a single comment and gets caught in a money-making frenzy
Grandma Kim Soon-ja opened the “Ttasun-bang” channel last winter. It was because of a single remark from her grandson that no one knew how to cook instant noodles. Grandma placed a smartphone camera above the pot, poured water, added instant noodles, beat an egg, and covered the lid. There was no editing. No subtitles. The background music was only the sound of rain outside the window.
Twelve subscribers. Maximum views: 43. The only comment was “Hello.” Around the third video, Grandma said, “It makes sense that no one watches.” But she kept filming anyway. Because the instant noodles tasted good.
Then one night, a single comment appeared. “Grandma, I watched this video today and cooked instant noodles. For the first time in 10 years, I ate alone and cried.”
That comment made it to the Ttasun-bang trending tab. Share after share followed. 80,000 subscribers in one day. 230,000 four days later.
Grandma had no idea. Five MCN agencies simultaneously appeared with contracts, instant noodle brand advertising teams sent sponsorship proposals, and someone created a fan cafe and started a poll for “Grandma merchandise production.” Her grandson spent the night answering calls, repeating, “CEO, Grandma is comfortable right now.” One agency even said, “You need to do TikTok too.”
Grandma Soon-ja stood before the pot that day too. The egg must be added after the water boils or it will crumble. It was still only regrettable that everyone skipped that step.
Notifications piled up. Grandma pretended not to see them. The instant noodles only needed exactly 4 minutes to cook.