If you’ve ever taken a bite of Buldak noodles and immediately followed it with a slurp, a sharp “tss” and an “ahh,” October 1 could be your chance to turn that familiar reaction into a piece of history.
On October 1, 2026, from 5:00–6:00 p.m. PDT, Buldak is inviting fans around the world to grab a bowl of noodles, turn on their cameras and come together on TikTok for an official Guinness World Records attempt.
The goal is to bring together the most people eating noodles and uploading their participation to a single platform within one hour.
But for Buldak, the attempt isn’t simply about putting another record in the books. It is about recognizing the community that helped turn a seriously spicy bowl of noodles into a global cultural phenomenon.
A Brand Built by Its Fans
Long before Buldak became a familiar sight across social media feeds and grocery aisles around the world, fans were doing something brands spend millions trying to inspire: creating their own content around it.
Introduced by South Korea’s Samyang Foods in 2012, Buldak became famous for its intensely spicy flavor and the reactions it inspired.
During the spicy-noodle challenge era that took off online in the years that followed, YouTubers, mukbangers and everyday fans began filming themselves attempting to conquer the heat. Videos of people slurping noodles, sweating, laughing and reacting to the burn traveled around the world.
Much of it wasn’t scripted by the brand. Fans were creating the entertainment themselves.
That participation helped transform Buldak from a spicy noodle into something bigger: an internet challenge, a shared experience and eventually a global brand with an intensely loyal community.
Now Buldak wants to bring that same energy together at the exact same time.
From Viral Challenge to Shared Global Moment
The October 1 record attempt takes something Buldak fans already do every day — eat the noodles, react to the heat and share the experience online — and turns it into one coordinated global event.
Hundreds of fans are expected to participate on TikTok during the designated one-hour window.
The idea is simple: the record isn’t just Buldak’s to break. It’s something its fans can break together.
For a brand whose growth has been closely tied to user-generated content and online food culture, there is a certain full-circle quality to the attempt. The same kind of fan participation that helped introduce millions of people to Buldak is now at the center of its bid for a Guinness World Records title.
And you don’t need to be a professional content creator to join.
- Photo Credit: Buldak
How to Be Part of the Record Attempt
Participation begins at 5:00 p.m. PDT on October 1, with qualifying videos needing to be posted during the official 5:00–6:00 p.m. PDT window.
Videos can be prerecorded, but they must be uploaded to TikTok during that hour.
Then comes the fun part: eat.
Participants should be shown eating Buldak noodles on camera for at least 10 seconds. And because this is Buldak, there’s no need to hide your reaction to the heat.
In fact, the sounds that have become synonymous with the Buldak experience are part of the fun: the noodle slurp, the inevitable “tss” when the heat hits and the “ahh” that follows.
Participants should include #BuldakRecord in the caption and leave the video public for at least 10 days so participation can be verified.
Most importantly, fans should make sure their eating and reactions can be clearly seen and heard.
One Hour, One Community
Internet food trends come and go quickly. Buldak’s relationship with its fans has lasted for more than a decade.
What began with people challenging friends to see whether they could handle an extraordinarily spicy bowl of noodles has grown into a global community that continues to create its own recipes, videos, challenges and rituals around the brand.
That makes October 1 less about manufacturing another viral moment and more about bringing together a community that already exists.
For one hour, Buldak fans around the world will be eating, slurping, sweating and posting together.
Whether that is enough to earn an official Guinness World Records title will ultimately be determined through Guinness World Records’ verification process.
But for Buldak, the bigger idea is already clear: the people who helped build the brand are being invited to become part of its next chapter.
So grab the noodles, cue up TikTok and prepare for the burn.
Spencer Hulse is the Editorial Director at Grit Daily. He is responsible for overseeing other editors and writers, day-to-day operations, and covering breaking news.
