Mr. Monster’s Mold Controversy: Luncheon Launch Announced

Mr. Beast’s Lunchly is the latest content creator business venture to take the internet by storm. The snack packs include Prime drinks, Feastables, and allegedly another ingredient, mould. Let’s look at everything we know about Lunchly, the mold controversy, the internet’s reaction, and how the situation ties into the larger influencer economy.

Mr. Monster has been at the center of controversy throughout 2024. Former employees and fellow creators accused him of lying to fans, issuing challenges and creating an unsafe work environment. Creator DogPack404 uploaded several videos detailing these claims and received a total of 30 million views. Ava Tyson, one of Mr. Beast’s previous collaborators, also reportedly interacted inappropriately with minors, making her fans extremely uncomfortable. Although Mr. Beast released a statement cutting ties with Tyson, he did not address the other allegations at the time of this writing.

Related Article:Complete Timeline of Mr. Monster Controversy – Ava Tyson, DogPack404, Rosanna Pansino

Lunchly is Mr. Beast’s latest business venture Created in collaboration with 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 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 a selection of entrees. Currently, Lunchlys are available in three flavors: Turkey Stack ‘Ems, Pizza, and Fiesta Nachos.

After Lunchly’s launch on September 16, 2024, some buyers and creators 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, ‘I Tried Lunch…IT WAS MOLDY!’ He published a video titled. When she opened a few Lunchly products, she found mold on the pizza-themed Lunchly. Creator DogPack424, who has 692,000 subscribers and is famous for his previous videos exposing Mr. Monster, was a collaborator on this video. Pansino’s video and additional posts on X.com quickly went viral, garnering over a million views and over 150,000 likes.

Pansino had previously raised allegations of mistreatment of Mr. Beast’s employees and even NBC’s interview on the subject. But Lunchly wasn’t alone in his experience: More mold claims emerged in the following days. Streamer @aSpicyCow started a Lunchly on Twitch to debunk Pansino’s video, but found mold again in the live stream. Several TikTok users have also noted evidence of unsafe Lunchly products. All of the moldy Lunchly snack packs were purchased before expiration and refrigerated immediately.

There’s no consensus on why Lunchly products seem prone to mold. Some think the molding is related to incorrect glue application. Others note that mold often appears on the cheese on lunch pizza, so it may be due to a lack of proper preservatives. Lunchly’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 ‘discontinued.’

Mr. Beast has yet to respond to Lunchly’s mold claims. On October 24, 2024, Rosanna Pansino commented on this lack of response:

Every day that Logan Paul, KSI, MrBeast, and Lunchly refuse to come clean about mold in their food is another day their fans are potentially eating mold.

– Rosanna Pansino

However, KSI and Logan Paul reacted to the situation. Logan Paul joked on a podcast: “Yeah, I like the cheese to be moldy, bro.” He also made a post on X.com criticizing users for attacking Lunchly over its health condition when rival Lunchables products allegedly contained lead. A context statement added to the post by users states that the post may be misleading and that PRIME’s Ice Pop flavor “has reported lead contamination from the ERC.” Meanwhile, KSI expressed his disappointment with actor DanTDM’s criticism on X.com by posting a video asking passersby if they recognized him: “People in the real world don’t know him.”

Gamers DanTDM, xQc, and iHasCupquake are vocal critics of Lunchly. Influencers and publishers such as Doctor Mike, Ethan Klein and Memeulous have also reacted to the controversial brand. Many people criticize the snack’s marketing towards younger fans. The allegedly dangerous substances that Lunchly contains also influence discussions on the internet.

DanTDM’s X.com post about Lunchly currently has nearly 667,000 likes. The Minecraft star writes: “How does this benefit (Mr. Monster, KSI and Logan Paul’s) fans? This is selling bullshit to kids who don’t know it’s better to trust the people selling it to them. Do better.”

xQc has previously criticized Lunchly for health concerns and business methods. In one post, he compared the business to larger companies with questionable practices, such as Disney and Nestle, and said he was grateful that people were holding creators accountable, but they should also remember to criticize faceless big names. Expressing his opinion on the quality of the product, xQc described the situation as “disaster”.

Related Article: xQc Announces MrBeast’s Lunch Collaboration

Many other internet personalities have turned to entrepreneurship with varying results. VALORANT star TenZ was caught in the middle of a controversy after collaborating with Finalmouse in 2023. However, Valkyrae and Ludwig took more successful steps. Valkyrae founded Hihi Studios, an animation company, in 2024. Ludwig was also recently released Aether’s Rivals 2 Through game production studio Offbrand Games, which has received mostly positive feedback.

MrBeast popularized the trend of creators building businesses and leveraging their audiences to make those products successful. Now, as more creators discover unique ways to create new revenue streams, the world is watching new ventures with greater attention, especially those targeting younger audiences.