Mr Beast’s Lunchly is the latest business venture for content creators to take the internet by storm. The snack packs contain 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 larger influencer economy.

Throughout 2024, Mr. Beast has been at the center of controversy. Ex-employees and other 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 a total of 30 million views. One of Mr. Beast’s former associates, Ava Tyson, had also reportedly interacted inappropriately with minors and made fans extremely uncomfortable. Although Mr. Beast released a statement cutting ties with Tyson, he has not addressed the other allegations at the time of writing.

Related Article:Complete Timeline of the Mr. Beast Controversy — Ava Tyson, DogPack404, Rosanna Pansino

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 subscribers. Paul and KSI previously launched the 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 starter meals. Currently, Lunchlys comes in three varieties: Turkey Stack ‘Ems, Pizza and Fiesta Nachos.

After Lunchly’s launch on September 16, 2024, some buyers and content creators started reporting mold inside lunch boxes. 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 known for previous videos exposing Mr. Beast, was a collaborator on this video. Pansino’s video and accompanying post on X.com quickly went viral, garnering over a million views and 150,000 likes.

Pansino has previously been vocal about Mr Beast’s allegations of employee abuse and was even-tempered interviewed by NBC on the subject. But she wasn’t alone in her Lunchly experience: more mold allegations surfaced in the following days. Streamer @aSpicyCow opened a Lunchly on Twitch to try to refute Pansino’s video, only to find mold again while live on stream. Several TikTokers also recorded evidence of unsafe Lunchly products. The moldy lunch boxes were all purchased well in advance of expiration and refrigerated promptly.

There is no consensus as to why Lunchly products seem prone to mold. Some speculate that the mold is related to improper glue application. Others note that the mold appears mostly on cheese in the Lunchly pizza, so it may be due to a lack of proper preservatives. Lunch Light’s packaging mentions mysterious “epic ingredients”, but no one expected this.

According to Rosanna Pansino’s X.com account, some Kroger stores classify Lunchly products as “out of stock”.

Mr Beast has yet to respond 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 food is another day their fans are potentially eating mold.

– Rosanna Pansino

However, KSI and Logan Paul have responded to the situation. In a podcast, Logan Paul joked “Yes, I like my cheese mold brother.” He also wrote on X.com criticizing users for attacking Lunchly based on its health when competitor Lunchable’s 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 over player 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.”

Players 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 talk’s marketing aimed at young fans. Lunch Light’s alleged dangerous ingredients also factor into the internet debate.

DanTDM’s X.com post about Lunchly currently has 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 any better than to trust the people selling it to them. Do better.”

xQc has previously criticized Lunchly for its health issues and business practices. In one stream, he compared the business to larger companies with controversial practices like Disney and Nestle, saying he’s grateful people are holding creators accountable, but they should also remember to criticize faceless big-name organizations. Commenting on the quality of the product, xQc called it a “disaster”.

Related article: xQc shouts out MrBeast’s lunch collaboration

Many other internet personalities have delved into entrepreneurship with varying results. VALORANT star TenZ became embroiled in controversy after teaming up with Finalmouse in 2023. However, Valkyrae and Ludwig have taken more successful steps. In 2024, Valkyrae founded Hihi Studios, an animation company. Ludwig also recently released Rivals of Aether 2 through its game production studio Offbrand Games, which has received a mostly positive reception.

MrBeast popularized the trend of content creators starting businesses and leveraging their audiences to make these products successful. Now that more creators are exploring unique avenues to create new revenue streams, the world is looking at new ventures, especially those aimed at younger audiences, with more scrutiny.