Crumbl Cookies opened their first San Francisco location on February 7, 2025. Their distinguishable bright pink boxes and delicious five-inch cookies have turned Crumbl into a nationwide viral sensation. With fame, however, Crumbl has faced numerous controversies such as Crumblgate, misleading nutrition labels and even being sued by the U.S Department of Labor. Consumers, including Lick-Wilmerding High School students, are curious about what fuels the Crumbl craze: their tasty appearance or their clever marketing?
Founded by cousins Jason McGowana and Sawyer Hemsley, initial efforts to make the perfect chocolate chip cookie quickly became a thriving business. Since opening their first location in Logan, Utah in 2017, Crumbl has become one of the fastest-growing cookie companies in the U.S. with over 1,000 locations and 30 thousand employees. Crumbl’s success—and flavor—is undeniable, with over one million desserts sold daily.
Becoming many’s go-to spot for a sweet treat, Crumbl sightings have been scattered across LWHS’s campus over the past year. “It probably tastes like basically a random cookie…[but because] people feel [like they’re] partaking in an activity, it’s more than just a cookie,” Lila Range ’26 said.
This sentiment is at the root of Crumbl’s identity. Due to the acknowledgement of social media’s power as a marketing tool, many companies aim to crack the code to virality, something Crumbl has mastered. The cookies’ lavish and colorful appearance has quickly obtained attention.
Their weekly rotating menu creates both anticipation and the option for more social media content. “The flavors are pretty hit or miss,” said Harper Roberts ’25 “some are delicious but some are too sweet.” Crumbl’s TikTok has over ten million followers, millions ahead of more established brands such as Starbucks with a little over two million followers currently. “This is TikTok culture,” Soluna Ibarra-Tacdol ’26 said.
However, Crumbl’s rapid rise to fame has been coupled with public backlash. “Crumblgate” was the company’s first controversy. On September 29, 2024, despite having no connection with Crumbl, two enterprising locals brought cookies from Hawaii in suitcases, selling them in Australia for $17.50 each to unsuspecting customers who later complained of the stale taste. This later resulted in legal actions against the vendors.
Another controversy was sparked by a viral TikTok by creator @ashleighntobin. In the TikTok, which has amassed over 3.4 million views, Tobin zooms into a Crumbl kitchen where boxes of Betty Crocker cake mix were being used to make cookies. In response, a Crumbl representative stated the cake mix was used “from time to time” in order to enhance flavor and texture, but also left many customers questioning Crumbl’s pricepoint.
This specific evidence led to nationwide criticism of Crumbl’s misleading nutrition labels, high prices and unhealthiness. A single Crumbl cookie has more cholesterol than the recommended daily intake. However, their controversies extend much further. Crumbl is currently in a public trademark lawsuit with two significantly smaller companies–Dirty Dough and Crave Cookies–claiming they use packaging, decor and presentation similar to Crumbl.
When Crumbl announced Mini Mondays—smaller versions of their regular cookies available exclusively on Mondays—people online caught on to the fact that a small cookie company, CookieCo, had already come up with the idea. CookieCo’s owner Elise Thomas then revealed that back in 2023, Crumbl had sent CookieCo potential lawsuits asking them to stop using a rotating menu.
In 2024, global nonprofit organization The Humane League released an article exposing Crumbl’s use of eggs from battery-caged hens, a practice that puts chickens in cramped spaces, leading to unnatural behaviors, suffering and filthy conditions. This practice has been dropped by other sweet treat companies such as Krispy Kreme, Dairy Queen and more.
In 2022 Crumbl was found guilty and fined up to $15,417 across six states by the U.S. Department of Labor for child labor violations in six states, employing 46 minors between the ages 14-15. Such violations included going over the legal amount of hours a minor is permitted to work and usage of hazardous machinery.
As consumer choices continue to evolve, consumer awareness of their motivations and their broader impacts continue becoming more relevant. Whether driven by personal interest, quality, cultural or social trends, consumers can benefit from increased awareness as these decisions shape not only the market but the systems and communities they support.
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