Mr Beast's Mold Controversy: Lunchly Launch Explained
Mr Beast's Lunchly is the latest content creator business venture that has taken the internet by storm. The snack packages include Prime drinks, Feastables, and allegedly another ingredient: mold. Let's dive into everything we know about Lunchly, its mold controversy, the internet's reaction and how the situation relates to the greater influencer economy.
Throughout 2024, Mr Beast has been at the center of controversy. Ex-employees and fellow content creators have accused him of lying to fans, staging challenges and creating an unsafe work environment. Creator DogPack404 uploaded several videos detailing these allegations, which received 30 million total views. One of Mr Beast's previous collaborators, Ava Tyson, had also reportedly interacted inappropriately with minors and made fans extremely uncomfortable. While Mr Beast did release a statement cutting ties with Tyson, he has not addressed the other allegations at the time of writing.
Related Article:Full Timeline of the Mr Beast Controversy — Ava Tyson, DogPack404, Rosanna Pansino
What is Lunchly?
Lunchly is Mr Beast's latest business venture created in collaboration with KSI and Logan Paul. KSI is a YouTuber and rapper with 24 million subscribers. Logan Paul is a YouTuber with 23 million subs. Paul and KSI previously launched energy drink brand Prime together.
Lunchly is a snack pack similar to Lunchables. Each package includes a Mr Beast Feastable bar, a Prime drink and assorted entree meals. Currently, Lunchlys are available in three varieties: Turkey Stack 'Ems, Pizza, and Fiesta Nachos.
Lunchly Mold Controversy
This is disgusting.
— Rosanna Pansino (@RosannaPansino) October 20, 2024
I was filming a video comparing Lunchables to Lunchly and was shocked when I opened ‘The Pizza’ Lunchly. The cheese had MOLD!
The expiration date was still 2 months away! I checked online and found at least a dozen other people posting that their Lunchly’s… pic.twitter.com/PxWhFL1jRa
After Lunchly's launch on September 16, 2024, some buyers and content creators began to report mold inside the lunch packages. YouTuber Rosanna Pansino has over 14.5 million subscribers and is known for her food expertise and cooking videos. On October 20 2024, Pansino posted a video titled 'I Tried Lunchly... It Was MOLDY!' where she opened several Lunchly products and found mold in the pizza-themed Lunchly. Creator DogPack424, who has 692,000 subscribers and is famous for previous videos exposing Mr Beast, was a collaborator in this video. Pansino's video and supplementary posts on X.com quickly went viral, accumulating over a million views and 150,000 likes.
Streamer finds mold in Mr Beast, KSI & Logan Paul’s Lunchly while live on stream 👀 pic.twitter.com/GtV6Zd4wXv
— FearBuck (@FearedBuck) October 24, 2024
Pansino has previously been vocal about Mr Beast's employee mistreatment allegations and was even interviewed by NBC about the subject. However, she wasn't alone in her Lunchly experience: more mold allegations surfaced in the following days. Streamer @aSpicyCow opened a Lunchly on Twitch to attempt to disprove Pansino's video, only to find mold again while live on stream. Several TikTokers also recorded evidence of unsafe Lunchly products. The moldy Lunchly snack packs were all purchased well before expiration and promptly refrigerated.
There is no consensus on why the Lunchly products appear prone to mold. Some speculate the mold is related to faulty glue application. Others note that the mold appears mostly on cheese in the pizza Lunchly, so it may stem from a lack of proper preservatives. Lunchly's packaging mentions mysterious "epic ingredients," but no one expected this.
According to Rosanna Pansino's X.com account, some Kroger stores are classifying Lunchly products as 'discontinued.'
Mr Beast, Logan Paul and KSI's Responses
I’ll tell you what happened to YouTubers
— Logan Paul (@LoganPaul) September 17, 2024
We spent our lives creating content and building our brands
Now we want to build businesses
You don’t say anything when Lunchables faces bans for allegedly containing LEAD but when we create a better version, you’re upset? Then don’t… https://t.co/m4NQ067Ma1
Mr Beast has not yet responded to the Lunchly mold allegations. On October 24 2024, Rosanna Pansino commented on this lack of response, saying:
Every day Logan Paul, KSI, MrBeast and Lunchly refuse to make a statement about mold in their food is another day their fans are potentially eating mold.
- Rosanna Pansino
However, KSI and Logan Paul have reacted to the situation. In a podcast, Logan Paul quipped "Yeah, like, I like my cheese moldy bro." He also posted on X.com criticizing users for attacking Lunchly based on its health when competitor Lunchables' products allegedly contain lead. A context statement added to the post by users notes that the post may be misleading and PRIME's Ice Pop flavor "has reports of lead contamination from the ERC." Meanwhile, KSI vented his frustrations with gamer DanTDM's criticism on X.com by posting a video asking passersby if they recognized him and saying "people in the real world don't know him."
Community Reactions
What happened to YouTubers man..
— ᴅᴀɴᴛᴅᴍ💎 (@dantdm) September 16, 2024
I can't not say anything anymore. This is selling stuff for the sake of making money, simple. How does this benefit their fans?
This is selling crap to kids who don't know better than to trust the people who are selling it to them.
Do better. https://t.co/Uzz27bcxTA
Gamers DanTDM, xQc, and iHasCupquake are vocal critics of Lunchly. Influencers and streamers including Doctor Mike, Ethan Klein and Memeulous have also reacted to the controversial brand. Many criticize the snack's marketing targeted at young fans. Lunchly's alleged dangerous ingredients also factor in internet discussion.
DanTDM's X.com post about Lunchly currently sits at about 667,000 likes. The Minecraft star writes, "How does this benefit [Mr Beast, KSI and Logan Paul's] fans? This is selling crap to kids who don't know better than to trust the people who are selling it to them. Do better."
xQc previously criticized Lunchly for its health concerns and business methods. In one stream, he compared the business to larger corporations with controversial practices like Disney and Nestle, saying he's grateful that people are holding creators accountable, but they should also remember to criticize faceless big-name organizations. Stating his opinion on the product's quality, xQc referred to it as a "disaster."
Related Article: xQc Calls Out MrBeast's Lunchly Collab
The Creator Economy
Many other internet personalities have delved into entrepreneurship with varying results. VALORANT star TenZ became entangled in a controversy after collaborating with Finalmouse in 2023. However, Valkyrae and Ludwig have made more successful steps. In 2024, Valkyrae founded Hihi Studios, an animation company. Ludwig also recently released Rivals of Aether 2 through his game production studio Offbrand Games, which has received a mostly positive reception.
MrBeast popularized the trend of content creators launching businesses and leveraging their audiences to make those products successful. Now as more creators explore unique avenues to create new revenue streams, the world is looking on new ventures, particularly those aimed at younger audiences, with more scrutiny.
