>I don't know what the big deal is.

It took me a long time to figure this out too, but when it hit me it was blindingly obvious in hind-sight.

Soylent is idiot-proof food.

Can't choose? Can't cook? Can't clean? Can't balance a meal to save your life? As it stands these people coast by on kraft dinner and ramen, and suffer for it.

Soylent is a convenient, relatively cheap ($7.50/person/day), relatively healthy default option. You can eat it without thinking and bad things won't happen. Heck, you don't even need a kitchen.

Whether or not the current incarnation lives up to these ideals has yet to be demonstrated, but that's why the idea appeals to so many people.