Rewind six years back to 2020, and Crumbl was riding a seemingly invincible viral wave. Thanks to TikTok users posting weekly reviews of the cookies and the eccentric story of founders Jason McGowan and Sawyer Hemsley, who had no prior experience in either running a business or baking, all the ingredients were in place for a runaway success.By 2024, Crumbl was bringing in a billion dollars a year, and stores were opening by the hundreds. But by the end of 2025, unit volumes at Crumbl had declined 16%, according to Restaurant Business Online. Maybe most telling was the tone of online discourse about the brand, which shifted from starry-eyed devotion to people calling it “the diabetes empire.” Rumors swirled about a potential shutdown in late 2025, which Hemsley addressed in a TikTok, saying they were untrue and that Crumbl was moving to a new office to update its test kitchen. “We’re excited for what’s ahead, and we’re honestly just getting started,” he said.While Crumbl may have big plans, one thing is loud and clear: Public opinion of the brand has shifted. Criticism swirled around its dirty soda rollout in June, specifically targeting one drink called Crazy Cousins, which contains 186 grams of sugar — close to half a pound. “It should be against the law,” people said in the comments of a viral TikTok about the drink. “Crumbl is nasty,” another comment said. “1000 calories a cookie. Half raw most of the time.”Not to be deterred, Crumbl continues to plow forward with new releases, and now a new one is drawing criticism.Crumbl introduces another controversial itemIn a July 27 post on X (the former Twitter), food influencer Snackolator wrote about one of Crumbl’s newest cookies of the week, topped with frosting, Hot Cheetos, and a slice of lime.”Crumbl has a FLAMIN’ HOT CHEETOS cookie this week, and I just want to know who asked for this?!” he wrote. “It’s not horribly disgusting, but it’s really weird with the lime cookie and frosting matched with the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos flavors… I don’t even know what to make of it, but this is definitely meant to be fun and gimmicky rather than great.”In his Instagram post about the cookie, commenters did not react positively to Crumbl’s latest move. “Half of these look like an April Fool’s joke,” one wrote, while another said, “I expect they wanted to do something edgy for attention, but that is simply disgusting.”Along with the Flamin’ Lime Crunch, Crumbl introduced several other cookies for the week — a Berry Limeaid cookie topped with Nerds, and flavors including Wild Cherry Blue Razz Slushy, Snickers Peanut Butter, Honey Bun, White Drop featuring Hershey’s, and S’mores Thins.The everyday consumer is not the only voice that’s turned on Crumbl. Actress Zoe Deschanel posted a review on her TikTok in March 2026, calling them “a lot” and “too big.” After tasting them, Deschanel said, “I hate these cookies,” saying some tasted overbaked, and others tasted underbaked. The post attracted more than 10,000 comments, the vast majority in agreement with Deschanel.
Public opinion of the Crumbl brand has shifted.Bloomberg / Getty Images
Crumbl has lost the public’s favorThe change of consumer tone from the chain’s viral days is showing in its performance, too. Crumbl had 1,101 open stores at the end of 2025, but average unit volume dropped from $1.35 million in 2024 to $1.14 million in 2025. There’s also the May announcement that McGowan and Hemsley, along with Chief Technology Officer Bryce Redd, planned to step down from their day-to-day operating roles.”This is not a goodbye to Crumbl,” the statement said. “We will all remain closely involved as members of the Board of Directors and founders. I will continue as Chairman of the Board. We are still deeply invested in this company, in our franchise partners, and in where Crumbl goes from here.”On July 9, Crumbl announced it had promoted former vice president of engineering Jacob Moncur to Chief Technology Officer. Moncur has been with the company since 2018.While Crumbl continues to bang the drum about expansion, it’s facing a reckoning that must be addressed. While some fans of the brand still flock to the Reddit sub to talk about cookies they like (often classic flavors), the majority of the feedback is negative. Crumbl seems to be aiming for products that are so wild they get people talking, but that doesn’t always translate into a product people want to eat.The state of the economy also isn’t helping Crumbl’s case. In the last five years, popular restaurant chains have increased prices by as much as 42%, pricing out some consumers who can no longer afford it, a FinanceBuzz study revealed. With a cookie 4-pack priced at $16.49, Crumbl has gone from being a fun, viral “must-try” item to what some view as an overpriced indulgence. Add in that it’s getting bad buzz all over social media, and Crumbl is facing major challenges if it wants to continue growing its brand.Related: McDonald’s makes menu change to fix its breakfast problem