Satisfying sounds of chocolate melting and snapping, pistachio cream being spread and the finished chocolate bar being bitten into play through a phone speaker. These sounds fill the ears of sophomore Skylar Murphy as she watches famous singer Billie Eilish’s TikTok tutorial for her own vegan recipe of the viral Dubai chocolate. This video was posted on Aug. 23, and it has since amassed over 60 million views and 7 million likes. 

Other videos of celebrities creating their own recipes have gone equally viral. A reason these videos may do so well is people’s natural interest in celebrities, due to their widespread familiarity.

“A lot of people are fascinated by what famous people do and eat, and so when someone that big makes something and posts it on the internet, it gains a lot of attention,” Skylar said.

In particular, Ms. Eilish’s video gained a lot of attention due to its intersection of two already trending topics: Dubai chocolate and Ms. Eilish herself.

“Dubai chocolate was really trending, and Billie Eilish was a really big artist at the moment, so people who like Dubai chocolate, and people who like Billie Eilish all saw the video,” Skylar said. 

Other influencer-created recipes include a Spicy Vodka Pasta recipe by American model Gigi Hadid and influencer Hailey Bieber’s signature Erewhon drink: the Strawberry Glaze Skin Smoothie. These recipes have elicited similar reactions online, amassing millions of likes and views. In these cases, seemingly basic recipes reached such levels of attention due to the name connected to them.

“With Gigi, the dish wouldn’t get as much attention if it wasn’t connected to the name,” Skylar said, “but Dubai chocolate was already a thing before Billie Eilish.”

Additionally, in these videos, viewers can interact with their favorite celebrities by trying the recipe themselves.

“I think these videos have gained more popularity due to viewers being able to interact,” Skylar said. “Because if someone makes it themself, they can tell a friend, and it can spread outside of social media.”

As Skylar watches Ms. Eilish take her final bite of her homemade chocolate bar, Skylar and millions of other fans like and scroll past the video onto the next viral recipe.