The shocking rise of a disturbing food trend

A disturbing TikTok trend sees users eating live octopus tentacles for views. It’s painful, dangerous — and a sad reflection of social media extremes.

@smile_5n/TikTok @seoulfulsharen/TikTok

On TikTok, a platform notorious for pushing the limits of what users will do for attention, a gruesome new trend is gaining momentum: people are filming themselves eating live octopuses and sharing the footage to harvest views and likes. It may sound like something out of a horror film, but it’s real — and worse, it’s inspired by an actual dish.

That dish is Sannakji, a traditional Korean preparation that involves serving still-moving octopus tentacles, freshly sliced from a live animal. The diners pick their octopus from overcrowded tanks, where the animals sit stacked in cramped, unnatural conditions. Then, with knives and cameras ready, the octopus is dismembered on the spot. Its tentacles, still twitching due to lingering nerve activity, are placed on a plate and offered up as a grotesque spectacle.

It’s a meal — and a moment — engineered not just for the plate, but for the algorithm.

The tentacles can suction onto your throat

Aside from the obvious ethical horror, the practice carries very real physical danger. The tentacles — even detached — are strong and reactive. “The tentacles can suction onto your throat,” many food safety experts warn, posing a serious choking risk. It’s happened before, and not just once.

But that risk, rather than being a deterrent, seems to be part of the appeal. As social media grows more saturated with content, creators chase ever more extreme ideas to break through the noise. That means exploiting the shock factor, and apparently, live animal suffering is fair game.

It’s not just disturbing — it’s deeply revealing about the lengths some will go for engagement.

Cruelty dressed as cuisine

Let’s be clear: this isn’t just about cultural dishes. While Sannakji exists within a traditional framework, the TikTokification of the meal strips it of context and turns it into a viral stunt, consumed not with chopsticks but with side eyes and shares.

The octopuses are sentient, intelligent creatures. Numerous studies have confirmed their capacity for pain, problem-solving, and emotional response. To treat them as disposable props for internet fame is not just ethically indefensible — it’s a chilling reminder of what happens when compassion gets drowned out by clicks.

This trend isn’t food culture. It’s animal cruelty, monetized.