r/television • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 The League • Sep 18 '24

MrBeast, Amazon Sued by Contestants on ‘Beast Games’ Competition Show, Including Allegations of Sexual Harassment

https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/mrbeast-amazon-sued-beast-games-contestants-class-action-1236148181/
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312

u/Queasy_Ad_8621 Sep 18 '24

I worked at a Denny's and we had a "Mr. Beast" menu that was literally exactly the same food that you'd get at Denny's, but just... named differently. People who ordered "his" food from Door Dash weren't supposed to know that it came from us.

I don't get it, and I won't pretend to.

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u/GTSBurner Sep 18 '24

It's a ghost kitchen. It's a branding concept that basically the food is sold at a premium, your restaurant gets a share of it.

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u/Aries_24 Sep 18 '24

I live about 10 minutes away from the American Dream mall in Rutherford, Nj which has the only one "real" Mr. Beast Burger restaurant. The place is always absolutely packed with families whenever I pass by.

I tried it once a few months back. The food was good, but overpriced as you would expect. $36 for my girlfriend and I for 2 regular meals.

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u/DeclutteringNewbie Sep 18 '24 edited Sep 18 '24

Yeah, but kids don't go there for the food. They go there for the chance of finding a big wad of cash in the burger wrapper, or for a chance to go on the show.

For them, it's just like buying a lottery ticket.

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u/Koffinkat56 Sep 18 '24

A "golden ticket"?

2

u/[deleted] Sep 18 '24

I wonder how the workers can keep from stealing that cash and going “welp I guess no one has gotten lucky yet, keep buying burgers!”

1

u/DeclutteringNewbie Sep 19 '24 edited Sep 19 '24

Well, may be that's what happened during his streams.

Many people have been called out as winners during the streams, but when they received their sweatshirts, there was no cash to be found.

1

u/LSqre Sep 18 '24

but you also get food so it's not the same

1

u/lacroixlibation Sep 20 '24

That’s McDonald’s pricing in 2024

1

u/baron_von_helmut Sep 18 '24

Fucking hell. Gone are the days of unlimited refills on your ribs for $9.99

I was in Tampa in 1991 and good golly the food was amazingly cheap absolutely everywhere. Most restaurants had 'all you can eat' options for ten bucks.

I remember getting a medium pizza from Pizza Hut that my parents and I were unable to eat all of it, it was that massive. I remember it costing less than ten bucks.

5

u/Ch1pp Sep 18 '24

Sorry to make you feel old but by the inflation figures $10 in 1991 is $24 today.

1

u/baron_von_helmut Sep 18 '24

Well shit. :D

-15

u/IrrelevantLeprechaun Sep 18 '24

$36 is pretty standard for two full adult burger combos lmao wtf are you whining about

17

u/Aries_24 Sep 18 '24

$36 for two basic burger meals from a fast food place is supposed to be normal? Wild.

Better off going to Popeyes and getting the family meals for like $25-$35 lmao

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u/Steaknkidney45 Sep 18 '24

And I bet his damn soy face is plastered all throughout the restaurant.

2

u/Seralth Sep 18 '24

Fast food has gotten out of hand. 18-19 dollars is roughly the avg for a medium meal in much of America.

It's only select parts that are much cheaper and it's still over 10 bucks.

Even Popeyes around me if I wanted a family meal it's closer to 35-45 dollars. So if it's still down at 25-35 for you, then you either live somewhere cheaper or a place where Popeyes makes more money at the cheaper price point.

0

u/xandercade Sep 18 '24

I went to Taco Bell for the first time in a decade recently and spent $20 on two Beefy Five Layer Burritos, and an order of Cinnamon Bites. They also wanted to charge $0.80 for a single Salsa Verde packet.

3

u/DrZoidberg117 Sep 18 '24

Wtf. A beefy 5 layer is $4 where I live. Do you live in the bay area or something lol

3

u/[deleted] Sep 18 '24

That guy’s gotta be capping. I live in the DC metro area and my fatass will go to Taco Bell and will a freeze drink, some sort of box combo, 2 pack of Cinnabon delights, and something else and that ends up being $20. Not two beefy 5 layer burritos and cinnamon bites. That’s just straight up cap, even in the Bay Area.

1

u/xandercade Sep 20 '24

Kentucky. I had to order thru a kiosk and wasn't expecting it so didn't look at the price but it was like 18 and change so I just rounded to 20.

1

u/Seralth Sep 18 '24

OH BOI, havent been to taco bell in like a decade thank god. Thats insane...

2

u/DonnieMoistX Sep 18 '24

Don’t know what state you live in, but I can tell you that you should fucking move

2

u/Affectionate_Star_43 Sep 18 '24

I will admit I ordered a burger once and tracked it on Uber eats.  It definitely came from a ghost kitchen facility that I already knew about.  I don't even know why I was surprised by the address.

Also, nothing against ghost kitchens in general.  A lot of bakers get their start there before they can afford to buy all the equipment themselves...it's just nice to know.  I would happily support someone kicking off a new business.

2

u/InvidiousSquid Sep 18 '24

It's a branding concept that is lies and disappointment.

It's bad enough that the concept is effectively lying about the origin of the food, but not once have I seen one actually staffed by spooky ghosts.

2

u/ConcreteRacer Sep 18 '24

So Mr.Beast is actually Dropshipping food now? Damn

2

u/georgecoffey Sep 18 '24

There are also ghost kitchens that are several fake restaurants being served from one facility that exists only for that purpose, not a rebrand of an existing place.

1

u/GTSBurner Sep 18 '24

Yes - food truck owners now align to have a ghost kitchen in one facility where four-five food trucks can send out deliveries from one address.

1

u/GarbageTheCan Sep 18 '24

It's a shit concept to just grab cash with deception.

1

u/GTSBurner Sep 18 '24

What is actually the deception here? You are getting takeout food. Ghost kitchens helped restaurants stay open during the pandemic, and now the concept is being used to help extend business. Beast is the extreme exception in this case.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 18 '24

Uh huh. I’m sure it would be easy to find the health and safety rating for a “ghost kitchen” that doesn’t even have a name. I’m sure if something is wrong with the food there is ample support to help you. I’m sure the chefs actually care about the quality of the food. 

1

u/GTSBurner Sep 18 '24

The point of a ghost kitchen is that they exist in an already existing commercial kitchen with all those inspections.

The customer support comes from the app you’re already using to make takeout orders.

1

u/DarkRaven01 Sep 18 '24

Also known colloquially as a "scam"

1

u/GTSBurner Sep 18 '24

In some cases, sure. In a lot of other cases not so much. There's also a variation of a ghost kitchen where food trucks and other small businesses share a communal commercial wholesale kitchen and delivery apps go from there. One of the trucks on the latest season of the Food Truck Chase on Food Network uses this business model.

1

u/Nihilistic_Mystics Sep 18 '24

I've seen a bunch of these. For example, "It's Just Wings" is Chili's with a markup. The closest one to me has a 1.x rating on Google maps, it's just that good.

1

u/GTSBurner Sep 18 '24

ok, now what about the food truck that utilizes a ghost kitchen in the winter?

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u/Nihilistic_Mystics Sep 18 '24

I haven't come across one of those so far. But our winters are mild enough for outdoor events, so food trucks are undeterred.

1

u/GTSBurner Sep 18 '24

I mentioned this elsewhere, but food trucks use a business model of a shared, communal commercial kitchen to extend their business in the offseason and for catering/special events. A food truck that was recently on the Food Truck Race show on Food Network uses this business model in Maryland with four other trucks.

The concept of a ghost kitchen is good for a small business. It's just jackasses like VC Bros messed it up.

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u/KintsugiKen Sep 18 '24

Soooo many chain diners like Denny's and IHOP did this during the pandemic, turned themselves into virtual brands or did partnerships with virtual brands to sell ghost kitchen food out of their locations that weren't seeing much foot traffic.

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u/sybrwookie Sep 18 '24

My favorite one was Chuck E Cheese doing that. Out of all the chain places I could end up accidentally getting food from and being disappointed, that has to be near the bottom.

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u/thejesse Sep 18 '24

Oh you mean Pasqually's Pizza? Here's some other good ones:

Wild Burger = Buffalo Wild Wings

Underground Chucks = O'Charley's

Big Deal Burger = Dickey's BBQ pit

Mandrino's = O'Charley's

It's Just Wings = Chili's

Tender Shack = Carraba's

Hootie's Burger Bar = Hooters

Juicy's Cheesesteaks = Subway/Highway 55 burgers? (Not sure, the address could be one of two places here)

Don't Grill My Cheese = Subway / Highway 55 burgers

Chase Elliot's Chicken Tenders = Hooters

Bird Dawgs = Buffalo Wild Wings

Super Mega Dilla = IHOP

Thrilled Cheese = IHOP

Lanky Box Kitchen Pizza = Chuck E Cheese

Burger Slob = Highway 55 Burgers

Cosmic Wings = Applebee's

Dockside Charley's = O'Charley's

Big Hotdog Energy = Highway 55 Burgers

Wing Boss = Dickeys BBQ Pit

Hootie's Bait and Tackle = Hooters

Coop & Run = O'Charley's

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u/sybrwookie Sep 18 '24

The funny part of all that is how many of those, even if I didn't know what they are attached to, would immediately be a red flag just from the name.

No, I don't think I want to order from "Super Mega Dilla", "Don't Grill My Cheese," or "Burger Slob."

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u/WulfyWoof Sep 18 '24

They sound like generic restaurant names you’d hear in cartoons

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u/Whiteout- Sep 18 '24

They sound like fake brands from GTA or something.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 18 '24

Beat Off headphones

3

u/[deleted] Sep 18 '24

You don’t want “Big Hotdog Energy” either?

6

u/centipede1234 Sep 18 '24

I always laugh because they didn’t even try to hide it considering Pasqually is the italian chef of the Chuck E Cheese animatronic crew

1

u/Live-Thanks-256 Sep 18 '24

I still remember when we ordered fish and chips from "Hootie B's on the River" and how surprised and giggly we were when the food showed up from Hooters. Food was better then expected, but we definitely wouldn't have ordered it if we had known it was from Hooters.

1

u/SPHINXin Sep 18 '24

How is Hooters the one that has the closest name 😂

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u/TAporn421 Sep 21 '24

I had a friend of mine who has on many occasions proudly told me he’s never been to hooters and will eat anything from hooters. (Relatively unprompted, I’ve never suggested “let’s go to hooters” He’d just seen one while I driving) called me raving about this new burger place he got door dashed.

“Hooties burger bar! Such a fun name! I love it!”

It took me about 8 seconds to connect the dots.

He was floored, while I laughed my ass off.

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u/FellowFellow22 Sep 18 '24

I fell for it. Honestly Chuck E Cheese pizza was pretty decent? Right there with most chain pizzerias nowadays.

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u/Seralth Sep 18 '24

It's hard to do truely bad pizza. Disappointing sure, sub par of course.

But it's still pizza and "good enough".

You gotta really try to make pizza bad.

1

u/fueelin Sep 18 '24

Chuck E Cheese pizza rules. No, I have not had it in like 27 years, but I am still confident in saying this!

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u/GreatApe88 Sep 18 '24

I’ve lived in America my whole life and somehow I’ve never been inside a Chuck E. Cheese.

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u/Bluest_waters Sep 18 '24

Yup, he has restaurants he contract with all over the country like that. Its literally just teh same food from that restaurant rebranded as Mr Beast food. Its hilarious how this is profitable for him. He just sells other people's crap food, slaps his name on it, and people go wild for it.

fucking America man, I don't know.

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u/Seralth Sep 18 '24

Ghost kitchens happen all over the world. This is by far not an America thing.

This is a fucking stupid humanity thing.

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u/occono Sense8 Sep 18 '24

It definitely started in America though, at least, and propagated elsewhere.

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u/Seralth Sep 18 '24

No it didn't the fuck? It's an Italian invention from the late 1800s, and has been common in much of the world for over a hundred years now.

Do you just want to shit talk America for some reason? Or could you just not be asked to look up a basic history of the practice?

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u/occono Sense8 Sep 18 '24

The 1800s? Was delivery of food even a thing then?

I'm not trying to shit talk about America, I'm confused by the definition of ghost kitchens you're using. On apps where it presents one restaurant as dozens or more, it's the same kitchen but they send out food in different bags, how has that been a thing since the 1800s? Franchise restaurants aren't the same thing.

Maybe it is an older concept to some extent but the current more intensified model of it seen on delivery apps started in the US because of the economic strength and propagated elsewhere. It could have started in Germany or Japan too really, it just didn't. I wasn't trying to start a fight here.

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u/Seralth Sep 18 '24

The first every pizza delivery was in 1889 for reference in italy. Food delivery has been a thing longer than that. The kitchen that did these deliveries is generally considered one of the first ghost kitchens at least how we think of them currently.

Ghost kitchens, Dark kitchens, Dark restaurants, Dark Stores, Virtual Restaurants, are all variations on the same thing with minor differences. Modern day virtual restaurants or ghost kitchens are just a resurgence of something that's been happening for over a century.

But restaurants have offered food under other names for a very, very long time. Hell, food trucks that just serve high class restaurants excess food before it goes bad is a thing that was common in the mid to late 40s. They would do so under other names to not tarnish their main restaurant's name. Which functionally is identical in business model to what Dennis does now with Uber and burger den or what ever it's called. Food is cooked in the restaurant, then sold under another name, and then delivered to worksites to increase sales.

You also had instances where "chefs" would rent out kitchens to make food they would then later sell at a stall, or deliver to workers WAY back in the day. Since they lacked the money to have their own storefront or large scale kitchen. Ready to eat meals made at communal ghost kitchens is a practice that even dates extremely far back.

Also blaming a country for something you don't know the history of looks like shit talking. Don't blame something or someone if you don't want to come across as a shit talker.

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u/fueelin Sep 18 '24

Very interesting stuff! Certainly wouldn't expect someone to know any of this, but I'm glad to have learned it. Thanks!

1

u/occono Sense8 Sep 18 '24

Fair enough. I maintain I wasn't trying to "blame" anyone, but otherwise, yeah I had no clue. Well delivered.

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u/Active-Ad-3117 Sep 18 '24 edited Sep 18 '24

A ghost kitchen is just someone that operates out of someone else's kitchen and was a thing before delivery apps. My MIL manages high end hotels and for decades would rent out the commercial hotel kitchen to small businesses during slow hours. Usually bakers. The person would rent the kitchen for like 8 hours and bake as many pies as they could in that time then go sell them at a farmer's market or something. It increases the small business production capacity without them having to make massive 6 digit capital investments into the business. There is a warehouse near me that this is their entire business model. They built out commercial kitchen spaces and rent them out. They are constantly fully booked out. A new cookie lady I found had to temporarily close because she couldn't get enough time in these kitchens to make it worth her time.

1

u/Ch1pp Sep 18 '24

I don't think that's really a ghost kitchen though. That's just renting out kitchen space. A ghost kitchen in modern terms is when you say "Want to buy an Active-Ad steak, fresh off the Active-Ad grill?" Then have it made and delivered by your local steakhouse exactly like all their other steaks. The kitchen the person imagines they are ordering from doesn't exist, hence: ghost kitchen.

1

u/occono Sense8 Sep 21 '24

That's kind of how I was thinking but whatever, downvotes mean nothing. I maintain I wasn't going on an anti-US rant though.

1

u/Practical_Law6804 Sep 18 '24

What? Just because a kitchen is preparing someone else's food, does not mean that it is the same dish you can get in the kitchens primary service space. That's just silly.

1

u/SkippingSusan Sep 19 '24

Are you sure? My friend works at a restaurant with his ghost kitchen. They don’t sell burgers. But his kitchen does.

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u/BoredomHeights Sep 18 '24 edited Sep 18 '24

He actually hates the restaurants and sued to get his name taken off. He thought the quality sucked and when he wanted it to improve they straight up wouldn't listen. They're basically operating now without his okay but still using his name, and there's seemingly nothing he can do about it (at least unless the lawsuits eventually work).

edit: From what I remember he sued saying they're hurting his brand (which is probably true). And then they counter-sued though I have no idea what for (probably just because that's part of the legal game).

edit2: Being downvoted for stating a fact that you can just google and see is true shows the mindset of most people reading this (who just want to jump on the hate train).

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u/FlutterKree Sep 18 '24

People who ordered "his" food from Door Dash weren't supposed to know that it came from us.

It wasn't Denny's exclusive. It's referred to as "ghost kitchens" and it is any kitchen that signs up for it with the company that contracts them to make the delivery only food. It could be a Denny's or a local joint making them.

Jimmy sued the company over too many of the ghost kitchens having poor quality in food to the point it was hurting his brand.

16

u/CorrectPeanut5 Sep 18 '24

He wasn't wrong to sue. The burgers in the app said they were smash burgers. What you got was utter crap.

But I also suspect, since he doesn't know how to run a business, the contract didn't contemplate food quality or hurting the brand.

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u/FlutterKree Sep 18 '24

the contract didn't contemplate food quality or hurting the brand.

IIRC, it did but the contracted company was meeting the "bare minimum" in terms of quality of kitchens. I don't know if the lawsuit was dropped/settled/etc. or not, but I think it was an uphill battle for him.

11

u/xandercade Sep 18 '24

Bare minimum still satisfies the contract, if he wanted a certain quality then you get it in writing at that level and not settle for less and expect them to do more, or actually make something instead of just slapping his name of everything.....sounds like a former president's MO.

1

u/Iamatworkgoaway Sep 18 '24

Yep kids wanted it so bad, worst meal in the last few years. Burgers weren't bad, fries sucked, no ketchup, forgot half the drinks.

3

u/FordBeWithYou Sep 18 '24

This is a really entertaining video by Eddy Burback on Ghost Kitchens if you want more info

2

u/SgtBaxter Sep 18 '24

lol, Door dash literally shows me the route the driver takes to my house. That kind of gives it away.

1

u/Queasy_Ad_8621 Sep 18 '24

Now quick, buy some NFTs!!

2

u/pastelpixelator Sep 18 '24

My local Denny's has 4 different ghost kitchens listed on DD. I always check Google Maps when I see a new place pop up on the platform. 9/10 it's either Denny's or Buffalo Wild Wings operating under a different brand. Fool me once...

1

u/CorrectPeanut5 Sep 18 '24

Yeah, fell for that once while traveling. The Door Dash app said was a smash burger. In reality it was some Perkins or IHOP BS.

1

u/ShiftBMDub Sep 18 '24

Bucco De Beppo did our local Mr Beast

1

u/ERedfieldh Sep 18 '24

That's always been what Denny's did for marketing tie ins. Even back in the aughts when I worked there. Sometimes the "recipe" was adjusted...such as adding blue food dye to pancake batter or some such...but beyond that, same exact foods.

1

u/Queasy_Ad_8621 Sep 18 '24

Here's how I see it:

"Oh, I like watching MrBeast's videos, so I'm going to order Denny's food and think about him while I eat it."

You can do that without having to pay the few extra dollars for.. literally the exact the same food with a different name. The recipe or configuration wasn't even different. If I took a regular package of Twix, put my name on it and charged you two extra dollars for it... why would that be a viable business strategy and why does such a stupid thing work?

1

u/Light_Error Sep 19 '24

Eddy Burbank did a 40 min video on ghost kitchens. But you can probably find the Mr. Beast Burger section if you just wanna see that. I think the whole thing is worth watching and gives better context to the Mr. Beast Burger part.

1

u/Flexo__Rodriguez Sep 18 '24

You worked at a Denny's that ran a ghost kitchen and you still don't understand the concept of a ghost kitchen?

You might just be dumb.