From crawling on the floor to spilling soup all over himself, a Richmond resident is creating comedy-infused food videos to connect people to B.C.’s Japanese food scene.
If there are two things that can unite people together then it would be comedy and food, according to Juanpaolo Mercado, a Richmond “food influencer.”
Mercado, also known as JP or his Instagram username seefoodstagram, has recently risen in the social media world with his hilarious videos on Instagram.
His videos predominately focus on showing the community authentic Japanese business across Metro Vancouver but has recently expanded to other cuisines as well.
“I love food and that’s really where my passion is. Personally, my favourite cuisine is Japanese food and … I still work with a lot of predominantly Japanese businesses in Metro Vancouver,” said Mercado.
“I like to think of myself as one of the key people who … focuses a light on our very authentic and diverse Japanese food scene in Vancouver. It is something we’re really blessed to have.”
He added that Vancouver’s Japanese food scene is considered “on par” with other international cities such as New York or Los Angeles.
Humour connects people
Mercado’s deep knowledge of Vancouver’s Japanese food scene is not the only thing setting him apart from other local influencers and bloggers.
As an individual who studied marketing, he knew he had to stand out and what better way to do so than to make people laugh.
“We all like to laugh and I think nobody would say that they don’t enjoy some level of comedy,” said Mercado.
“I just like to have fun and I like to think I’m a humorous person so incorporating comedy into my videos on social media became really natural.”
For example, he would show how to sneak away from a bad dinner date by crawling away on the floor or “having to dance” before you can eat when dining with food influencers.
Like many Instagram users, he took to the phone app in 2013 to “purely post random pictures.” It wasn’t until 2016 that he turned his account into a personal travel blog where he posted photos of his food during his multiple trips to Japan.
When the pandemic hit and travelling was halted in 2020, it was then did Mercado turn to Instagram as a “creative outlet” to showcase his love for Japanese cuisine around Metro Vancouver.
Debunking food influencer misconceptions
Taking photos and videos for businesses in exchange for getting free meals or products sounds great and all, but there are still there still some people in the public that are skeptical if it is even considered a job.
“There is a public misconception that influencers … or event content creators right at their core are not providing value,” explained Mercado.
People, he said, see content creators as those who are “taking advantage of businesses” by “taking a few photos with their phone and getting free food but not really doing anything for the business.”
Mercado told the Richmond News there’s a lot of work that goes into creating video productions and setting up for “the perfect photo.”
This includes brainstorming concepts unique to businesses, hiring a film crew or casts, developing scripts, rehearsals, filming, editing and “hours and hours upon labour of marketing work” provided to the business.
“I want to make people understand the number of hours and labour, totally unassigned.”
He describes his content creation work as a “full-time hobby” in addition to his already full-time job in the finance industry.
But when he’s not holding his phone and performing his funny antics on camera while eating, Mercado can be found writing poems and short stories for contests, playing badminton or volunteering at his church.
“Food has been a great connector between me, my friends and the community, and has given me joy through social media.”
