For anyone who generally tries to avoid the most sensational, clickbait videos of YouTube, I regret to report that MrBeast, the entrepreneur known for such stunts as putting on his own version of Squid Game and sponsoring eye surgery for 1,000 blind people, has joined forces with Logan Paul, the internet star-turned-boxer who became notorious for his "suicide forest" vlog, to dominate a new food frontier: school lunches. The two announced their Lunchables competitor, Lunchly, earlier this week. It's a natural if slightly cursed collaboration. Both MrBeast — whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson — and Logan Paul have been building up their food and beverage brands in recent years. Donaldson founded MrBeast Feastables, a line of chocolates, in addition to lending his name to the embattled MrBeast Burger, a virtual fast-food brand. Paul, meanwhile, is a co-founder (along with influencer and professional boxer KSI, real name JJ Olatunji) of Prime Hydration, a line of energy drinks and electrolyte-rich "hydration" drinks. These food brands haven't been without controversy. Last summer, after announcing his departure from MrBeast Burger, Donaldson sued Virtual Dining Concepts, which operated the chain, over its lack of quality control and thus damage to his reputation; the company then filed its own lawsuit against the creator, alleging that Donaldson hadn't delivered on contractual obligations like promotion. Feastables, by comparison, has been relatively drama-free, though it's also faced accusations of child and slave labor (the brand is not on the Slave-Free Chocolate list) and lost a branding fight over its chocolate bar named "Deez Nutz." And as we previously covered in this newsletter, Prime's energy drinks drew the attention of New York Sen. Chuck Schumer in 2023, when Schumer called on the Food and Drug Administration to investigate the drinks' "eye-popping" caffeine content and marketing towards kids. A 12-ounce can of Prime's energy drink has 200 milligrams of caffeine; the same amount of Red Bull has 114. At the time, Paul noted that the majority of his audience was over the age of 18. (This is to say nothing of both men's broader controversies outside the food world.) |
|
|
In contrast, Lunchly seems to be going explicitly for the younger crowd — those who want a colorful, fun lunch with goodies to trade in the cafeteria. Naturally, each box will contain both a Prime "hydration" drink, a Feastables bar, and a current line-up of "mains" ripped right from the Lunchables roster: Turkey Stack 'Ems, Fiesta Nachos, and "the Pizza." A bottle of Prime is, in this way, the younger Gen Z and Gen Alpha equivalent of the millennial's nostalgic Capri Sun pouch. Like a Lunchables, it doesn't seem to be an especially filling amount of food, even for a kid. MrBeast and Paul have described Lunchly as a "healthier alternative" and a "better-for-you lunch option." That seems to be true by a hair: Reviewing the nutritional facts from Lunchables's and Lunchly's nacho packs confirmed the Lunchly version indeed has fewer calories, less fat and carbohydrates, and more protein, but it also has more sodium and cholesterol than the Lunchables variety. Seems kind of like a wash! Still, that's unlikely to matter to the masses of children with unfettered access to YouTube who are bound to request their parents buy the grab-and-go meals in bulk, regardless of what's in them. Godspeed. More reading: |
|
|
If you like this email, please forward it to a friend. If you aren't signed up for this newsletter, you can do so right here. |
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment