Jacob Smith
Opinions Editor
If you’re a well known figure in the on-line space and you don’t have a food product, book or music career you’re trying to sell, then are you really even an influencer?
There are an endless number of cases where a social media personality attaches their name to some kind of good or service. But just because someone has a high follower count, that doesn’t automatically put them on the same level as well-established companies and artists.
Take the many endeavors of Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast. Donaldson is the largest YouTuber on the platform with 450 million subscribers, yet nearly all of his non-YouTube endeavors have been met with controversy.
Lunchly was a collaboration between MrBeast and fellow popular YouTubers KSI and Logan Paul with the goal of providing a “healthier” alternative to Lunchables. In a promotional video comparing the two products, the Lunchly crew highlight how their food has less sugar, lower calories, more protein and includes “real” cheese. This paints the picture of Lunchly being the better choice, but in reality, these differences actually make it worse.
According to the CDC, the average amount of calories that should be in a lunch for children in grades K-5 is 550-650 calories. Lunchables’ pizza meal contains 400 calories, while Lunchly’s pizza is just 360 calories. With neither Lunchables or Lunchly hitting the minimum calorie requirements, kids eating these products aren’t receiving enough energy, regardless. But with Lunchly having overall lower calorie values, kids have an even harder time getting the proper amount of nutrition and energy they need. It also doesn’t help that the cheese in their meals is moldy.
In Lunchable’s pizza meal, the packaging states that the cheese they use is “mozzarella pasteurized prepared cheese product.” The Lunchly promo video mocked this decision, where Donaldson said, “They can’t even call it real cheese.” But the reason Lunchables uses a cheese substitute is so that it has a longer shelf life before it goes bad. With Lunchly using real cheese, it’s prone to spoiling much sooner and, thus, developing mold.
Many people who purchased Lunchly posted their discoveries of mold across social media, with the highest profile user being cooking YouTuber Rosanna Pansino. In her video “I tried Lunchly … It was MOLDY!”, Pansino compared Lunchly and Lunchables and provided healthier alternatives. The sheer amount of mold reports combined with the general mockery of the product’s concept labeled Lunchly for what it really is: a shameless cash-grab.
While the poor handling of Lunchly was surprising for a food product, it’s not uncommon for a YouTuber product to crash and burn. But although that has become the norm, there have been some notable exceptions.
Alex Warren first gained attention on TikTok when he was a member of The Hype House. This group consisted of very high profile TikTokers, such as Charli D’amelio, Addison Rae and Chase Hudson. The Hype House was such a big thing that in 2022, they had their own Netflix reality show, which currently sits at 11% on Rotten Tomatoes.
While on the show, Warren was shown acting reckless and immature. One standout moment is when he pulled a prank on his then girlfriend Kouvr Annon by hosting a fake proposal and wedding. This came after the pair had relationship troubles throughout the entire show, and after Annon had made it clear that she wanted to settle down.
These actions contributed to the public opinion on Warren not being so favorable. Everything changed, though, when he released “Ordinary,” the lead single off his debut album, on Feb. 7, 2025. The song exploded, with it spending 10 weeks at number one on the Billboard Top 100, becoming the longest running number one hit of the 2020s on the UK singles chart, amassing over 1.3 billion streams on Spotify and earning Warren a Grammy’s nomination for Best New Artist.
I don’t know Warren personally. For all I know, this career pivot could be no different than any other YouTuber that has attempted to launch a music career. But based on interviews with Warren about his work, this doesn’t feel like every other case.
In an interview with Billboard, Warren acknowledged his position as an influencer turned musician and doesn’t blame people for being skeptical of his work.
“I’ve watched a lot of people who go, ‘I’m going to be a singer now,’ and they kind of just expect everything to be handed to them,” Warren said. “Why on earth would you think I’m any different?”
Warren also opened up about the struggles he’s faced in life, including the death of his father to cancer when he was nine years old and being kicked out of the house by his mother at 18 and dealing with homelessness. He spoke about how he turned to songwriting as an outlet to unpack these emotions and how it’s given him perspective on how difficult life can get.
“My career is amazing, but at the same time, I think everything that I’ve lost — my parents, my childhood — that’s just something that has led me to be the person I am today, the musician I am today, and I have a story to tell and hopefully [can] help some people,” Warren said.
In regards to if he thinks he’ll be able to replicate the success of “Ordinary,” Warren says he isn’t too concerned.
“I’m kind of like, ‘OK, cool. I don’t need another one.’ I’m happy. I never thought I’d get one [hit],” Warren said. “If another one happens, that’s amazing, but at least I know that I’ve been able to do it once. If I die a one-hit wonder, thank God. It’s just a cool thing and I could not ask for more.”
The difference between Donaldson and Warren’s out-of-YouTube endeavors, besides the product, is their intent behind it. Since the Lunchly controversy, Donaldson hasn’t mentioned the product and has moved onto other things, such as a game show on Amazon Prime and a theme park in Saudi Arabia. If he really did have a passion for providing children with healthy lunch options, you’d think he would have kept up with it and tried to redeem Lunchly’s reputation. On the other hand, Warren’s approach to his music and his attitude surrounding his success sounds to me like an actual artist, not an influencer trying to make a quick buck.
If there is real intent and meaning behind their actions, I think influencers can prove themselves in whatever field they want, regardless of their reputation.
