How MrBeast Burger Is Incentivizing Customers With Merch

MrBeast Burger is a new kid on the restaurant block, although you wouldn't know it from actually taking a walk around the block. Maybe you've heard of ghost kitchens? The concept has really taken off during the COVID-19 pandemic. Essentially, ghost kitchens are restaurants without dining rooms. These establishments are takeout and delivery only, usually partnering with the big food-delivery apps, such as DoorDash and Uber Eats (via Eater). MrBeast Burger takes the ghost kitchen concept one step further. It's a takeout-only ghost franchise that opened 300 locations this past December, inside various independent restaurants across the country that were closed to the public, to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 (via The New York Times). The franchise, started by 22-year-old YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, aka MrBeast, provides its partner restaurants the menu and the recipes. MrBeast takes a cut of the sales.

It's hard to say whether ghost franchises are here to say. While they have helped some restaurants survive a severe loss of business during the pandemic, many of these places may want to get back to their own menu and recipes once dining-in restrictions are lifted (via Restaurant Business). Even so, MrBeast Burger is acting like it's going to be around for a while. It just started a promotion: free collectors' cups with each order (via Instagram). "Collect all four!"

MrBeast Burger summarizes its menu on its Instagram profile page: Smashed burgers, chicken sandwiches, grilled cheese, and seasoned crinkle fries. (Smashed burgers are a trendy version of the American beef-and-bun classic. According to Bon Appétit, a not-low-fat variety of ground chuck is cooked on a flattop grill and smashed a little with a spatula so it can cook in its own fat.)

According to its website, MrBeast Burger is in 39 states and the District of Columbia – so not everyone can take advantage of the new franchise's collectors' cup offer. But if you're in delivery range – or maybe a little outside that range and willing to make the trip – then MrBeast Burger is offering a free plastic cup with each order, while supplies last. Just enter the promo code "FREECUP" when ordering on the MrBeast Burger app or website.

The first cup's design was revealed on Instagram on March 10. It shows a likeness of MrBeast founder and YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, with the words "Subscribe to MrBeast." The cups are essentially a cross-promotion for Donaldson's biggest endeavor, his YouTube channel. MrBeast already has more than 55 million subscribers, and its concept could be called prank charity. The subjects of his videos often come into large sums of money, thanks to Donaldson's gonzo philanthropy. And MrBeast's fans have repaid his kindness. His fast food franchise sold 1 million burgers in less than three months (via Restaurant Business).