Established and released this May, trending influencers known as Logan Paul, KSI, and Mr. Beast collaborated to release a brand known as Lunchly. This product Lunchly is a lunch pack resembling Lunchables consisting of a Feastables Bar, a Prime hydration drink, and one of three entree choices. Feastable Bars is a product released and made by one of the three collaborators, Mr. Beast, who is also known as Jimmy Donaldson. However, not everyone was happy with this lunch release. YouTuber Daniel Middleton, better known as DanTDM, has taken to X (previously known as Twitter) to criticize the three YouTubers about their “unhealthy lunch” release.
Cofounder Donaldson, who is a multi-millionaire influencer, has extensive experience in marketing. His current YouTube subscriber amounts to over 323 million. His cofounder KSI Olajide Williams, is known for competing in boxing arenas with other YouTubers and gets most of his platform from commentary videos on YouTube. Logan Paul gets most of his platform from his preexisting product of Prime energy drinks which is included in Lunchly. However, Paul is infamously known for entangling himself with heavy controversies in the past and present, such as posting a dead body he found in the woods when vlogging in 2018. On the other hand, YouTube star DanTDM, who has been mainstreaming since 2012, is regarded as one of the original Minecraft YouTubers and directs his media towards a younger audience.
Lunchly is being branded as a “beyond basic lunch kit for on the go” as opposed to Lunchly’s biggest competitor, Lunchables, which is being branded as a healthy alternative to a child’s school lunch. These have clear differences in branding but also in content. Lunchly includes an energy drink, which has sparked debates on whether it is appropriate for younger ages or not and is notably more accessible being on shelves in your local store all over the United States while Lunchly is confined to Dillons, Ralph’s, Food For Less and their online storefront.
Lunchly is being branded as a “beyond basic lunch kit for on-the-go” meals, but the reception has not been unanimous. DanTDM’s critique centers on the nutritional value and overall health effect of the product.
A wellness culture-busting dietitian and famous YouTuber, Abbey Sharp, has articulated significant reservations about the Lunchy in her TikTok Blog, mainly with concerns around the Prime electrolyte drink. The Prime drink is advertised as a sugar-free beverage with 400 mg of electrolytes, which provides 640 mg of vitamin A. While the UL level of potential toxicity sits at 900 mg, any child can drink two of Prime drinks a day and it will result in 1.5 times the limit.
“The rest of the vitamins, well not as dangerous of course, are still well beyond what a kid would actually need,” Sharp said. “Four times B6 needs and three times B12 needs.”
DanTDM’s critique and Abbey Sharp’s analysis both underscore significant concerns in the media regarding nutritional content and potential health risks of the Lunchly and the Prime drink.
On Sept 24, DanTDM expressed his opinion to Lunchly’s release through X when it was officially announced less than a week before.
“What happened to YouTubers man…this is selling stuff for the sake of making money … [they are] selling crap to kids who don’t know better than to trust the people who are selling it to them…do better,” said Middleton.
One day later, Olajide Williams (KSI) responds to Middleton’s post, criticizing his merchandise of YouTooz . YouTooz is a Canadian company that primarily partners with social media influencers and YouTubers to make additional revenue for creators by selling collectibles of creators they are partnered with. However, with other 6,700 responses and 4,900 reposts, people reveal that Williams has his own YouTooz. Facing these responses, Williams decides to post another response regarding Middleton’s criticism. The response referred to Middleton sponsorship and promotion of MunchPak, which is a monthly subscription of a food box filled with treats from all over the world. Middleton shamed him for promoting unhealthy behavior with an audience full of kids. But once again, with 7,900 responses and 3,700 reposts, people state that Middleton’s promotion of the brand was well over nine years ago and that, unlike Williams, Middleton did not create MunchPak nor have any stakes in it.
Through a survey conducted on Google Forms that were sent to 12 different teachers throughout the campus, 211 people responded with their opinions regarding the controversy. From this survey 41.9 percent of respondents said yes to watching DanTDM growing up, 34.1 percent stating yes they believed that Prime is suitable for kids, 79.9 percent saying that Lunchly is not a better alternative for Lunchables, and only 18.5 percent giving a reply of yes to watching YouTuber KSI.
Respondents were also asked if they believed that the creators of Lunchly were taking advantage of their fanbase.
“When it comes down to it, it is more insidious when it’s aimed at impressionable children,” Hunter Robinsen said.
Many say that the product itself is very unhealthy, and agree on the fact that the collaborators are only doing this to make more profit and to promote themselves. As of now, Lunchly has not taken place on the shelves of all local grocery stores and is currently available in Food For Less in Sacramento.
by ISABELLA GIMROTH, TRINITY KIM & NIKOL PARPAUTS
