I saw these in the closeout bit at Walmart. Still, at $11.97 not a big bargain.
I am not hip to what the kids are up to these days and that's OK. Still, I know who Taylor Swift is, even if I could not tell you the name of one of her songs or know it if I heard it. I know a few other "celebrities" by name only - I am not sure what they did to become famous. When it comes to the Internet, there are a plethora of "influencers" each targeting a particular demographic. And weirdly enough, people "follow" these influencers, even though their sole goal is to sell their followers some sort of product.
I had heard of "Mr. Beast" and supposedly he is one of the most popular YouTubers out there, if not the top one. I guess he talks to the younger set about gaming - I don't really know or care to learn. But I did recall hearing that he and some friends were launching a food line called "Feastables" I guess to compete with Kraft's Lunchables high-sodium kids snacks. Original name he chose, eh? I could write the cease-and-desist letter in my sleep.
Anyway, I forgot all about it until our trip to Walmart today. Toilet paper and paper towels, as well as sugar and flour, were all sold out, because of a threatened dock worker's strike. PEOPLE! We make toilet paper right here in the USA, not China! It comes by truck or train, not by ship! Sometimes, I am embarrassed to be lumped in with this group called "humanity." I don't know those people, nor am I affiliated with them.
But anyway, the "Neighborhood Market" (which we call, "Ghetto Gourmet") has a rack by the checkout with "marked down" items which aren't selling. Usually, the markdowns are not very good, but it is worthwhile checking them out. I almost fell over laughing when I saw a stack of a dozen or so "Mr. Beast Feastables" lunch boxes marked for closeout. So much for that grift.
I mean, come on. A guy who makes YouTube videos for a living knows anything about the food business? At best, he is branding a product made by some third party. He hardly is cooking up this stuff in the kitchen or taste-testing recipes. It makes as much sense as Trump selling watches and shoes and Bibles. In this case, of course, he is selling just an empty plastic lunchbox, apparently for $17 to $25, marked down to $11.97 with no takers.
Want to get beaten up after school? Sport one of these bad-boys. It just screams, "NERD!"
But it tells me a story. A lot of "content creators" are starving for cash. Some are dirt poor, others are making a lot of money but want to make more. Lunchables from Kraft are aimed at the middle-school demographic, so you can sort of figure out who "Mr. Beast's" viewers are. Well, maybe that and computer nerds.
Others are less fortunate. I see comic strip artists (webcomics) always lamenting that they make no money at their job. Charles Schulz made millions with Peanuts but a popular webcomic makes nothing, other than donations from Patreon. So many are resorting to grifting - selling t-shirts with their characters on them, or "plushies" which sometimes even resemble the characters.
But even then, there is a huge turnover in the "influencer" business. One popular cartoonist I was following (whose t-shirt I bought) stopped creating new content and moved on to something else. Even the best and most talented get tired of doing something that earns them no money and takes up all their time. And as a bonus, they get hate-mail DMs from trolls asking "where's the punch line?" or saying mean things like "your art sucks!"
Sadly, we have become a nation of influencers. I have watched a number of Matt's Off-Road Recovery" videos, and in recent months, well, they are not doing off-road recoveries so much anymore. In a recent video, he promised a customer a free tow if she would hold the camera, as the payment for towing was apparently less than the value of YouTube monetization.
But channels like that are few and far between, and to keep up that level of monetization, you have to crank out "content" on a daily basis - and have thousands of dollars worth of professional equipment as well as a staff of editors and photographers and assistants. And it can all come tumbling down when the public gets tired of your shtick.
For example, The History Guy used to fascinate me, despite his annoying voice. But lately, I find his videos less interesting and more forced. Like he has tasted success and wants to make it a gig. But it smells like flop sweat.
AI is part of the problem. Before AI there were always videos where a guy put up a slide-show of still photos and just read the corresponding Wikipedia entry. "The life and sad ending of [insert celebrity name here]." Today, I am seeing more and more of these videos, but AI-generated. You can tell because the booming voice pronounces words comically wrong and the pictures in the slide-show are completely irrelevant to the topic.
There are, of course, some AI channels like Turbodong which are admittedly AI-generated content. Interesting stuff, but sort of a buzz-kill when he "came out" as a Trump supporter. Sadly, I wonder the same about Matt's Off-Road Recovery, although he hides it very well.
These "influencers" rise and fall over time. And I am sure that "Mr. Beast" is nervously looking in his rear view mirror - seeing the likes of "Skibidi Toilet" gaining on him
The "off" channel is becoming more and more attractive!
