Grocery stores have reported that demand for the Lunchly snack brand created by the YouTube star James Donaldson, known as MrBeast online, has rapidly increased after customers posted online about finding mold on the cheese in various products. Lunchly stock has fallen after internet users quickly assigned nicknames such as “Titular Trichoderma,” “Pretty Penicillium,” and “Cladosporium Cutie” to the various types of mold discovered in the snack packages. While Lunchly has not yet officially acknowledged the presence of mold, MrBeast heavily alluded to the growing trend of collecting one of each type of mold during a video in which he covered several city blocks with glitter. “Check out our new colorful and fuzzy Lunchly products today! You never know what you’re gonna get,” he said.
A secondhand market for moldy Lunchly packs has rapidly emerged among mycology enthusiasts and trend-chasers, with some of the most pristine mold colonies selling for over $10,000. “Supreme be damned, that package can spring a fine mold,” said Chadley Anderson, a self-proclaimed “clout maniac.” “I don’t know anything about mold, but now whenever my lunch releases millions upon millions of beautiful spores, all eyes are on me!”
