Mukbang and obscure ramen flavors and international snack packs which skew heavily to Korea/Japan/Taiwan have been a staple of my TikTok ad load as long as I’ve been using that app.
Replies
This isn’t a connection I’ve seen anyone make and it’s obviously a bit fast and loose but consider these trends and then the market positioning of say Target.
aug 28, 2025, 1:41 am • 9 0 • view
Even Costco in Charlotte has Dubai chocolate and sashimi and moon cakes and all sorts of fun ramen these days. Not going to hold my breath that Target can say same.
aug 28, 2025, 1:43 am • 19 1 • view
I bought the Dubai chocolate at Costco without knowing it was an internet trend (I really like pistachios).
aug 28, 2025, 1:50 am • 4 0 • view
It was pretty good! Liked the size in the individual packages so I didn’t feel like a complete hog.
aug 28, 2025, 1:52 am • 4 0 • view
Is it overly sweet? That was my experience with the locally made ones when the trend first started, and it seemed to be a thing across a few different local chocolatiers.
aug 28, 2025, 1:58 am • 0 0 • view
It was sweet but not painfully so
aug 28, 2025, 9:39 am • 2 0 • view
COST gets away w very few SKUs bc they have such great merchandisers to get the best of the best TGT has fewer SKUs than a supermarket but not so few they get the highest quality—part of their execution problems
aug 28, 2025, 1:50 am • 5 0 • view
Five Below has a volatile model but they know who they are — “we’re chasing trends for value-oriented kids and families.” I don’t think Target knows who they are anymore. There’s some inertia based on their past but not a clear “this is what we’re best at” market positioning.
aug 28, 2025, 1:52 am • 6 0 • view
Last time I was there to get a few things, one item that I thought was on sale was actually only on sale if you bought online and was full price in store. Upset me enough I didn’t buy it out of spite. Seemingly zero clue that the store part is the only advantage they have over Amazon
aug 28, 2025, 2:03 am • 4 0 • view
why would they penalize the customer who is coming to purchase the item and save them the trouble of packing and shipping it??
aug 28, 2025, 2:10 am • 3 0 • view
No idea. It especially makes me dislike them because the biggest factor that leads me to make in store impulse purchases is high confidence that I’m getting at least very close the best deal possible on an item. Then I only have to decide if I actually want it
aug 28, 2025, 3:13 am • 1 0 • view
Currently in the middle of my first ever stop at a Buc-ee’s and that is very crystallizing about what successful in store experiences need to be in 2025
aug 29, 2025, 6:16 pm • 2 0 • view
You’d be surprised. They had kimbap rolls in the freezer section and the full A-Sha, Ichiban, and Samyang noodle ranges plus the usual Nongshim and Maruchan selections a when I was in a month or so ago.
aug 28, 2025, 1:53 am • 5 0 • view
Hey there you go, maybe they’ve got a chance.
aug 28, 2025, 1:55 am • 3 0 • view
Was very pleasantly surprised; grabbed a six (?) pack of the cheese Buldak (which was pretty competitively priced with Costco, IIRC) while I was there. Hope those crazy kids figure it out.
aug 28, 2025, 2:00 am • 2 0 • view
Personal favorite (go-to) ramen: Shin Black Most over-rated crowd favorite: Buldak Carbonara If you have time, add soft boiled egg, fried garlic, spring onion, sesame oil, and gochugaru (coarse and/or fine)... ground beef or pork if you'd like. (or any subset of these)
aug 28, 2025, 2:54 am • 1 0 • view