Mass Consumption

Sonya and Kobayashi Eat It Raw

My new favorite commercial has to be the Mastercard Paypass ad featuring America's #1 competitive eater Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas of Alexandria, VA, and World #1 champion eater Takeru "The Tsunami" Kobayashi of Nagano, Japan.

Sonya & Kobayashi: Priceless


Kobayashi has never lost an eating competition to a human being. He has lost only one time - to an 8-foot tall, 1,000-pound bear! I like, as one YouTuber pointed out, how the bear, a Kodiak from Alaska, represents the United States, eating underneath an American flag! And nice victory growl, bear!

Kobayashi Vs. Giant Bear


Baltimore, of course, was the site of one of Sonya Thomas' many eating records. On April 29, 2006, Sonya Thomas stopped by the Inner Harbor to set a world record at the Phillips Seafood Crab Cake Eating Contest (46 in 10 minutes).

Sonya Thomas Sets Crab Cake Eating Record



There's a bunch of Kobayashi and Sonya Thomas videos on YouTube. But my fave is this "TV Funhouse" skit from Saturday Night Live: