funavatar

u/funavatar was an alleged Reddit account of a CEC corporate employee that divulged internal information and the likely opinions of CEC Corporate as they were happening, mainly around the developments of the CEC Legacy Locations .

History

The user was an anonymous account that posted on r/chuckecheese before being discovered in full on October 10, 2024. Users noticed the account's posts being extremely similar to Mark Kupferman's posts (who also began posting to r/chuckecheese around the same time) in writing, subject, subs visited, and information given, though with the ability to speak their mind more honestly and with more detail through an anonymous account. It is currently unconfirmed who was behind the account.

Posts

The account posted on various software subreddits, r/chuckecheese, r/fivenightsatfreddy's, and notably r/sixflags, which most of CEC Corporate's current higher ups were previously employed at. The account would be aggressive towards stances against CEC corporate, notably around the handling of animatronics, CEC Legacy Locations , and how the company was running.
Various posts are notable:

• "I'm sorry, are you on the Chuck E. Cheese senior management team? Have you been reading their financial records? How do you know that they are struggling? If they are struggling so much, why are they opening new locations?"
• "The average trip to Disney costs about $7,000. The average trip to Chuck E. Cheese costs $50. Maybe if we all agreed to pay $7,000 each time we visited Chuck E. Cheese they'd put in some new animatronics!"
• (Commenting on 'What if Avenger Chuck was still around?') "There would be a lot more single, 25-35 year old men hanging around Chuck E. Cheese.
• "What do you guys think of this year's summer pass program?"
• "...Besides, all of us know that if they sold off the animatronics a lot of them would end up in haunted houses or misused in other ways that would not reflect positively on the brand."
• "I appreciate how you've turned this into an episode of the X-Files and Kupferman is the Smoking Man. As if maybe you're on to some secret Chuck E. Cheese government conspiracy."
• "Even if it was the actions of CEC Entertainment's management that caused the children of the world to lose interest in animatronics over the last forty years, it doesn't really change the fact that they aren't interested. And if the surveys say that kids don't care about animatronics anymore, they why would Chuck E. Cheese keep them?"
• "I shouldn't have to say any of this, however I've watched enough of Chris' videos to know: He goes in during the daytime, when there is rarely anyone else there. He stays as long as it takes to capture the artwork and animatronics and then leaves (I have no way to prove this -- for all I know he just sits there for hours -- but the video give the impression that it's a quick in and out). He doesn't appear to engage with or capture video of any of the children. Touring locations and reporting on them is his job/ career. This article in Paducah Life offers a good perspective on why Chris does what he does. If there is something wrong with adults caring about children's entertainment venues, we probably need to have a conversation about r/chuckecheese."
• "Nobody knows what Chuck E. Cheese was thinking by choosing Nanuet. It may be that they had some business reason for choosing that location that they don't think that we need to know about. Or to put it in Reddit terms: maybe they have a secret plan. Someone suggested they chose that location because it is near New York. Someone else said it was because Nanuet has a really strong retro-focused community. Someone else said that this was some kind of a test store. Maybe we'll find out when it opens. Or maybe we'll never know...."
• "There is no point at all. If corporate isn't going to spend the money to develop the technology to program this lone bot they should remove it and probably destroy it. Nobody wants to see a broken bot. While it's true I've never been to Nanuet, and probably will never go to Nanuet, I'm very offended. destroynanuet"
• "The truth is that Chuck E. Cheese doesn't need the small amount of money they could get from selling old animatronics to collectors, super fans, and people who want to turn them into haunted house attractions. It's easier for them to destroy them than to have to deal with the bad PR the comes when they eventually fall into the wrong hands."
• "It seems to me like they are compromising. Are you? We begged them to keep some stages, and now they are keeping some stages. We won. But it sounds like, instead of being gracious in victory, you're just going to demand more. 'I suppose it's OK that they are keeping some stages,' says you, 'but what I really wanted all along was for them to keep everything exactly like it was when I was 8-years-old.' Chuck E. Cheese's is not a museum. It's for today's little kids, not for nostalgic adults. Take what they're doing in the spirit in which it is offered, appreciate the opportunity you will get to continue to enjoy the animatronics, and stop being an ass."
• "What arcade lets you play all day for $20? Do they offer prizes? I want to bring my kids there. The Dave & Buster's and Round1 near me costs even more than Chuck E. Cheese does."
• (Replying to CEC's financial trouble and potential 2023 sale) "It's closer to $1,200,000,000 in revenue. And almost $200,000,000 in profit. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/restaurant-chain-chuck-e-cheese-explores-sale-sources- 2023-12-15/"
• "By 'most people' do you mean all of the 25-year-old fanboys who are fixated on entertainment centers targeted at seven-year-olds?"

Privating

On October 11th, users would reach out to Mark about the account, asking if he knew who the account belonged to- in which he replied: "I may? To be honest, I don't know who anyone on this platform is. (everyone is anonymous)". An hour after this comment, the u/funavatar account would have its searchability set to private, and would not make any further posts. Certain comments were also deleted. The account was archived well before it began to spread around the community.