"Yokai Akanuke" and "Plastic Surgery Meme Faces": Contemporary Aesthetic Pressure and the Hidden Profit Structure Behind Them - 12/30/2025

Abstract

The superficial trends associated with the appearance-based trends known as "Yokai Akanuke" and "Plastic Surgery Meme Faces" harbor hidden economic benefits and psychological burdens. Digging deeper into these phenomena reveals a serious asymmetry between the benefits some companies and platforms gain from the pursuit of appearance and the associated risks and costs borne by ordinary people. This article clarifies this structure and explores how these interests act as social pressures.

Keywords

Yokai Akanuke, Plastic Surgery Meme Faces, Social Media, Externalization of Profits, Cosmetic Surgery, Psychological Pressure

Appearance Competition: The Pressure Behind the Surface of Freedom

With the development of social media and the internet, the pursuit of physical beauty has become increasingly important, especially among young people. Behind the popularity of certain aesthetic features, such as the "Yokai Akanuke" (a type of monster) or the "plastic surgery meme face," lie economic incentives involving social media platforms and the advertising industry. While these trends are often presented as "individual freedom" or "self-expression," in reality, many stakeholders benefit from them, while the risks and costs borne by ordinary people are underestimated.

Externalization of Profits: Platform and Corporate Perspectives

What is noteworthy here is how the social media platforms and beauty companies that promote these trends are profiting from them. Social media platforms earn advertising revenue from the content posted by users. In particular, appearance-related posts and trends drive engagement (likes and shares), maximizing advertising revenue.

In addition, beauty companies and plastic surgery clinics can use social media trends to market their products and services to their target demographics. These companies exploit users' desire for an ideal appearance to encourage them to purchase their products. It's important to note that much of the profit these companies make is supported by the risks and costs borne by users themselves as they pursue their appearance.

Risks Created by the Appearance Competition

The risks of pursuing appearance extend beyond the physical costs of surgery and products. Seeking approval on social media and in the media can lead to mental strain and distorted self-esteem. While achieving a "perfect face" is socially valued, the underlying psychological risks (e.g., self-doubt, obsession with appearance, and excessive competitiveness) are rarely discussed.

Plastic surgery also carries physical risks. There is a possibility of surgical complications or failure, and the results can be irreversible. However, these risks are often ignored due to the image of the "perfect face" spread on social media.

Information Asymmetry and Exploitation

Social media platforms and advertising companies emphasize the aesthetic standards users pursue and create mechanisms that link these standards to consumer behavior. Information asymmetry plays a major role in this structure. Social media algorithms display content that they believe will be of most interest to users, but the criteria for doing so are not publicly disclosed. In reality, the content recommended by social media platforms can have a significant impact on users. This information concealment maximizes profits for companies and platforms while preventing users from accurately understanding the motivations behind their own actions and choices.

Advertisers and plastic surgery clinics exploit this information asymmetry to instill exaggerated expectations and illusions in consumers, leading them to purchase products and services. In this structure, if consumers do not fully understand the consequences of their actions, they may act without realizing that their choices are not optimal.

Conclusion

Behind phenomena such as "Akanuke the Yokai" and "plastic surgery meme faces" are the profits reaped by social media platforms and beauty-related companies, as well as the risks and costs borne by ordinary consumers to support them. While on the surface, these trends appear to be the result of free individual choice, in reality, social pressure and corporate profit structures are deeply intertwined. Consumers need to make their own choices after fully understanding the psychological and economic impact of changes to their appearance, but the current situation is one in which information is incomplete and asymmetric. To improve this situation, companies and platforms need to increase transparency and educate consumers.