“Use this fitness gum for jaw exercises. It will sharpen your jawline.

This is a phrase posted last month by an American chewing gum manufacturer “for jaw lines only” while promoting its product on social networking services (SNS). While promoting the gum, they used words such as “workout” and “chew hard” to describe the act of chewing gum as if it were exercise.

Recently, chewing gum every day has become a trend among American Generation Z (population born between the mid-1990s and early 2000s). He even posts a video of himself chewing gum for 10 minutes every day on his social media to show the change over the course of a month. Indeed, the “angular chin” is considered an enviable appearance among these people.

Recently, the New York Times (NYT) also highlighted this phenomenon, stating: “The popularity of chewing gum brands that promote the ability to create the image of a mature man among teenagers active in online appearance-related communities in the United States is growing explosively.

The NYT mentioned the gum brand “Jawliner” and said that it promoted its gum products as “facial exercise products.” They promoted chewing gum by saying, “Say goodbye to your weak jaw and say hello to a snappy jaw” and “Eating habits in modern society have shifted to a focus on soft foods, making it impossible for jaw and facial muscles to develop.”

According to the company, the gum products are sold in batches of about 60 pieces for $26 (about 36,000 won). The official added that 60 percent of buyers are between the ages of 18 and 25. The company's Instagram followers have surpassed 17,000, and it is gaining popularity by collaborating with a famous American Gen.G influencer with 180,000 followers.

Could constantly chewing gum change your face shape into a square jaw? Moon Cheol-hyeon, a professor of dentistry at Gachon University Gil Hospital, explained, “It is true that if you repeat a certain movement, the muscles used in that movement develop,” but added, “This is a story that applies to any body.” part from a general perspective. The explanation is that medical evidence is weak to establish the link that chewing gum alone can create a square jaw.

However, he advised, “chewing gum is a taboo habit for patients with temporomandibular joint diseases, such as jaw disc,” and added, “Chewing squid can also cause temporomandibular joint disorders, so caution is advised.”

Gum is popular? Perception of appearance depends

Meanwhile, the chewing gum craze in the United States shows a contrasting atmosphere with the domestic chewing gum market. This is because the size of the gum market in Korea is shrinking. According to the latest statistics from the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation (aT), the domestic chewing gum market has been steadily declining from KRW 321 billion in 2015 to KRW 254 billion in 2020.

The industry believes this is because there are a variety of foods that can replace gum, such as jelly and chewy candies. In the first half of 2022, when COVID-19 was in full swing, jelly sales in CU and GS Retail convenience stores were already more than four times higher than gum sales, and the gap between gum and jelly sales has long widened.

In Korea, regardless of gender, oval-shaped faces are preferred, which is why people tend to avoid hard foods, including chewing gum. It is in the same context that Botox, which shrinks the jaw muscles, is popular.

Lee Eun-hee, a professor of consumer studies at Inha University, said, “Fashion industries or consumer goods may differ depending on the beauty standards pursued by each country,” and added, “As for the trend of evaluation standards, such as beauty standards, to be standardized and solidified more quickly through SNS, users should “We must be aware and cautious,” he advised.

Kim Young-ri, Hankyung.com reporter smartkim@hankyung.com