Sinister theory behind mum’s TikTok videos explodes

Her short, sharp clips have gotten her hundreds of thousands of fans — but they’ve also spawned wild conspiracies about her true intentions.

At first glance her videos look like countless others on TikTok — a mum depicting her day-to-day life while skewering certain parts of parenthood.

But while @ReallyVeryCrunchy’s videos may seem like innocent fun at first glance, subtle details in each clip that went viral have ended up sparking wild theories.

Her razor-sharp critique of a popular parenting style and near-perfect video editing had people convinced she was everything from an actor playing a crunchy mum hired to promote a large corporation or a plant for a multi-level marketing company.

Concern grew so loud that the “mysterious” woman behind the account was forced to out herself in an interview.

But before we get to that, you’re probably wondering: What the hell is a crunchy mum?

TikTok users have gone wild trying to find out the true identity of @ReallyVeryCrunchy. Picture: TikTok/ReallyVeryCrunchy.

What is a crunchy mum?

If you live outside of the United States it’s unlikely you know what a crunchy mum (or the crunchy lifestyle) means.

But chances are you know someone who fits the mould — they like to chose the natural, homegrown option in everything when it comes to giving birth, food and getting their children educated.

As Urban Dictionary puts it they “generally believe (for varying reasons) that there is something bad or less beneficial about buying mainstream products or doing other common activities in the mainstream way”.

Examples of crunchy mum behaviour include making your own bread, jams and kombucha as well as opting for a home birth, Urban Dictionary says.

They like to grow their own food as much as possible and wear natural fibres such as linen.

While the term isn’t commonly used in Australia, we all probably know a crunchy mum. Picture: TikTok/ReallyVeryCrunchy.

How @ReallyVeryCrunchy first raised suspicion

There are plenty of very real crunchy mums on TikTok sharing their lifestyles, but on January 1 @ReallyVeryCrunchy emerged on the platform.

In the space of a month she posted over 20 videos and amassed hundreds of thousands of followers.

Many of the videos are genuinely funny, like this one of her tearing up fabric for the “family cloth” as her clueless husband asks what it is (it’s reusable toilet paper).

But some TikToks left viewers, especially real-life crunchy mums confused, as to whether her videos were friendly fire or outright mocking.

“I can’t tell if this person is serious or not,” one person commented. “Like is she making fun, or is she really like this?”

“I’m here for passive aggressive crunch-tok,” another wrote. “This is wild (and accurate).”

Another video about childbirth, which saw the crunchy mum criticise another woman who wanted to give birth in hospital, was slammed by many viewers.

“I know this is satire, but freebirthing is DANGEROUS,” one commented.

People became suspicious of her high quality videos and razor-sharp commentary on the crunchy lifestyle. Picture: TikTok/ReallyVeryCrunchy.

This month TikTok began wanting answers about the popular creator and videos sprang up spouting multiple theories about @ReallyVeryCrunchy.

They claimed her videos seemed too professionally angled and edited to be done by someone without experience, as well as pointing out the fact that she mostly replied to comments with emojis.

“She doesn’t really leave a lot of information,” @honestlyautumn said in one video that has been viewed more than two million times.

“There’s nothing about her life, we can’t find anything connected on her Instagram about her.”

One of the biggest theories was that she “a front for a very popular MLM” Young Living that sold essential oils and there was “a whole marketing team involved”.

Another was that she was promoting an Etsy shop or an actor plant for natural products company Earthley Wellness.

“Her videos are articulate, well made, the cinematography is brilliant,” @kelitarosita said in another conspiracy video.

“It has excellent scripting and for what she is putting out, the quality, she is pumping those videos out … I don’t think she’s working for an MLM personally, but her videos are very well done, they’re very professional and a lot of them, many of them, have product placement.”

Her videos show that being a crunchy mum requires privilege that not every parent has access to. Picture: TikTok/ReallyVeryCrunchy.

The truth is finally revealed

After being peppered with questions about her true identity for weeks on TikTok, @ReallyVeryCrunchy finally broke her silence in an interview with Buzzfeed.

Unfortunately, the truth was far less exciting than anything TikTok had cooked up, with the article titled: “The ‘Crunchy Mom’ Conspiracy Has Been Revealed. She’s Just A Crunchy Mom.”

In it @ReallyVeryCrunchy reveals herself as Emily Morrow, a 33-year-old mother of two living in the US state of Kentucky.
Ms Morrow said she found the conspiracy theories about her identity hilarious, if not slightly concerning.

“It’s just funny that people think we’re doing this instead of a husband and wife being silly because they’re bored,” she said.

Ms Morrow came up with the character and ideas for the skits, while her marketing director husband shot the videos.

Her videos show that many aspects of the crunchy lifestyle, like having ethically-made wooden toys and buying $40 manuka honey, are unattainable for many parents.

I’m pretty darn crunchy,” Ms Morrow said.

“But the thing about my crunchiness is that I’m also pragmatic. I’m not going to make my kid eat a banana at a birthday party, but I am going to find the piece of cookie cake without red frosting.”