Lunchly, a snack pack, swoops into the children’s lunch competition with a “moldy” head start and questionable advertising.

On Sep. 6, 2024, Youtubers KSI, Logan Paul, and MrBeast went live on Instagram, opening up by showing their audience a Lunchable. They were quick to share their disinterest with the product before showcasing their new product, Lunchly, immediately showering it with praise.

Anyone with a keen eye would notice the product was made with the direct intent to compete with Lunchables. The packaging and variations of the snack pack are completely the same as Lunchables. If that were not already convincing evidence, the official website for Lunchly compares each of its products’ contents to its Lunchables counterpart under the “Us vs Them” category of the Lunchly website. The only stark difference between the two is the addition of the respective Youtubers’ own products to the lunch, which includes a PRIME energy drink and mini Feastables chocolate.

Lunchly LLC advertises their product as a healthier and fun alternative to kids’ lunches, or Lunchables if that was not obvious enough. But, is Lunchly a healthier alternative as they make it out to be? “I think that Lunchables has a more suitable electrolyte count [for kids], especially since PRIME advertises itself as an energy drink. I don’t believe that kids should be drinking energy drinks by the time they need pre-made lunches,” said “Lyn” Dubose, a senior currently taking a health and wellness class.

Additionally, pictures on social media of consumers finding mold in their Lunchlys exploded in virality. Specifically, the lunches with pizza assembly were affected by the mold issue. Rosanna Pansino’s YouTube video titled “I Tried Lunchly… It was MOLDY!” highlights the mold issue in the cheese portion of the pizza Lunchly, pointing out similar issues others have had. Pansino would end up buying another pizza Lunchly, which  was not moldy, and comparing the packaging of the two. The fault in Lunchly’s packaging with the mold was clear. Pansino said of the moldy Lunchly, “You can see the … adhesive … is not [there],” leading to the mold present in the cheese. Proper adhesive was applied to the non-moldy package she purchased.

Mold and adhesive issues are not the only concerns around this product. Many content creators have spoken out about their disapproval of Lunchly. One in particular, DanTDM, gained mass traction with his quote retweet of the Lunchly announcement post on X, claiming the product “is selling stuff for the sake of making money” and “selling crap to kids who don’t know better than to trust the people who are selling to them.” For now, anyone looking to purchase a Lunchly of their own should be aware of the current mold problem along with its questionable advertising claims and possible unethical influence over young fans.