Nongshim sends giant snack to baby who went viral trying to sneak a Banana Kick

A short clip of a 12-month-old boy caught trying to sneak an extra snack behind his mother's back has racked up more than 25 million views online — and the snack's maker, Nongshim, took notice, sending the little star a surprise gift.

The video was posted to social media in March. It shows a baby boy, just past his first birthday, pulling a piece of Banana Kick — one of Nongshim's best-known long-selling snacks — out of the bag and bringing it to his mouth, only to be stopped by his mother.

When his mother said "you can't have that," the baby put the snack back in the bag, stared into it for a moment, let out a long sigh, and then scratched the back of his head with a sheepish look — drawing laughter from viewers everywhere.

Despite running under 30 seconds, the clip exploded in popularity. On Instagram, it accumulated 25.8 million views, about 1.48 million likes and roughly 12,000 comments.

Reactions poured in online. "It's impressive that such a tiny baby can hold himself back," one commenter wrote. Others called the sigh "too cute," praised how "gentle" the baby seemed, and declared the head-scratch "perfect." Several said they simply could not stop watching, with one writing: "I've never been this invested in a stranger's child's future."

Nongshim responded in kind. After coming across the video, the company designed a special surprise for the baby: an oversized Banana Kick bag, custom-made to stand taller than the child himself. Alongside it, Nongshim produced equally giant versions of its Melon Kick and Mango Kick snacks.

The specially made packaging featured the words "Banana Kick Baby" alongside the boy's face. Each bag — larger than the roughly 80-centimeter-tall toddler — contained the equivalent of about 20 regular retail bags of the snack.

The baby's mother posted a follow-up video on Instagram on July 2 revealing the gift. "When Nongshim said they were sending something, I assumed it would just be a simple bag of Banana Kick," she said. "But it turned out to be a far more heartfelt and precious gift than I ever expected." She added her thanks "again to all the aunties and uncles who have shown my baby so much love, and to Nongshim."

Nongshim said the oversized Banana Kick was a one-of-a-kind creation made exclusively for the baby and that there are no plans to sell it. "We plan to continue introducing a variety of programs to communicate directly with consumers," the company said.