facebook pixal
Technology

Chuck E. Cheese launches family-focused LankyBox virtual brand

The brand backed by a popular YouTube channel was created in partnership with MrBeast Burger parent Virtual Dining Concepts.
LankyBox
LankyBox Kitchen has a kid-friendly menu of personal pizzas, wings and mac and cheese. / Photo courtesy of Virtual Dining Concepts

Chuck E. Cheese has a new virtual brand catering to families.

LankyBox Kitchen is a tie-in with LankyBox, a kid-friendly YouTube channel with millions of subscribers. The menu is aimed at young eaters, with personal pizzas, mac and cheese and fries. Packaging will feature LankyBox characters and a QR code that links to exclusive videos.

More than 460 Chuck E. Cheese locations are now offering the brand for delivery only via lankyboxkitchen.com and third-party delivery apps.

The 600-unit eatertainment chain developed LankyBox Kitchen in partnership with Virtual Dining Concepts (VDC), the parent of MrBeast Burger and other delivery-only brands. VDC has had success creating restaurant brands around online celebrities, specifically MrBeast, another YouTuber with a massive following. It will look to do the same with LankyBox.

“This brand demonstrates our ability to continue to lead the virtual dining space and provide our restaurant partners, like Chuck E. Cheese, access to a captivated audience,” said VDC CEO Stephanie Sollers in a statement.

LankyBox has more than 21 million YouTube subscribers. Its videos star the channel’s human creators, Justin and Adam, alongside animated characters Foxy and Boxy.

The brand would appear to be a good fit for the family-oriented Chuck E. Cheese, which already serves many of the items on LankyBox’s menu. LankyBox even repurposes the chain’s colorful Unicorn Churros as Foxy Churros.

The only entirely new SKU appears to be mac and cheese, which comes in three varieties: classic, Buffalo and pizza.

And Chuck E. Cheese also has experience with virtual brands: It launched its own delivery-only offshoot, Pasqually’s Pizza, early in the pandemic. It’s now in 400 locations.

The idea of these secondary concepts is to add revenue while using the same staff and kitchen. 

Chuck E.’s latest brand should get a considerable marketing boost from LankyBox, which will promote the virtual restaurant on its social media channels. Chuck E. Cheese will also run ads for the brand on in-restaurant TVs.

Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.

Multimedia

Exclusive Content

Financing

A tweet comes between Grubhub and McDonald's franchisees

The Bottom Line: The fast-food burger chain’s former top U.S. corporate relations officer said, “cry me a river” in a now-deleted tweet about McDonald’s franchisees. It didn’t go over well, either with them or his new employer, Grubhub.

Food

Burger King borrows preps from fine dining to innovate the menu

The burger chain’s new culinary focus reflects head chef Chad Brauze’s experience and passion gained in Michelin-starred restaurants.

Financing

Why the 2021 restaurant buying spree may come back to haunt some operators

The Bottom Line: Franchisees in particular jumped at the chance to scoop up restaurants in 2021, often paying sky-high multiples in the process. And then inflation hit.

Trending

More from our partners