Dive Brief:
- Starbucks and content creator MrBeast have teamed up around the second season of the star’s competition show, “Beast Games: Strong vs. Smart,” which is set to debut on Amazon Prime Video on Jan. 7, per details shared with Marketing Dive.
- Contestants will have complimentary, 24/7 access to Starbucks inside Beast City, the living quarters for those participating in the show. Starbucks will also offer a new Cannon Ball Drink, made for fans of the show, for a limited time beginning Jan. 14.
- The Cannon Ball Drink will also be featured in the “Cannon Ball Challenge” as part of a crossover episode with the competition show “Survivor.” Ahead of its latest tie-up, Starbucks also appeared in MrBeast’s “30 Days in the Sky” challenge on YouTube.
Dive Insight:
Starbucks is fueling contestants for season two of “Beast Games” through its partnership with MrBeast, the YouTube channel led by creator Jimmy Donaldson that touts over 454 million subscribers and more than one billion followers across social media. “Beast Games,” which first debuted on Prime Video in 2024, follows contestants as they compete for $5 million.
The latest season of the competition series will feature Starbucks within Beast City to offer contestants access to the coffee chain’s food and beverages. Competitors will also receive surprises from the chain throughout the season. “Beast Games: Strong vs. Smart” will include 200 competitors total — 100 credited for their strength and 100 for their intelligence — who will face off in a variety of challenges, per release details.
To complement the experience, Starbucks will also introduce a Cannon Ball Drink, a colorful mixture of the chain’s Strawberry Açaí and Mango Dragonfruit Refresher beverages that is topped with fruit. The drink was inspired by and made on the set of season two of the series and will be featured in the “Cannon Ball Challenge” as part of a crossover episode with “Survivor.” The episode will debut Jan. 14, the same day the Cannon Ball Drink will become available at Starbucks coffeehouses in the U.S.
The latest tie-up between Starbucks and MrBeast follows a surprise appearance by the coffee chain on the creator’s “30 Days in the Sky” challenge on YouTube on Dec. 20. In the challenge, a Starbucks Global Coffee Creator named Josiah joined MrBeast to deliver a contestant of the challenge — which tasks two competitors to remain trapped 100 feet in the air for 30 days — their favorite Starbucks beverage and a chance to win a $50,000 Starbucks gift card.
The collaboration with MrBeast could help Starbucks grow loyalty with fans of the show, the majority of whom are under 30 years old. Other brands have sought a partnership with the star, including Lowe’s, which recently launched a creator network geared toward millennial and Gen Z audiences that featured MrBeast as the first major name to join the effort.
Starbucks has been an active marketer recently. The chain launched its 2025 holiday marketing campaign in November to spotlight several initiatives that it has embraced as part of its turnaround strategy, like baristas writing personalized messages on customer orders. Starbucks’ efforts to return to growth under CEO Brian Niccol — which has seen the brand invest more in marketing — have started to show some signs of paying off. Same-store sales were flat in North America for the company’s fiscal Q4 2025, breaking a long period of quarterly declines.
