Starbucks didn’t just partner with MrBeast, it built itself into his show.
The result is the MrBeast Starbucks drink, the Cannon Ball Refresher, which debuted alongside season two of Beast Games. And from the way Starbucks rolled it out, it’s clear this wasn’t meant to feel like a typical flavor launch.
Starbucks wasn’t just “sponsoring” Beast Games. It was powering it. Contestants had 24/7 access to Starbucks inside Beast City. Baristas were on set. Drinks appeared in challenges. The brand framed its role as making the space feel like home.
Those framing matters, because it explains why the Cannon Ball Drink feels different.
This doesn’t feel like a drink that was created and then marketed through content. It feels like a piece of content that happens to be drinkable, built inside the show first, then pushed outward to stores.
In starts to feel like content first, coffee second.
Designed for the Lens, Not the Sip
If you read the official description, Starbucks spends way more time talking about the visuals than the taste. It’s all about:
- The “cascading” fruit.
- The ombre purple swirl.
- The literal act of “cannon-balling” dried fruit into the cup.
These aren’t just ingredients; they’re stage directions.
You don’t even need to take a sip to “get” the drink, you just need to see it once in a 15-second clip. It’s designed to perform on TikTok and Instagram before the lid even goes on.
Why It’s “Old Ingredients, New Story”
One reason the drink has drawn criticism online is the fact that nothing in the MrBeast Starbucks drink is actually new.
It’s Strawberry Açaí, Mango Dragonfruit, and lemonade , ingredients Starbucks already had on hand.
But that’s not a mistake. It’s the strategy.
If you’re launching a drink alongside a show episode and rolling it out everywhere at once, you don’t reinvent the supply chain. You use what already exists and let the moment do the work.
The “new” part isn’t the flavor.
It’s the story wrapped around it.
That’s a different definition of innovation than Starbucks customers are used to , and that’s where the disconnect shows up.
Born On A Set, Not In A Test Kitchen
Starbucks has been explicit about where this drink came from. The Cannon Ball Drink was inspired by , and created on, the set of Beast Games, then written directly into a challenge.
That makes it less like a seasonal beverage and more like liquid merch.
It’s a way for fans to take a piece of the show into real life, not just watch it on a screen.
The Backlash Isn’t Really About Taste
Scroll through the comments and it’s obvious people have feelings about the MrBeast Starbucks drink. But most of that reaction isn’t actually about whether it tastes good.
It’s about expectations.
People still expect new Starbucks drinks to be flavor discoveries. This one is a spectacle, a viral object designed to live across platforms. From Starbucks’ point of view, the attention is the win. From a customer’s point of view, it can feel like something has shifted.
And they’re not wrong.
Menus Are Starting to Behave Like Content
Zoom out and the Cannon Ball Drink starts to look less like a one-off collaboration and more like a case study.
In an algorithm-driven world, products don’t just need to taste good anymore. They need to be instantly legible, highly visual, and tied to moments people are already watching.
Flavor still matters. It’s just no longer the first thing.
The MrBeast Starbucks drink won’t be around forever. The strategy behind it will be.
Starbucks just tested what happens when you design a menu item the same way you design a viral video. Judging by the reaction, it’s already doing exactly what it was built to do.
We cover Starbucks a lot, from new drinks to bigger menu shifts. You can find all of that here.
