YouTube Video Marketing Fallout: MrBeast Controversy and Its Impact on His Brand Partnerships

MrBeast’s star power is fuelled by his image as a fun-loving dogooder. However, an investigation by The New York Times into the recent filming of Beast Games reveals the opposite. The working conditions for Beast Games contestants were cruel, and perhaps, even intentionally sadistic.  Contestants claimed that they were fed only two measly meals a day and were denied sleep.. Some contestants allegedly had medications such as insulin taken away from them. Contestants with allergies received the very food they were allergic to, and female contestants were not only denied sanitary pads but were mocked when they asked for the same.

If MrBeast is cleaning oceans  to save seals, how is it that he is denying basic medical care to his own cast members ? Which part of these actions are the result of YouTube video marketing strategy, and which part is driven by humanitarian desire to improve the lives of others? His supporters assert that the question is moot, for so long as people receive his help it doesn’t matter the reason behind his charity. Perhaps there is truth in their argument, and it is difficult not to appreciate actions so visceral as helping 1000 blind people see, the action itself is almost Biblical. But given his massive young fanbase, seeking to unmask the drive behind the acts of charity is reasonable. If MrBeast is presenting to young children that his giveaways are the acts of charity driven by the desire to help others then it is imperative that is the truth even behind the camera. We cannot allow our children to idolize a hypocrite, can we? 

The dangerous filming of Beast is doubly problematic because it happens in the shadow of the very public trial and investigation into the death of the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Hutchins had been shot dead by the film star Alec Baldwin during the filming of the independent film Rust in New Mexico. The District Attorney’s office claimed that the incompetence of the production team and crew in Rust had compromised gun safety and death of a crew member. On the flip side the Beast production crew and management seemingly created the dangerous situations on purpose, otherwise, why take the medications of ailing contestants ?  A part of me wonders if the dangerous situations were created for the sake of creating onscreen drama. Contestants have told Times that the starving of contestants with only two, paltry meals a day may have been done so as to later offer them MrBeast Feastables chocolates and capture shots of them devouring the chocolates. Viewers at home may think the devouring is because the snacks are so delicious, the contestants know better. 

I have worked as an executive producer at a TV commercial production company in New York for over 12 years. My goal on the film set is to make sure that my cast and crew deliver the best footage for the client. However, there is one cardinal rule that surpasses everything else : everyone in my cast and crew must go home safe. To read these stories of starvation is bad enough, but it is particularly disturbing to read that the Beast cast suffered injuries that went untreated. How is it that the show has 5 million dollars to give away but did not hire medics to attend to the injuries to its own cast? 

I love competitor game shows just as much as the next person, but I draw the line when diabetics are denied insulin and female cast members are denied sanitary pads. Even before I have seen the trailer, I have decided that this is just not for me.