There are lots of things about the world I don’t “get” – like gender reveal parties, promposals, and the internet’s fascination with Smash Mouth’s “All Star” – and I don’t think I ever will. Until today, that list also included ASMR videos. There is absolutely nothing about someone whispering that makes me feel relaxed (or feel anything else for that matter). In fact, that actually puts me on edge. But now I understand how something that sounds strange to one person can inexplicably be soothing and mesmerizing to another, because this video of a car needlessly crushing items both soft and crunchy is incredibly satisfying for reasons I can’t fully explain.
This video comes from the YouTube channel HaerteTest, which has made these types of videos before. Their latest involves a wide-ranging selection of items either crunchy or soft being smooshed under the wheel of a car. From cheap plastic sunglasses that sound like a breakfast cereal being consumed to a whole bowl’s worth of fruit getting squished like bugs, there’s something inherently calming about this whole endeavor. Why, I have no idea. Everything about this video is both wasteful and meaningless in a way that I would normally find stupid. Those four lemons could have been used to make lemonade for a kid’s sidewalk stand, and those detergent pods could have then cleaned their clothes at the end of a hot day working under the sun.
And yet, none of that bothers me while I watch that tire turn all of these useful items into a weird symphony of subtle destruction (which is also my favorite Guns N’ Roses album). I think M&Ms are a perfect candy, and yet I would watch this car backup for miles shattering those delicious candy-coated shells.
Does this mean I will watch other ASMR videos now? No, those are still weird to me personally, but now at least I get why they aren’t to others. Maybe I’d be into them if a car was crushing them.
Featured Image: HaerteTest
