Benny Blanco’s controversial Jollibee review is raising discussion about the necessity of standards for respect and etiquette within the world of TikTok food reviews.
FoodTok has become almost as popular as BookTok on TikTok. Users can spend hours scrolling through recipes and recommendations. A considerable part of FoodTok, though, is food reviews. Many influencers, such as Keith Lee, have managed to build entire careers out of reviewing restaurants based on their food and quality of service. On top of that, these types of reviews can actually be beneficial to the food and beverage industry. For example, Lee has been influential in putting local, family-owned, and Black-owned restaurants on the map through his TikToks.
However, Blanco’s latest TikTok food review shows that these kinds of videos can also be harmful and ignorant, especially when they target and trample on food from other cultures.
Why Benny Blanco’s Jollibee review is getting backlash
While Blanco is best known as a songwriter and record producer, he has also dabbled in FoodTok for some time. On TikTok, he has over 5 million subscribers, and the majority of his videos are food reviews. Sometimes, he reviews fast food like Chipotle or Raising Canes. Other times, he’ll try recipes or food hacks from TikTok, such as the TikTok trend of mixing red wine with condensed milk. His videos are usually pretty innocent and laidback, but that changed with his taste testing of Jollibee.
Jollibee is a Filipino chain of fast-food restaurants. The very first Jollibee opened in 1978 when Tony Tan Caktiong and his family decided to turn their ice cream parlor into a restaurant after noticing customers were more drawn to their selection of hot food. Within a few short years, the chain had spread throughout the Philippines and globally. In the Philippines, Jollibee is bigger than McDonald’s and has become a brand many associate with their culture and have fond memories of growing up with.
While Jollibee’s American presence is growing, it’s still difficult to find its restaurants in many areas of the United States. So it’s not surprising it’s a popular choice for TikTok food critics like Blanco. However, viewers were left shocked by his reaction to his first taste test of the brand.
The viral video has been viewed almost seven million times. He starts by saying that his stepmom is from the Philippines, so he grew up eating Filipino food. He then immediately launches into rather childish criticism of the food, complaining about the “dry” adobo rice and saying, “It tastes like butt.” When he got to the spaghetti, he claimed it “smelled like vomit” and proceeded to spit it out.
Now, no one is saying that Blanco had to like Jollibee, as everyone has different tastes. However, many are calling out his review for being childish and disrespectful. He didn’t even attempt to leave a genuine comment or review and seemed to forget that he was reviewing food from another culture. Almost all of the top comments criticized his review, with one commenter writing, “Even if it isn’t your taste or you genuinely don’t like it, at least give a proper and respectful comment.” Many TikTok users also stitched his video, explaining why his review was so disrespectful.
Some users called out his immaturity, while another hilariously mocked him for likely eating cold food and then blaming the less-than-enjoyable experience on Jollibee. King Kenny Slay explained that he grew up poor in the Philippines, where Jollibee was a luxury, and they couldn’t waste food the way Blanco did in the video.
TikTok user @r33nberger had a particularly thoughtful response to Blanco, describing what exactly Jollibee symbolizes. She explained how poverty is rampant in the Philippines, meaning Jollibee was often the place for birthdays, graduations, and every other special occasion. The spaghetti Blanco spit out tastes so different because the company uses ketchup in its sauce since fresh tomatoes are too expensive, and it uses hot dogs because processed meat is cheaper than fresh meat. However, despite the struggle, Jollibee still managed to create something that people could enjoy, making the restaurant and its food a symbol to Filipino individuals that they, too, can make something out of their own struggles.
The conversation even made its way to X, with users criticizing his disrespectful attitude and lack of manners.
After the backlash, Blanco posted a second review of Jollibee where he gushed over how good it was and claimed he reversed some of his former opinions. It was so obviously damage control that it’s a bit awkward to watch. Perhaps he could’ve just issued a sincere apology instead.
Hopefully, this incident and the discussion it sparked will help FoodTok reviewers understand that there is a difference between having an opinion and being outright disrespectful and that reviewing something from another culture should be preceded by research and gaining at least a basic understanding of what the food means to other people. Taste is just one facet of food; there are also histories, cultures, and personal stories surrounding it that should more often be a part of what food critics discuss.
(featured image: Jeff Kravitz / Getty)
