Tastemade, a popular publisher of food-related video content that’s based in the United States, posted a video to its Facebook page this past Monday in which it made the (incorrect) assertion that Singaporeans like to chew on dried cuttlefish as an alternative to gum since the government banned the latter in 1992.
The 45-second video describes the snack as a “weird gum alternative that won’t freshen your breath.”
The video, which was shot in the heart of Singapore’s Chinatown, goes on to say that chewing on cuttlefish is a “creative” way Singaporeans have gotten around the chewing gum ban that was implemented some 27 years ago, as if we came up with this curious formulation of ours after the advent of chewing gum.
The video host is then seen taking a bite of the snack, which doesn’t seem to faze her all that much — but then those cheeky captions continue with their warnings: The shredded snack dissolves after a few chews, but “there is no getting rid of the fishy flavor.” However, they’ve got a helpful tip: Just chase it with a mint!
The video concludes with a question to its viewers: “Would you chew on cephalopods?” — while the second protagonist of the video gives an emphatic thumbs down to that question.
This video has been viewed over 496k times and has had over 194 shares since the time of this article’s posting.
Unsurprisingly — and understandably — Singaporeans were not amused with the video’s mistaken assumption about why people chew on dried squid snacks.
Replying to the mass of angry Facebook comments to its video, Tastemade justified its use of the phrase “gum alternative” by saying a Singaporean cuttlefish manufacturing company called Ken-Ken Food had previously used the term “Chewing gum of the Orientals” as part of its marketing campaign.
The media company, which has over 30 million followers on Facebook, also said that for future content, it would be “extra mindful of how they deliver this kind of information, and shine a light on all the amazing food and culture that comes out of Southeast Asia.”
That’s all fine and dandy to say, Tastemade, but in case you’d like to see what it’s like to have outsiders take your country’s cuisine out of context for the purpose of treating it like a freak show — here’s a humor piece we previously published that’ll give you the chance to do just that.
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