Source: Roger James Hamilton


MrBeast posted a video to his 48 million YouTube subscribers called “I Opened A Restaurant That Pays You To Eat At It”, giving away $200,000 in cash along with iPads and free food to a 10-mile line of cars.


In the video, he lets everyone know he’s just launched 300 MrBeast Burger outlets for delivery across the US. If you’re wondering how a 22-year-old YouTuber achieves such a feat in the midst of a crisis in the restaurant industry, the answer is one man: Robert Earl.


Robert Earl is the entrepreneur behind themed restaurants Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood. His latest venture, Virtual Dining Concept is following in the footsteps of Uber’s founder, Travis Kalanick, who in 2018 saw “Virtual Kitchens” disrupting restaurants the same way Uber disrupted taxi companies.


Travis invested $150 million into his startup CloudKitchens, creating ‘ghost kitchens’ that have no storefront and that create food for multiple brands that are then delivered via UberEats and GrubHub. CloudKitchens is now worth $5 billion.

Robert took the same idea when creating Virtual Dining Concept and then added partnerships with celebrities - the formula that made him successful with Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood.


In July he partnered with rapper Tyga to create Tyga Bites. Last month he partnered with Mariah Carey to create Mariah’s Cookies. These companies leverage on the celebrity’s brands and promotion and Robert's virtual kitchens to deliver direct nationwide. MrBeast is Robert’s latest celebrity signing and the 300 outlets that MrBeast is launching are Robert’s virtual kitchens.


They are also burger bars that have struggled during the crisis. That’s because Robert has also set up a license program that lets burger bars and restaurants rebrand as MrBeast Burger outlets.


He says “The power of celebrity Virtual Dining Concepts provides an added value for restaurateurs across the country. Similar to Tyga, Mario Lopez and DJ Pauly D come in as partners, playing an active role in marketing and promoting their brands to their millions of followers, driving revenue to the restaurants.”


What’s going on here? We’re seeing the growing wave of influencer merchandising collide with the wave of new high-tech virtual retailing and restaurants. The result? A whole new level of celebrity enterprise where it’s possible to launch a nationwide chain overnight - something that would take years to achieve in the past.


What’s next? Pewdiepie Pies, Ninja Noodles, and Bieber Burgers may be just around the corner…


As we move into the digital decade, brand new business models are being created. The bigger the crisis, the bigger the opportunities.


What new wave can you be a part of creating?


Here's a link to MrBeast's video - https://youtu.be/dg2Ag3e8W-Q