MrBeast, aka Jimmy Donaldson, gave a car to a waitress in his latest TikTok video
It had the 24-year-old’s YouTube logo and stickers advertising his chocolate on it
Reaction online was mixed, due to the ads and the fact the server could not drive
MrBeast is being lambasted online for gifting a young waitress a new car covered in logos as a tip – with several criticizing the gesture as a shameless publicity grab for his new chocolate venture.
The unorthodox gratuity was seen in a TikTok video posted on March 27, and serves as only the latest in a string of wild, lavish gifts dished out by the popular YouTuber.
In the 42-second clip, MrBeast – whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson – is seen sitting at a nondescript restaurant while speaking to his server.
Accompanied by a cameraman, Donaldson asks the server about the biggest tip she’s ever received. When she replies $50, he hands her the keys to a black Toyota Corolla parked outside – which he billed as her ‘brand new car.’
The video then cuts to Donaldson, 24, leading the young girl to her new ride – with the restaurant worker evidently left in awe by the gesture.
The video, however, was met with mixed reception, with many pointing out how the car was plastered with ads and the fact the server could not actually drive. Straight from the factory, the car would usually cost at least $21,500, per Kelley Blue Book.
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MrBeast – real name Jimmy Donaldson – is being lambasted online for gifting a young waitress a car covered in logos as a tip – with many criticizing the gesture as a shameless publicity grab
In the clip – which has been viewed nearly 60million times – Donaldson asks the waitress, whose name is Amy: ‘What’s the biggest tip you’ve ever gotten?’
Confused, she sheepishly replies: ‘Like $50.’
The gift-giving YouTuber then drops his now characteristic bomb, handing her keys to the new sedan: ‘Has anyone ever tipped a car?’
Amy immediately takes the keys, but seemingly has yet to grasp the full magnitude of the situation.
After a few seconds of clutching the key set, the waitress begins to realize that Donaldson was serious, and starts to tear up.
Seemingly satisfied and startled by the woman’s reaction at the same time, Donaldson – who has a net worth of roughly $500million – remarks: ‘I wasn’t expecting you to cry!’
The server quickly concedes that she was in ‘shock’ – and even reveals that she had not had to the opportunity to learn to drive yet.
‘I’m in such shock right now. I don’t even know how to drive,’ she tells Donaldson, who late last year surpassed Swedish YouTuber PewDiePie as most subscribed with more than 130million followers.
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In the clip – which has been viewed nearly 60million times – Donaldson asks the waitress, whose name is Amy: ‘What’s the biggest tip you’ve ever gotten?’
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The young restaurant worker was left in awe by the gesture – and pointed out that she did not even know to drive
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During the interaction, the clip shows Donaldson taking the woman outside to her new car, and has to show her how to unlock it using the keys he just gifted her
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Not acknowledged in the video, however, was the very noticeable plastered on its sides – which bore the word ‘Feastables’, the name of the YouTuber’s relatively new line of chocolates
‘I was literally late to work today because the Uber was slow.’
During the interaction, the clip shows Donaldson taking the woman outside to her new car, and has to show her how to unlock it using the keys he just gifted her.
The pair then get into the vehicle, with Amy seen shaking and visibly overwhelmed by Donaldson’s act of generosity.
The two then exit the car and share a brief embrace, with Donaldson heard telling her as the video cuts out: ‘Enjoy the car.’
Not acknowledged in the video, however, was the very noticeable plastered on its sides – which bore the word ‘Feastables’, the name of the YouTuber’s relatively new line of chocolate products that he has been pushing online.
The car also reportedly sported adage for Donaldson’s YouTube Channel, which started publishing videos more than ten years ago but only became wildly popular somewhat recently, a few years before the pandemic.
Those videos have seen Donaldson wealth burgeon at a rapid rate, and has allowed him a nearly unlimited allowance for high-budget video concepts that regularly garner tens – and often hundreds – of millions of views apiece.
Some accused the star of using the woman as an ‘advertisement’, while others added they thought having such prominent logos on the car felt more like product placement than a true act of kindness. Many pointed out additional costs like insurances and taxes
One recent example is video posted earlier this year that saw the Kansas native cure 1000 people’s blindness by splashing out millions of dollars for them to have cataract surgery – a move some criticized at the time due to sufferers only receiving the surgery after agreeing to become online content for the ultra-rich YouTuber.
In a comment made from his account on his most recent post, Donaldson told fans bought his Feastables products – which he previously shilled in a widely seen video ad with Gordon Ramsay – he would be giving away more cars on social media.
Moreover, such criticism surfaced again this week when the short clip was published to TikTok, with several taking to the platform and others like Twitter to call out Donaldson.
Some accused the star of using the woman as an ‘advertisement’, while others added they thought having such prominent logos on the car felt more like product placement than a true act of kindness.
‘Don’t get me wrong this is a nice thing but I wouldn’t love driving around a feastables branded car. Maybe it was just for the video,’ one user wrote.
Another added: ‘So basically she has to do promotion for his company by driving the car. He also is getting a big tax write off from this… . she has to pay for gas and insurance too.’
One sniped: ‘I’d kill myself if I got gifted a car that was branded with Mr. Beast feastables chocolate bar.’
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In a comment made from his account on his most recent post, Donaldson told fans bought his Feastables products – which he shilled in a widely seen video ad with Gordon Ramsay – he would be giving away more cars on social media. A Feastables bar is seen on the table here
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The world’s biggest YouTuber MrBeast recently hit back at critics who slammed him for paying to cure 1,000 people’s blindness. He was accused of using sufferers for financial gain
‘I’d rather be caught riding around in a trash can than that,’ another chimed in.
Others questioned how practical the gift was, considering the driver did not know how to operate the vehicle, and would have to find someone to pay sales tax and the aforementioned insurance.
‘The first thing that came to my mind after watching mr beast tipping a car video was, how will she pay tax on it,’ someone observed.
Another added: ‘I get that Mr. Beast is doing a lot of positives in the community but what’s the aftermath?
‘Like is it paid off, can she afford maintenance for it , does she have a place to put the car. It’s just a whole lot of questions.’
Others defended the YouTuber, who is widely hailed online for his flippant and often extravagant acts of charity.
‘Don’t understand why people get so mad over him helping others,’ a user remarked.
Others were simply dumbfounded by the move, branding it bizarre.
‘MrBeast really tipped a whole car,’ someone said.
‘People acting like just bc it’s a Feastables wrap it ain’t a free car.’
Other high-priced stunts pulled by the YouTube star include a $100,000 game of Rock, Paper, Scissors with Dwayne Johnson, and video that saw him pay a complete stranger $300 to fly to Paris to bring him back a baguette.
Reps for Donaldson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Based on the contents of the video, the waitress accepted the gift.