What does a YouTube channel (NELK) that gained popularity from outlandish pranks and the supplement industry have to do with one another? NELK (and their lifestyle brand FULL SEND) are riding a trend that’s also fueling massive CPG industry success from the likes of MrBeast (Feastables), Emma Chamberlain (Chamberlain Coffee), and Logan Paul (PRIME Hydration). Everyone thinks the C in CPG stands for consumer, but they’re dead wrong. The most popular creators of today are becoming the biggest CPG brands of tomorrow. Creator packaged goods is a relatively new phenomenon. You’ve probably heard the term creator economy, but for those unfamiliar…it basically describes individuals that commercially capitalize on digital platform output (aka content creation). There are 10s of millions of creators today, most just making the world a noisier place, but a small fraction add value to niches and/or transcend beyond these digital platforms. See…there’s a mix of skill, hard work, timing, and luck that goes into capitalizing on these new kingmakers of the world…which are the everchanging algorithms of these various digital platforms. If you can consistently “catch lightning in a bottle” by holding consumer attention with the help of these digital platform algorithms, congratulations…you’ve just become one of the most sought-after assets in the world. The social currency of views, likes, comments, and shares, now have exchange rates that supersede basic salary and fee-based compensation of decades past…that is if you know how to properly articulate and aestheticize your defining personality traits. Because that’s really the cheat code here…creators have the potential to build extremely valuable brands, but not all are creators and creator projects are created equal. And that’s why partnerships with strong CPG operators or companies are so important to enhance the probability of success in the long run. There needs to be a credible person (and/or team) behind a creator packaged goods brand. NELK and FULL SEND now have that in John Shahidi...though they've seen different results across two different CPG product categories. While Happy Dad Hard Seltzer has sold over 3 million units since its launch and is currently the number one followed and engaged Hard Seltzer brand on social media, FULL SEND supplements has struggled in comparison. I'll breakdown what's going on with FULL SEND and explain why I think the NELK Boys are likely not the ideal creators for the supplement industry currently…or at least with offering a typical full supplement product line.