Buldak's spicy ramen from South Korea fires up global social media

UNITED STATES A girl in San Antonio, Texas, is pulling pink tissue from a polka-dot bag when she begins to cry in disbelief. She has just opened the thing she wants most for her seventh birthday.

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Over the past decade, Buldak has found its way again and again into the heart of the social media algorithm.

(PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK)

It is not a Labubu, Jellycat or even a Coach bag, but a package of instant ramen specifically, the spicy carbonara-flavoured variety from South Korean brand Buldak.

The noodles, with their signature bright pink packaging, cost less than US$8 (S$10) for a five-pack at most major US retailers, but they are a favourite of American rappers like Cardi B and GloRilla, as well as K-pop stars Lisa and Jimin and just about every American kid with a TikTok account.

The birthday girl, Adalynn, is so overwhelmed by the gift, she can barely stand. Her cousin recorded the emotional response and posted it online. Within two weeks, the video had racked up almost 60 million views.

It is not the brand's first or second or third - viral moment.

Buldak's initial brush with online fame came in 2014 when a You-Tuber prodded his friends to eat the ultra-spicy noodles on camera. It garnered 11 million views and sparked the "fire noodle challenge", where legions of brave eaters tried their luck with spicier versions of the dish.

American competitive eater Matt Stonie ate 15 servings in one sitting and got 150 million views doing it.

Over the past decade, Buldak has found its way again and again into the heart of the social media algorithm, especially for its Gen Alpha superfans, the oldest of whom were born around 2010.

This exposure has translated into cash flow. The revenue for South Korean parent company Samyang Foods has more than doubled since 2022, to a projected US$1.5 billion in 2025, the company says. Its stock is up about 100 per cent in 2025 alone, and harnessing virality has become core to its strategy.