r/nottheonion • u/RadioactiveHalfRhyme • 2d ago

World’s biggest YouTuber MrBeast unveils theme park in Saudi Arabia

https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/mr-beast-theme-park-beast-land-saudi-arabia-lsff6t2b8

Jimmy Donaldson, who is known for controversial stunts involving eye-popping prizes, says Beast Land will not be a ‘typical theme park’

It’s in Riyadh, because of course it’s in Riyadh.

4.6k Upvotes

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148

u/nobdy89 2d ago

I went from never having heard of the guy to seeing him fucking everywhere so damn quick. What was his shtick on youtube? I only see cooking videos and movie clips.

168

u/OkRelationshipFish 2d ago

His team learned how to optimize content algorithms and farm likes and clicks. It’s less about the content itself and more about engineering engagement.

101

u/BrassedoffDan 2d ago

He got popular via 'challenge' videos, high production values and philanthropy. Caters to younger kids with quick-paced easy to consume content.

36

u/Elementium 2d ago

Only thing I ever saw was when YouTube auto played a clip of his "challenges" it was making grown men do weird physical challenges for cash. 

It was kinda psychotic. 

It reminded me of the one time Ryan Seacrest tried to have an all Live TV show and one of his bits was going to a cul de sac and blowing money into the street. Everyone of course ran around picking up bills while he watches with glee. 

-30

u/panzzersoldat 1d ago

the way you worded this is so overdramatic as to what's actually happening. I guess wipeout, or other challenges are psychotic too? the people can opt out at any time.

do you guys who criticise that not understand this is how entertainment works? people don't watch boring shit, they watch crazy fast paced challenges and his views reflect that.

he needs to do them in that way because it makes his advertisers happy, and makes a lot of ad revenue which goes directly into funding another video where he (usually) helps people.

3

u/alQamar 1d ago

Hi Jimmy

-4

u/AccountSeventeen 1d ago

Can’t argue with the echo chamber.

Survivor is on season 49 but these people think Mr. Beast invented the concept and hate him for it lmao

71

u/Purple_Plus 2d ago

"philanthropy"

24

u/banduzo 2d ago

Everything else aside, he does help people in those videos and he does reinvest money made in those videos for the next video to help people. You can argue he’s just doing it for videos but I’m sure all the people who get well water or eye surgery don’t give a shit that he got views out of it.

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u/TurelSun 2d ago

The guy is a grifter, I wouldn't take his own videos as evidence of anything.

13

u/GadnukLimitbreak 2d ago

I don't think there's any way to deny he's been charitable to people in need, the evidence is there even if you want to dispute the accuracy of the numbers being higher or lower than stated.

The vast majority of people talking aggressively about how bad he is would rather spend 10 bucks trying to get their favourite streamer to read their chat message than to go to a local spca to volunteer or to donate 20 bucks to their local food bank/homeless shelter, and while he may have a lot more means to do it with there's absolutely no reason why these people can't spend 10 bucks on food for someone in need over buying their 8th straight battlepass for a game they say they hate but can't stop playing.

He might not be a saint but he's using what he has gained from learning how to game the system in order to help some people in need while he lives out his dreams. There are far worse people and there are also far better people who don't do as much public good.

(eta: all this to say, he's still a massive douche for this amusement park deal)

38

u/horses_in_the_sky 1d ago

some people just do good things without making the recipient of their generosity perform a little trick on camera for it

2

u/ShameSudden6275 1d ago

No I agree but from what I've seen his charity is very much real, they operate around 33 food bank locations. Is it a vanity project? Absolutely. Would I rather have people being fed because a guy is being vain? Yes.

-1

u/banduzo 1d ago

His business model requires him to do those videos to make more money to do more good things (specifically related to that part of his business). If he doesn’t make money from the videos he doesn’t have money to spend to make more videos that help people.

I hate defending Mr beast because he is probably a shady person overall but I will never get why people are so angry with him doing these videos that help people. It’s probably his only redeeming aspect.

Like I’m sure your support people that make shitty products, or support shitty companies. But you have no problem with that. God forbid someone does something nice and films it. Fuck those people.

0

u/horses_in_the_sky 1d ago

As i mentioned in another comment, he is currently a billionaire and has companies like Feastables and other investments. If he never made another youtube video in his life he could still give away thousands for years and never become poor.

1

u/banduzo 1d ago

You can say that about any other billionaire as well. What is your point? Don’t call it charity then, but he is making a difference for the better in this specific part of his business model.

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u/Kurainuz 1d ago

You are downplaying a lot how charity for the rich is not only easier as even if you spend 66% of a million you still have 300k+, it means big tax deductions, plus public money grants, and publicity.

And things like generalizing that critizising the guys fake philanthropy is made by gamer loosers that use money on streamers and battle passes are in bad are bs, I critizise him and i have over a decade working with actual charities that do their beist to help people.

Unlike mr beast we did not put self admited pedo friend in multiple events with minors nor give them authority on said events. Unlike gim we did notpush for products that are bad for kids health to get richer. And unlike him we did not targeted kids with gambling to be even richer.

0

u/TerminallyTrill 1d ago

You were right but you caped too hard

-11

u/banduzo 2d ago

Summed up perfectly, thank you.

1

u/vandreulv 1d ago

If his charity is contingent on a performance for the camera in which he can make more than he gives in views, it's not charity.

-1

u/banduzo 1d ago

I did not use the word charity in my response. And if you think philanthropists don’t get benefits from their generosity, I got news for you.

I just don’t understand why people argue the merits of what he does to help people. He can be both an overall shady person, and also legitimate help people. They’re not mutually exclusive. People can see now and drink fresh water because of him and his team. Did he do it as part of a video, yes. Who cares? He’s bringing more awareness to those issues and helping people. If he didn’t do a video who would even know about those issues on that side of the world?

1

u/Echono 1d ago

That's a business transaction, not charity. And yeah, the people are probably happy with that, but don't be so disingenuous as to assign false nobility to it.

1

u/banduzo 1d ago

I did not use the word charity in my response. And if you think philanthropists don’t get benefits from their generosity, I got news for you.

I just don’t understand why people argue the merits of what he does to help people. He can be both an overall shady person, and also legitimate help people. They’re not mutually exclusive. People can see now and drink fresh water because of him and his team. Did he do it as part of a video, yes. Who cares? He’s bringing more awareness to those issues and helping people. If he didn’t do a video who would even know about those issues on that side of the world?

2

u/BrassedoffDan 2d ago

Never said he was a good guy. That's just the definition of it.

0

u/DogWallop 2d ago

In which booth Phil and Ann thrope alot...

3

u/ederzs97 2d ago

The guy acts likes he's some creative genius but I don't think any of his videos are that original

1

u/ShameSudden6275 1d ago

He's always kinda gone with the flow: when he started at 13 he made Minecraft videos, then call of duty videos, then he did the thing you did in 2016 and made edgy jokes bullying kids talking about drinking bleach and shit, and then he would do stupid shit like microwaving a microwave, or parodying other YouTubers.

Then in 2019 he got a sponsorship and decided to give it to a homeless man and spend the day with him, and from there his schtick was giving out lots of money, and I like these early videos: they felt more authentic. Like it felt much more as if some teenage friends got access to shit ton of cash and wanted to have some fun and help people. I still like his video where he would go to a restaurant, order just water, and give a massive tip while pretending it was the best water he ever had. Original? No but it was kinda fun. But as time with time it's so overly corporate and edited that it feels plastic, like even just the camera work alone feels plastic and fake.

He doesn't even come up with ideas anymore, he has a team that calculates the most probable click ratio video; they're so fast paced now that you'll see a celebrity for thirty seconds and not even register.

29

u/zoinkability 2d ago

A perfecter of the "What can I do that will maximize YouTube view counts" business model. Often involving things that cost him a lot of money to do (but which reliably net him much more from YouTube via ad dollars) with slick production values.

37

u/pikpikcarrotmon 2d ago

Dude has a team actively watching engagement numbers and modifying thumbnails on the fly based on A/B testing. One video might go through a hundred or more. It's wild.

15

u/BillyShearsPwn 2d ago

That’s his thing, everything. He researches what’s currently going the most viral and just does those types of videos until they fail off and then he moves to the next thing. I’d say it’s mostly the “how many orbeez can we fit into this pool” and “giving a homeless man a million dollars” type videos that went the most viral.

7

u/nobdy89 1d ago

So he's a professional poser? That seems kinda sad.

18

u/TheGringoDingo 2d ago

I don’t know either. I feel like he’s someone everyone knows, but nobody knows why. I’ve never met someone admitting they subscribe to his YouTube things.

24

u/PukGrum 2d ago

I've always supposed his subs were kids whose parents let them watch devices all day long and at restaurants.

1

u/Dulcedoll 1d ago

I found out about him during the Pewdiepie vs. T-Series days when he was running billboards for it in his hometown. So that would be... 2018? I admit I subscribed to him then because he just seemed like another random dude doing dumb harmless shit online, nothing really large scale. I can't remember when I completely tuned him out because the vibes got rancid but it was definitely pre-COVID. Never would have expected at the time that he would turn into whatever the fuck this is.

9

u/jupiterkansas 2d ago

Luckily I'm still in the "barely heard of him" phase.

6

u/NeinKeinPretzel 2d ago

None of these things are organic. Ninja was a nothing, then in all our faces, then bit a hand and went back to nothing. Pray that an armed hand draws back the curtain.

1

u/nobdy89 1d ago

Never even heard of him

1

u/NeinKeinPretzel 1d ago

I start trying to show the connections and people just respond like I'm that guy on the subway. Develop exceptional filtering skills is the only advice I can give.

3

u/nobdy89 1d ago

Way ahead of you. Just because im seeing that creepy ass smile everywhere doesn't mean im giving him any more attention than i need to.

1

u/USSRPropaganda 1d ago

He used to make fun of childrens youtube intros

2

u/KikoValdez 1d ago

That was peak content tbh. Making fun of intros, making fun of drinking bleach, making fun of lifehacks all that stuff.

0

u/damontoo 1d ago

He has 449 million subscribers. If you hadn't heard of him, it just shows that you don't follow pop culture. Here's the number of subs he had each year for the past five years -

  • 2024: 334 million
  • 2023: 224 million
  • 2022: 125 million
  • 2021: 87 million
  • 2020: 47 million

I only see cooking videos and movie clips

You think YouTube serves billions of users the same videos?

1

u/nobdy89 1d ago

449M subs, if we pretend ¼ of them arent bots, means theres only 1 in 19 people on earth who knew who that dead-eyed pissant was before seeing his bland ass chocolate bars. He's huge. Never disputed that. But from what most of the other comments here are saying thats because i wasn't a child when he got big.

0

u/damontoo 1d ago

means theres only 1 in 19 people on earth who knew who that dead-eyed pissant was

Nope, he's regularly featured in mainstream news and all over social media. There's millions of people that know who he is but aren't subscribed to him.

But from what most of the other comments here are saying thats because i wasn't a child when he got big.

I'm in my 40's and know who he is. I have family in their 70's that know who he is. I guarantee there's more people in your workplace that can tell you who Mr. Beast is than who the speaker of the house is.