Influencer Wasil Daoud built a following of 6 million with his controversial 'food dumping' videos. But he doesn't want to be that guy anymore.

• Wasil Daoud made a name for himself on TikTok for a trend he calls "food dumping."
• Following backlash from people arguing the trend encouraged food waste, Daoud changed his niche.

In mid-2021, Wasil Daoud was a rapidly growing TikTok creator with 4 million followers, known for a niche he calls "food dumping."

The concept is simple: Daoud took large amounts of ingredients and poured them together to create excessive results. One post from October 2021, which has 123 million views, shows Daoud appearing to empty a jumbo bucket of ice cream into a bowl, topping it off with containers of chocolate sauce and sprinkles to create a mega-sundae.

He told Insider the ingredients featured in his posts were mostly expired, taken from relatives in the restaurant business or from grocery stores with leftover expired goods, and that he also used tricks like mixing water and glue together to look like milk.

He thinks the appeal of these videos was the "satisfying" factor of seeing lots of food being put together on camera. Food content, from mukbangs to recipe inspiration, are hugely popular on social media, and Daoud found his food dumping videos would also get lots of attention from viewers. In the first six months of 2021, he gained 2.2 million followers, according to analytics tracker SocialBlade.

Daoud said he believes he was the first to develop the food dumping trend on TikTok, but as more creators produced similar content and the genre became more visible, it was met with more online backlash.

Daoud, 21, was frequently accused of wasting food "for views," and some TikTok commenters suggested his videos were insensitive and disrespectful towards people struggling financially.

After months of backlash, Daoud's content pivoted gradually to posts discouraging food waste, and towards the end of 2022, he began posting videos that still involved displaying large amounts of food on camera, but this time resulting in him distributing meals to people in underserved communities.

He told Insider he has handed out around 20,000 meals over the past six to eight months as a result, and he's gained 5.4 million followers since the start of the year, standing at 11.8 million followers when he spoke to Insider. But he knows he can't please everybody.

'I did not want to be known as the guy who wastes food on the internet anymore.'

Initially, Daoud said he felt there was nothing wrong with the food dumping videos he was making because he was using expired products, but as backlash started to grow, he said he began to think his videos might still send a negative message.

"I think I influenced a lot of people to waste food, and I think it was wrong," he said, telling Insider he feels regretful about his previous content.

Daoud said he tried looking for ways to change his image: "I did not want to be known as the guy who wastes food on the internet anymore."

In mid to late 2021, he moved from his home in New Jersey to Los Angeles, California, where he says he was taken aback by the scale of homelessness in the city.

"I live in a more expensive area in New Jersey, so I never really witnessed that growing up," he said.

After spending a year in LA, Daoud moved back to New Jersey and decided he would post TikTok content about providing meals to people living on the street. He told Insider he funds the videos himself using money generated from social media and personal finances. His mom, who helps him film clips cooking in the kitchen, and his cousin, who goes out with him on the streets as his cameraman, also make it possible.

Daoud said he can feed up to 300 people per video, and he has now built relationships with many rough sleepers in the area. He added that he plans to visit other countries and hand out meals, hoping that one day he can run his own charity.

Daoud's new videos have led to a surge in support, but he's still had to navigate ethical dilemmas

Daoud thinks that what sets his content apart is his shift from food dumping to meal donation.

Many of his posts begin with a short clip of him from an old food dumping video, before switching to the present day, where the TikToker uses ingredients to batch-make meals, defying his former self in the process.

"It's kind of like a niche in itself," he told Insider.

The response to Daoud's rebrand has been largely positive. Commenters have applauded him for his charitable acts, saying they believe he has "changed" as a person.

His videos arguably fall under the "random acts of kindness" genre, which involves creators filming themselves performing charitable deeds for strangers, such as buying their groceries — but it can be controversial. Creators have previously come under fire for filming strangers without consent, and been accused of using people with financial needs for online clout.

Daoud told Insider he is aware of the backlash, but doesn't see himself as an acts of kindness creator. His answer to the ethical quandary is to always ask people who he hands a meal to if they consent to being filmed before including them in his videos.

At the same time, he said he feels that "no one creator can make everyone happy," and that he believes that even if there are people who conclude that they don't approve of his content, the support that is hugely visible in his TikTok comments section far outweighs this.

He also said he stands by his intentions, telling Insider, "I think people see that I'm genuine about it," adding, "Honestly, forget about all the views and everything. It's mostly being able to make a difference in someone's day."

For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.