The Lunchly Controversy: The Mind of the Beast

Article by Batuhan (12.12.2024)

On September 16th 2024, three of the most well-known internet influencers MrBeast, KSI and Logan Paul, all revealed a new product labelled “Lunchly”, which was meant to act as a competitor to the better-known Lunchables.

Lunchly and Lunchables are products in competition within the pre-cooked meals industry, though both products are better represented as marketing for school children. Lunchables is more widely recognised as the alternative option to parents making meals for their children by saving time with a pre-made meal. However, Lunchables has undergone numerous controversies due to the contents of its meals. In 1997, the high sodium and fat in the meals were called out, as Lunchables claimed their meal to be a “healthy option”. In 2004, the UK branch opted to swap out candies from their boxes due to growing child obesity. In 2009, the Cancer Project listed Lunchables in the top 5 worst packaged lunches. The most recent controversy occurred in 2024 when a report deduced a high concentration of lead and phthalates (a group of chemicals that can cause hormone disruption) within the meals which MrBeast along with his two cohorts listed as a reason to try Lunchly instead.

Lunchly’s launch didn’t come without its own complications, as a day after, influential Minecraft YouTuber DanTDM posted his thoughts on Twitter about the product saying, “What happened to YouTubers man..

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.” Logan Paul would proceed to respond to the tweet with what some would consider a controversial take on influencers and their role to

their fans. Logan Paul's response seemed only to further unite online opinion against Lunchly and its seemingly opportunistic leaders. 

KSI would also respond to DanTDM’s tweet with a video where he would make multiple accusations such as, how one of DanTDM’s sponsors was also a pre-cooked meal labelled “Munchpak”. The aforementioned sponsor was later revealed to be a previous sponsor from almost a decade ago, making it relevant only by being in the same industry as Lunchly. KSI’s response to DanTDM and the overall passionate defence of Lunchly has led to numerous critiques from other creators on the online platform. Other creators have found that both Lunchly and Lunchables (despite the different ingredient portions) taste almost identical, the only difference being the type of beverage. The Capri Sun in Lunchables is replaced by Prime. Another tweet was later released, showing the result of putting Lunchly through a metal detector, to which Logan Paul stated that great efforts were taken to ensure that no heavy metals or lead were in Lunchly through the use of metal detectors. Many would question this, as lead cannot be detected by traditional metal detectors, despite what Logan Paul insinuated.

Lunchly’s inclusion of the Prime energy drink inspired some backlash as Prime was released (and mostly marketed by KSI and Logan Paul), further cementing the opportunism of both creators as Prime is also recommended to children. The ingredients of Prime also seem to inspire some backlash, as one bottle of Prime has 200 milligrams of sugar, which is equivalent to 5 Coca-Cola cans and even has more sugar than a can of Red Bull (an energy drink known for being prohibited for children). Further research shows that children aged 12-18 (the primary target audience of both creators) should have less than 100 milligrams of sugar a day, which is half the amount of sugar in one can of Prime. Other research found that some Prime flavours contained lead, making his earlier comment on ensuring no lead in Lunchly suspect. Logan Paul has also been undergoing controversies as of late, due to his mistreatment of employees and other business practices. Prime sales have recently been dropping due to both Logan Paul’s controversies and general loss of interest in the product, which appear to be one of the driving factors behind Lunchly and its inclusion of Prime as a beverage.

The timing of Lunchly proved to be even worse for MrBeast who was undergoing severe backlash after a former editor revealed in July that multiple videos showing MrBeast’s “challenges” (something he was known for) were either rigged so a preferred outcome would occur or MrBeast would put both family and friends into the competitions rather than completely random people, as he claimed. As of right now, MrBeast has yet to directly respond to such allegations and instead stated he was “disgusted” by the allegations and had his legal team send a cease and desist to the “former MrBeast editor”. He has so far ignored the allegations and instead continued with his own endeavours. MrBeast’s silence has been taken by some as an admission of guilt, while most merely remain suspicious. This situation was not helped by the launch of Lunchly. The allegations of MrBeast along with the other creator's attitude about their “business” appear to further incriminate MrBeast not as a true philanthropist but instead as an opportunist.

Popular influencer and licensed doctor Mikhail Varshavski (better known as Doctor Mike) would break down the nutritional value of both Lunchly and Lunchables in a YouTube video. Doctor Mike would point out that FDA standards stated children in Kindergarten to 8th grade should consume 625 calories at lunch daily with less than 10% coming from both added sugars and saturated fats. Lunchly contains 23% of its calories from saturated fats while another 10.4% comes from added sugars. Children would need to eat 2.7 portions of Lunchly to have their daily recommended intake which would cause 1300 milligrams of sodium consumption, coming close to the daily intake for children. Doctor Mike would conclude that while Lunchly’s added sugars and saturated fats were slightly better than Lunchables at face value, the lack of standard calorie amounts makes this alternative for a pre-made lunch meal suspect.

However, it has become more than clear that while Lunchly remains a slightly healthier option than Lunchables, it is most definitely still not healthy. Lunchly advertises that the Prime drink has more electrolytes than the Capri Sun in Lunchables, which many have found confusing as electrolytes have no clear relation to children's meals and are more prevalent in sports drinks. Originally, the Feastables chocolate (also within Lunchly) was marketed as a “healthier alternative” to other chocolate brands before changing its recipe, making it unhealthier than before and the new ingredients were disguised, such as in “unsweetened chocolate”. While the Feastables chocolate still contains less sugar than a KitKat chocolate bar, once again, this does not make it healthy. The controversy facing the product mostly does not face the product itself, but rather the people who are presenting it.

Meanwhile, MrBeast is facing a class action lawsuit against his companies over multiple labour law violations as well as emotional distress, sexual harassment, false advertising and unfair business practices. The case (which has been accepted by the Los Angeles Superior Court) primarily focuses on the participants of MrBeast’s competition show, Beast Games, in which 1000 participants compete for a prize of 5 million USD. Participants claim being deprived of medical care, food, sleep and basic hygiene. Five of the contestants are suing MrBeast for “unreasonable, unlawful and unsafe employment conditions”. One of the female contestants would go on to describe the expectations of competitiveness, but not to the degree of the “hostile environment” she would end up experiencing. This lawsuit has gone on to sour public opinion on MrBeast, making the Lunchly product seem even more unsafe. Public opinion became even further soured by one of the other creators who faced lawsuits over Prime as well, as the remaining creator became defensive when called out by fellow influencers for the opportunistic product.

In conclusion, the Lunchly product appears to be the symbol of modern-day commercialism, and its creators are only the most popular example of a growing problem with influencers. Many and more modern influencers are more interested in selling their products and making money, rather than their original intent of entertainment. Other YouTubers like Jacksepticeye would call out MrBeast for “changing the YouTube landscape” where instead of “having fun” it became “all about money”. This quote seems true for more recent influencers, like Jack Doeherty or Andrew Tate, who go out of their way to promote services to better the viewer’s life or other influencers who promote crypto coins before suspiciously selling their shares in them after the viewers have already invested. Overall, MrBeast (despite his philanthropic nature) has seemed to join the more modern influencers in exploiting his very large audience through the product Lunchly, and has thus exposed the growing problem of influencers, deciding to monetise their audience instead of actually entertaining them. Most recently, however, Lunchly has been discontinued, which is attributed to the online criticism, but seems more likely due to the decreasing sales.

Sources:

Source 1-Paul, Logan. “X.Com.” X (Formerly Twitter), 17 Sept. 2024, x.com/LoganPaul/status/1836095864672006420. 

Source 2- Sportskeeda

Mukherjee, Shreyan. “Lunchly Controversy: Exploring Why Mrbeast, Logan Paul, and KSI’s New Business Venture Is Receiving Backlash.” Sportskeeda, 24 Sept. 2024, www.sportskeeda.com/us/streamers/lunchly-controversy-exploring-mrbeast-logan-paul-ksi-s-new-business-venture-receiving-backlash. Accessed 12 Dec. 2024. 

Source 3-The post 

Gilbert, Nyla. “Lunchables Rival, Lunchly, Causes Media Backlash.” Lunchables Rival, Lunchly, Causes Media Backlash - The Post, 2 Oct. 2024, www.thepostathens.com/article/2024/10/logan-paul-mr-beast-ksi-lunchly-dantdm. Accessed 12 Dec. 2024. 

Source 4-The Express Tribune

Art, Pop Culture &. “KSI Defends Controversial New Product Lunchly Collab with Mrbeast, Logan Paul.” The Express Tribune, 23 Sept. 2024, tribune.com.pk/story/2498116/ksi-defends-controversial-new-product-lunchly-collab-with-mrbeast-logan-paul. Accessed 12 Dec. 2024. 

Source 5-Newsweek

Dunn, Billie Schwab. “MrBeast Hits Back at Backlash after Launching Lunchables Competitor.” Newsweek, 18 Sept. 2024, www.newsweek.com/mrbeast-hits-back-backlash-lunchables-competitor-lunchly-1955513. Accessed 12 Dec. 2024. 

Source 6- Wikipedia

Doe, John. “Lunchables.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Dec. 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunchables. Accessed 12 Dec. 2024.