MrBeast wanted to create his own products. Doing so, he wagered, would allow him to rely less on video sponsorship. That ambition is now costing him.
The YouTuber, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, has entered the food business twice now. His first venture, the virtual restaurant chain MrBeast Burger, ended up with “inedible” burgers and a $100 million lawsuit. His second, chocolate and snack brand Feastables, was initially more successful. But a stake in the snack kit company Lunchly—which places a Feastable product in a meal package alongside snacks from other notable YouTubers—is now facing user uproar over quality-related concerns.
It seems for MrBeast, launching a product isn’t so easy.
Edible catastrophes
MrBeast’s first foray into the food world came in 2020 with a branded franchise of ghost kitchens. MrBeast Burgers was one of the first virtual franchises, opening more than 300 locations in its first bout while serving food only through delivery apps. The venture was built in partnership with Virtual Dining Concepts, led by Planet Hollywood CEO Robert Earl.
Since then, MrBeast Burgers has expanded rapidly, even opening some in-person locations. But the chain has also come under fire with multiple social media accounts claiming they received raw meat in their order. In 2023, Donaldson sued Earl for irreparable harm to his brand, claiming that the burgers were “disgusting,” “revolting,” and “inedible.”
A month later, Earl countersued for $100 million, claiming that Donaldson failed to honor his contract with Virtual Dining Concepts, and that Donaldson intentionally interfered with MrBeast Burgers’ success. In texts revealed by The Information, Donaldson wrote that Virtual Dining Concepts was trying to hold him “hostage,” and that he would stop promoting MrBeast Burgers to “let it slowly die.” Now Donaldson has dropped the initial suit, per Puck. The move leaves MrBeast Burgers with a tarnished reputation, and Donaldson on the line for a boatload of legal fees.
In 2022, MrBeast made his next big jump into the food industry, launching Feastables. The chocolate and snack bars made a significant dent in the market, and are sold in major retailers like 7-Eleven. Donaldson spent big on the promotion, sponsoring the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets for one year, emblazoning their jerseys with the bright-blue logo.
But now Feastables is in the hot seat: Last month, MrBeast announced Lunchly, a joint venture with KSI and Logan Paul. The packaged lunch kit features a Feastables, a Prime hydration drink, and one of three entrées. Touting Lunchly as a “better for you” option than competitor Lunchables—and even marketing the product for kids—led many health experts to claim that it didn’t have enough nutrients to be a viable children’s meal.
Now another scandal is festering around Lunchly. Rosanna Pansino, a baking YouTuber who had previous grievances with MrBeast, claimed to &t=2s">find mold in her Lunchly cheese. An X user corroborated the story, claiming it was “faulty glue application” that led to the molding. After MrBeast fans claimed Pansino had edited the clip, she even posted the uncut version online.
Is productizing the next YouTube revenue model?
The traditional model of influencer marketing, where companies sponsor individual videos, seems relatively small for a channel as big as MrBeast’s, whose YouTube follower count exceeds 320 million. Per the Observer, MrBeast charged between $500,000 and $2 million for ongoing sponsorships in 2022. This means that many companies can’t afford a MrBeast placement, and that’s if they’re willing to consider YouTubers as a serious venue for ad spending.
In his February Time profile, Donaldson expressed these frustrations with the business model. “I know a video is gonna get 200 million views,” he says. “And I sell that video to a different company, which is just sad. In a perfect world, I would own a couple of different companies—chocolate, and maybe a global games company—and then that’s what I would promote in the videos.”
He’s not alone in wanting to pump out merchandise. Almost every major beauty YouTuber, from James Charles to Jeffree Star, has a cosmetics line. Online influencers have been writing books since the 2010s. But there’s a quality gap here: The product needs to be good, or at least good enough that the consumer will keep buying it. That’s where MrBeast has run into trouble.
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