Summary

Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, leveraged his YouTube influence to launch a 300-location virtual burger business, MrBeast Burger, using a white-label business model and virtual kitchens.

Abstract

MrBeast, a prominent YouTuber, has ventured into the food industry by creating a burger chain called MrBeast Burger, which operates out of existing restaurant kitchens and is available exclusively through delivery apps. This move was facilitated by a partnership with Virtual Dining Concepts, allowing MrBeast to expand rapidly without the typical financial risks associated with the restaurant business. The launch was strategically promoted through a YouTube video that garnered significant views, showcasing the potential of the white-label business model in various industries. This model enables entrepreneurs to launch brands without owning physical infrastructure, benefiting both established businesses and new ventures by maximizing revenue and minimizing risk. The success of MrBeast Burger exemplifies the future of commerce, where cloud-based services could revolutionize how products and services are created and distributed, potentially disrupting traditional industry giants.

Opinions

The author expresses a love-hate relationship with YouTube, criticizing its content but appreciating its diversity, including educational content.
MrBeast's generosity and charitable activities are highlighted as positive influences, setting him apart from other online entertainers.
The author sees MrBeast's business model as innovative and socially responsible, with the potential to benefit a wide range of stakeholders, including marketers, influencers, entrepreneurs, and the general public.
The white-label business model is praised for its ability to democratize industry entry, allowing for rapid scaling and the possibility of a more diverse and competitive marketplace.
The author is optimistic about the future impact of cloud kitchens and similar white-label concepts, anticipating increased consumer choice, lower prices, and higher quality products.
There is a hopeful outlook on the next generation of marketers and entrepreneurs, with the expectation that they will adopt ethical and socially responsible business practices inspired by MrBeast's approach.

The White-Label Business Model

A YouTuber with 8+ Billion Views Just Launched a 300-Location Burger Business in One Day

He used a marketing and business model that we’ll soon see everywhere

I love and hate YouTube so much. It’s fantastic for TED Talks. And music, podcasts, news, interviews, history classes, and Oxford Union debates.

But the Trending Page makes me despair for the future of humanity. It’s all video game replays, TikTok compilations, vapid celebrity reality TV, and “watch me eat $10 noodles vs. $1,000 noodles.” Minds of all ages are rotting away on this saccharine substitute for meaningful brain stimulation.

My one guilty pleasure in the whole sugary pile is MrBeast.

For those who’ve somehow not heard of Jimmy Donaldson, this 22-year-old Christian kid and YouTube megastar is something truly special. In addition to reading the entire dictionary and counting from 0 to 100,000, his highlight reel is pretty ridiculous:

He gave his friends a private island.
He’s donated over 100 cars to people in need.
He’s personally given millions of dollars to charity.
He’s fundraised over $22,000,000 to plant 20,000,000+ trees.

Sure, his channel (which has 50 million subscribers) is a giant waste of time, but unlike most online entertainers, his over-the-top generosity leaves viewers with a warm feeling in their bellies long after they’ve managed to pry themselves away from his highly-addictive giveaway videos.

Also: he plans to use his influence and affluence to open hundreds of homeless shelters and food banks and give away all the money from his channel. (This dude understands that we are blessed to be a blessing.)

Last week, Jimmy posted a video titled I Opened A Restaurant That Pays You To Eat At It. With zero advertising, the line soon reached 20+ miles long:

My guess is that the video cost him a few hundred grand to pull off, but it’s already racked up more than 30 million views and nearly 700,000 comments… and the whole thing is actually a giant advertisement for his newest business venture.

On December 19th, Jimmy announced on Twitter that his burger business was now a nationwide chain with 300 locations all open for business.

In the middle of a pandemic.

With a single tweet.

How in the World Did He Do It?

Earlier this year, Jimmy partnered with Virtual Dining Concepts, a dark kitchen that allows personalities like Jimmy to launch virtual restaurants with zero upfront fees. Jimmy’s new biz is a delivery-only dining establishment with a menu that’s only accessible through major delivery apps.

According to his website, “MrBeast Burger operates out of existing restaurant kitchens, allowing restaurateurs to add a new source of revenue without impacting the operation.”

The concept is a huge win-win: established restaurants can ensure they stay maximally productive at all times — one of his affiliate kitchens sold $7,000 worth of burgers in one day — and entrepreneurs like Jimmy don’t have to invest a huge amount of time and capital in a notoriously risky industry.

Virtual restaurants, dark kitchens, and ghost kitchens, or as they’ll almost certainly be called in the future, cloud kitchens, are a sign of things to come in a vast range of industries.

The Future Is White Label

Imagine a cloud publisher that can help you launch your own global publishing company or book line.

Imagine a cloud clothing company that can turn your design concepts into a line of organic ethical clothes or shoes.

Imagine a fair-trade tea or coffee cooperative that can assist you in creating a perfect blend of customized flavors for re-sale on your website.

Imagine cloud breweries, wineries, and distilleries that can help you craft your own signature drink line, just like George Clooney’s billion-dollar Casamigos Tequila and Ryan Reynolds’s $610 million Aviation Gin.

How far can this go?

We’ll eventually see the day when teenagers will be able to custom-design their own cell phones and cars, to be 3D printed and autonomously delivered to their door.

Opportunities Abound

Jimmy’s new business is the most exciting thing in #BurgerWorld since McDonald’s went mainstream in the fifties. But unlike the industrial behemoth, Jimmy’s model spreads revenues to a lot more restauranteurs, and I’m certain he’ll use a hefty portion of his profits to help the world instead of lining already-wealthy shareholder pockets.

This new model could be very good news for marketers, influencers, entrepreneurs, startups, and the public at large:

For marketers, a whole new crop of potentially millions of businesses will create an entirely new field of marketing opportunities.
For influencers, they’ll be able to leverage their platforms to gain entry into industries that have, until this point, been locked up by the major multinational monopolies.
For entrepreneurs and startups, there’s the opportunity to build white label cloud companies in virtually every industry on Earth, and then leverage the power of brands/celebs/influencers and their marketing teams to blitz scale rapidly.
For the public at large, we will likely witness an explosion of new restaurants, drink companies, shoe brands, tech firms, and so on. Nearly-unlimited choice. We’ll also probably witness the long-overdue diminishment or total collapse of giant brands as innovative competition skyrockets. This could lead to lower prices, higher quality, better service, more taxation to fund the cost of civil society, and hopefully more organic, sustainable, and fairly-produced products.

For Jimmy’s part, this innovative business model will allow him to own a restaurant chain while staying focused on what he does best: building his entertainment empire and generously helping thousands of people in the process.

As the social-justice-driven next generation rises in the marketing world, let’s hope that plenty more people take Jimmy’s radical approach to business, marketing, and giving. If they do, we can forget the Fortune 500 of today and look forward to a whole new crop of exciting, entertaining, and truly excellent companies very soon.

Thanks for reading,

Jared A. Brock