Toothbrushes and Fried Chicken.

I do not know you BUT I bet you use your toothbrush everyday…

A few weeks ago DJ Khaled dropped his latest product: a 24k gold tooth brush.

Have celebrities gone too far?

No, I think it makes perfect sense. Here’s why…

Short-term gain vs Long-term business

Creators both traditional (celebrities like DJ Khaled and Kim K) and platform native creators (like Mr Beast and the Sidemen) have spun off a variety of products over the past years.

I care most about the platform native creators - as I am one myself. So my thoughts will focus on them.

The Sidemen (21 million YouTube subscribers) launched their fried chicken chain ‘SIDES’ in the UK last year while Mr Beast launched Mr Beast Burger a couple years prior.

As of January 2023, Mr Beast’s burger chain had brought in more than $150 million. Only last week he also announced a $100mil deal with Amazon for a new show!

Meanwhile, Logan Paul and KSI’s energy drink ‘PRIME’ has just surpassed Powerade in annual sales ($1.2 billion).

What do these products have in common? Yes, they’re tasty meals that (most) people like…

More importantly. They are both low-risk, everyday products.

Creators across all platforms (Youtube, Instagram, Tiktok etc) are beginning to move away from short term rewards such as sponsored posts to long term businesses.

The reason is simple - creators want to earn money long into the future and understand that their 15 minutes of fame on social media can be fickle. Maybe they’ll get cancelled?

Which products work?

I think of the product range as a risk vs perception scale.

On the lower end we have everyday goods such as fast food. But in my opinion, whilst these are thriving business regarding revenue - I am critical of how long they can last.

Further up the risk scale I’ve seen innovative business and new models ranging from white-label mobile networks such as Passionfruit and tokenising content on the blockchain for fans to buy.

The issue is: do fans care enough about these products and are willing to cough up money to pay? Who knows but one thing is for sure…

Not every creator can make a fast food chain.

And the market doesn’t need it.

But maybe toothbrushes are the way forward. And in DJ Khaled’s own words…

“We the best, so we brush with the best!”

Here are some other products from platform native creators:

☕️ Chamberlain Coffee - Emma Chamberlain (Youtuber - 🇺🇸 USA)

🍸 Vodka brand XIX Vodka - The Sidemen (Youtuber - 🇬🇧 UK)

🕶️ Eyewear brand Circulr - Vikstar (Youtuber - 🇬🇧 UK)

🍹 Drinking Syrup Juizy Wow - Julien Claßen (Youtuber - 🇩🇪 Germany)

👗 Camila Coelho Collection - Camila Coelho (Instagramer - 🇧🇷 Brazil)

👗 Song of Style - Aimee Song - (Instagramer - 🇺🇸 USA - I like she has same surname as me)

I wonder as an artist/content creator what I can release? DM me any suggestions on Linkedin or Instagram.