US YouTube personality Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast. (Photo by Michael Tran / AFP) (Photo by MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty ImagesA product launch from YouTube trio “MrBeast” (Jimmy Donaldson), Logan Paul and “KSI” (Olajide Olatunji) has sparked online debate, after Minecraft YouTuber “DanTDM” (Daniel Middleton) criticized the three for promoting junk food to children.
What Happened With MrBeast, Logan Paul and KSI?
In 2022, KSI and Logan Paul partnered to create the sports drink “Prime,” while MrBeast launched his line of chocolate bars, “Feastables.”
The three YouTubers have since banded together to launch a pre-packaged meal, “Lunchly,” to compete with Lunchables, owned by Kraft Heinz. Lunchly packs contain a bottle of Prime, a Feastables bar and a “variation of food.”
The choice of wording attracted mockery, memes and criticism from commentators who were unimpressed at the sight of major YouTubers promoting processed food to their highly impressionable army of young fans.
The backlash escalated after Minecraft YouTuber DanTDM spoke out against the Lunchly launch, asking “what happened to YouTubers?”
DanTDM wasn’t the only YouTuber to speak out against the Lunchly launch; iBallisticSquid also expressed disappointment in the trio, writing:
“None of them are passionate about health towards fans, only their wallets.”
Legend of Zelda YouTuber Zeltik wrote that “KSI, Logan Paul and Mr. Beast make me feel ashamed to call myself a YouTuber.”
Rosanna Pansino, known for her YouTube baking series “Nerdy Nummies,” called out the trio for their choice of ingredients.
Why Did DanTDM Criticize ‘Lunchly’?
YouTubers launching products and partnering with brands is hardly a new phenomenon, but DanTDM was lamenting the cultural shift that the video-sharing site has undergone over the years.
YouTube culture was built by small creators, filming content with low-resolution cameras in their bedrooms, but over time, the site has become much more corporate, and popular creators have morphed into brands.
The perceived authenticity of those early years has been challenged by a glut of entrepreneurial content creators who seek to use YouTube as an advertising platform, a place to attract eyeballs and launch businesses.
Some content creators have blamed the cultural shift on MrBeast, whose videos boast high view counts and big budgets; MrBeast often gives away large sums of money to participants via elaborate publicity stunts, inspiring a wave of imitators.
Big setpieces and cash prizes have become the norm, shifting far away from the small, scrappy videos that defined the early years of YouTube.
MrBeast, Logan Paul And KSI Push Back Against The Critics
All three YouTubers pushed back against the Lunchly criticism, with MrBeast responding to an X (Twitter) account, @DramaAlert, which summarized the collective criticism from fellow content creators.
MrBeast argued that Lunchly had “less calories” and “more electrolytes” than Lunchables.
Commentators were unimpressed by MrBeast’s comparison, and wondered why he was selling junk food to children in the first place.
Logan Paul responded directly to DanTDM, writing that YouTubers “want to build businesses,” and referenced a Lunchables lead scandal.
Paul then went to war with the Community Notes feature on X, with commentators referencing allegations of lead contamination in Prime Hydration, and questioning the amount of electrolytes in the drink.
Paul even went so far as to tag X CEO Elon Musk, alleging that Community Notes contributors were telling lies about Prime.
KSI also responded to DanTDM, posting pictures of DanTDM-branded Youtooz toys in an attempt to frame the YouTuber as a hypocrite; Community Notes pointed out that KSI had also collaborated with Youtooz.
DanTDM’s fans posted several celebratory memes in the wake of the backlash.
Ideological clashes between YouTube creators are not new—in 2023, YouTuber Jacksepticeye (Seán McLoughlin) criticized MrBeast for “ruining YouTube,” asserting that the culture of the video-hosting site had become “more about views, money, and popularity than it did about having fun. If [MrBeast] had fun doing those videos, they'd be longer. We'd see the fun."
At the time, Jack’s criticism proved divisive, as MrBeast had successfully cultivated a reputation as a generous philanthropist, and plenty of fans were willing to defend him.
However, MrBeast’s reputation has plummeted in recent months after his former co-host, Ava Kris Tyson, was accused of sending inappropriate messages to minors and grooming young fans online.
Tyson has since stepped away from the channel. MrBeast said he was "disgusted and opposed" to her alleged behavior and has hired private investigators to look into the allegations.
MrBeast has since been named in a lawsuit, unrelated to the Tyson scandal, with the YouTuber accused of creating “unsafe” employment conditions for his upcoming reality show Beast Games, created in partnership with Amazon MGM Studios.
In the wake of the online backlash, Jacksepticeye appeared to relish the drama, posting a meme in support of DanTDM.
