Sept. 16, 2024 was the introduction of Lunchly, the “unbiased” and “better” version of Lunchables. Lunchly brings you everything a Lunchables does and more. Instead of a Capri Sun, a Lunchly contains a Prime sports drink. Instead of any old, ordinary candy bar, you get a Feastible. The actual food in the Lunchly itself is allegedly the healthier alternative to Lunchables. Having “100% real cheese” as opposed the Lunchables’ “Mozzerella PasteurizedPasturized Prepared Cheese Product.” According to its founders, Lunchly also has fewerless calories, less fat and less sugar than Lunchables. Lunchly is the self proclaimed best competitor to Lunchables. Claiming to be the healthier and better alternative, Lunchly is a product that is meant to challenge a classic and come out on top. On the Lunchly official website, under the “Us vs Them” page, it directly describes itself asstates “Top of the Class.,” mMeaning that Lunchly is confident in its beliefcompetition of being the better product.
Lunchly was created by MrBeast, Logan Paul and KSI, all three being major faces in YouTube history. This is not surprising to most because Lunchly’s inclusion of MrBeast’s Feastibles and additionally Logan Paul and KSI’s Prime drink. It is very important to note that the creators of Lunchly are using their own preexisting products into the promotion and advertisement of the Lunchables competitor. All of the people listed as the creators of Lunchly all have a their history of with controversy from fans and social media users. Especially MrBeast, in particular, who was just recently began losing popularity after being exposed for unsafe conditions on the sets of his videos, amongst other complications that took place. The His return back into the media being the promotion of Lunchly was his return to the media. As for Logan Paul and KSI, they have been pursuing their own paths, and not much buzz has been heard aboutof them in the media until recently.
A product advertised the way Lunchly was sounds like it would get a lot of positive feedback. On the contrary, Lunchly faced extreme levels of criticism on many social media platforms, such as TiKTok, Twitter and , Instagram, etc. Many users question the marketing tactics and the nutritional quality of the lunch itself. In fact, even Dr. Mike, a well- known Youtuber who also happens to be a licensed physician, spoke out against Lunchly, claiming that the product does not meet nutritional standards set by the USDA. Most viewers looked at the supposed healthier food option as more of a marketing ploy as opposed to an actually better alternative. A lot of users were unimpressed by the sight of major Youtubers promoting processed food to their young audiences. So, needless to say, people were not convinced.
You know it’s bad when someone who is loved by the vast majority of the internet speaks out and criticizes a product promoted by other fellow youtubers. Known for his Minecraft playthroughs and commentaries, DanTDM criticized MrBeast, Logan Paul and KSI for the marketing of Lunchly. “What happened to Youtubers man,” DanTDM starts his tweet responding to the news of Lunchly. “I can’t not say anything anymore. This is selling stuff for the sake of making money, simple. How does this benefit their fans?” DanTDM does make a valid point. The founders of Lunchly are all well off and well known. Do they really need extra pocket change? With the knowledge of Dr. Mike stating that Lunchly doesn’t even meet nutritional standards, what even is the point of Lunchly? It’s MrBeast, Logan Paul and KSI banding together to sell a combination of their products to make more money off of their younger and impressionable audiences. “This is selling crap to kids who don’t know better than to trust the people who are selling it to them. Do Better,” DanTDM finishes leaving the rest of the internet to turn their attention towards Lunchly in a way MrBeast, Logan Paul and KSI were not hoping for.
With a product made by MrBeast, Logan Paul and KSI, who all have a large audience of followingsers, you would think that Lunchly would have a larger community of support behind it. On TikTok alone, MrBeast has 104.4 million followers, Logan Paul has 18.7 million followers and KSI has 11.8 million followers. That is a lot of people, so you would think their product would have a large range of support and followers behind it as well. In a recent TikTok video posted by Logan Paul advertising the difference between Lunchly and Lunchables, the comments under the post lean in a drastically negative directionway. Users leftave comments such as, “How high is bros rent,” directly pointing out that this product feels like nothing more than a cash grab. There are also comments such as, “Diamond Minecart better,” making reference to DanTDM’s response to the product.
It was at this point thatwhere the creators of Lunchly bounced back with their response to the criticism. KSI recently uploaded a video to Youtube titled, “EVERYBODY HATES US RIGHT NOW!” where he does a bit of digging to respond to the criticism of Lunchly. He spends the beginning of the video promoting Lunchly. He then immediately goes into responding to the criticism he has been facing. He reacts to a comment by another well known YouTuber, Jacksepticeye, who stated, “You mess with DanTDM, you mess with youtube.” KSI responds to this, saying, “That is cringe.” In another instance, KSI even goes as far as to mock DanTDM’s criticism. He also goes back to his activity on the social media platform known as X. In a recent post, KSI responded to DanTDM’s criticism by saying, “Looks like crap to me,” attached to a photo of DanTDM merchandise. In the comment section of the video, a viewer makes a very clear distinction that KSI seems to continuously overlook. The comment states, “These toys are for the entertainment of kids. They actually serve a purpose. Lunchly is just a copy of Lunchables, and it does NOT benefit anyone. If you want to make something, at least make it healthy instead of advertising probably a more unhealthy version to kids who can only trust the seller.” Another comment that is a lot more to the point states, “Bro needs a factory reset” – which sounds about right. He frequently accuses viewers of “moving the goal post.” However, the topic of discussion is not about candy, toys or merchandise. Lunchly is marketed to be the healthier version of Lunchables, but it doesn’t meet any nutritional guidelines proving that statement to be less about health and more about consumerism. Viewers did not positively respond to KSI’s response. The entire duration of the video feels as if KSI is just dancing around the real topic of discussion and only focusing on details that have nothing to do with the matter at hand.
It was very clear that KSI’s response to the criticism only tarnished what Lunchly was meant to be a whole lot more. Suddenly, a vast majority of the internet is completely against Lunchly and that population only continues to grow. Fortunately for Lunchly, MrBeast made a post trying to diffuse the controversy. In his post he stated, “Lunchables sells hundreds of millions of units and countless people eat it. Our goal is to give people a better for you alternative to it.” This was a way more mature response that doesn’t get the entire population of Youtube to hate you or your product. Unfortunately for Lunchly, it was already too late for that.
All in all, the general consensus is that Lunchly could have had a lot of potential. However, because of the wild game of the internet, Lunchly’s chances in the competition with Lunchables is down exponentially due to online controversy. There are plenty of influential people out there, so maybe it is important to not get on the bad side of other popular creators in the same influential system. If it were not for KSI choosing to disrespectfully respond to DanTDM’s criticism as opposed to MrBeast’s more calm approach, Lunchly probably would have been a lot more successful. However, Lunchly is also fairly new, so it won’t be long until we see if social media ruined MrBeast, Logan Paul and KSI’s marketing strategy. Did a Youtube uprising ruin Lunchly’s chance in the competition against Lunchables? Only time can tell.
Payton Vogt is a second-year English major.