Masters of Exploitation: The Paul Brothers
Trigger Warning: suicide, gun violence
Every politician follows similar tactics, most notably, they ensure personal success through exploiting the sentiments of their followers. It is safe to say that in the age of social media, Logan and Jake Paul are some of the most well versed politicians.
Logan Paul, 23, and his younger brother Jake, 21, are social media sensations. The Paul brothers rose to prominence in tandem with one another. Both found their rise on Vine, the mobile application consisting of six second videos. The brothers quickly amassed millions of followers with their short sketches and pranks.
A few months into their Vine careers the brothers moved to Los Angeles to better capitalize on their work. Shortly thereafter the brothers were securing deals with prestigious brands like Pepsi, HBO, Virgin Mobile and Ritz. Within a few years of their social media beginnings Logan and Jake were appearing in more long form entertainment. Logan has appeared in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, Fox’s Weird Loners, Freeform’s Stitchers, Youtube Red Series Foursome, and YouTube Red movies The Thinning and The Space Between Us, and Jake was a main character on the Disney show Bizaardvark until he was presumably let go in August of 2017.
On the day that this is being written Logan Paul has 16.1 million followers on Instagram and 17.1 million subscribers on YouTube, while his younger brother Jake has amassed 10.8 million Instagram followers and 14.5 million YouTube subscribers. The Paul brothers we know today run respective vlog channels. Logan uploads his daily life — friends, acting jobs, workouts — while Jake has opted for a more extreme variant of showcasing his life, through committing to daily videos.
Jake Paul extended his presence beyond YouTube through the trauma him and his housemates have put their neighbours through. Him and other Team 10 members would continually increase their stunts for each video, even going as far as setting fire to their drained swimming pool. Jake has also released his home address, resulting in swarms of pre-teen fans occupying the residential street on a daily basis. Jake Paul officially became a household when KTLA aired the stunts that Team 10 house exercised on the community.
Logan Paul’s moment in the spotlight stemmed from a vlog wherein he and his friends filmed a suicide victim in the Aokigahara “Suicide” Forest in Japan. Upon finding the individual, he continues to film the body and giggle about the situation. The scene concludes with Logan saying something along the lines of ‘that was crazy’; a clear disregard for the true gravity of the situation.
Considering all of this, many of us are still left wondering how these two brothers continue to have active supports. The answer is simple: they use their social media presence to exploit the sentiments of the masses.
Fairly recently Jake Paul released a 20-minute-long documentary style video entitled “It’s Time to End School Shootings.” While I appreciate his attempt to use his platform to further the discussion surrounding the impact of gun violence on communities, I can’t help but consider Jake’s character and online presence. He goes from a lack of consideration for anyone’s feelings to suddenly stepping in to the centre of conversations surrounding gun violence and assumes the role of a saviour.
Despite vowing “to be part of the solution and [to utilize his] platform to raise awareness and action across the board” (description of video), his attempt to show genuine empathy comes across somewhat forced. In the video Jake Paul interviews Marco Rubio with little interest. His questions do not divulge any new information, nor do they push to communicate the true impact of guns on communities. Rubio simply says that the key to preventing these tragedies is to be proactive in finding shooters before a tragedy can occur. Paul follows suit and does not once include the potential for stricter gun laws as a viable option for combatting the issue. Instead, Jake suggests check-in points at schools or for student to carry portable bulletproof glass in their bags. Both fail to understand that issue is not a matter of protecting children with protective gear but hindering it at its source — the availability and right to bear arms.
Jake Paul’s attempt to stand for something greater than wreaking havoc on his neighbours and prolonging drama with fellow Youtubers is overshadowed by his perpetual immaturity — quite literally indicated by the tattoo of an assault rifle on his thigh.
In multiple videos when Jake Paul is not getting his way or receives comments he is not necessarily fond of, a running joke was to respond by his pant leg, shooting at his peers with his tattooed assault rifle, and ad-libbing gunshot noises over the scene. While for some of his young fans this is comedy gold, for anyone who has faced the wrath of gun violence or possesses basic human empathy it is widely inconsiderate. The direct contrast between Jake’s regular content and the video about gun violence shows a blatant lack of sincerity.
In a similar manner, following Logan Paul’s controversy in the Aokigahara “Suicide” Forest he responded with an apology video. For those triggered by Logan’s initial filming of the suicide victim this meant nothing. His demeanour felt odd and overly planned; as though it were a frenetic man simulating someone who is actually distraught (not unlikely considering the fact he is an actor).
This video and the backlash he faced from it lead to his 21-day absence from social media, and his eventual removal from Google Preferred (which limits the number and types of ads placed on his videos). His absence from the YouTube-sphere was supposedly a period of reflection and awakening; however, I see it as no more than another step in his master plan. Following his 21-day absence, Logan returns with a video entitled “Suicide: Be Here Tomorrow”, which now has 29 million views.
Ultimately, the brothers employ a form of slacktivism. While their efforts to raise awareness and money can be said to be a form of activism because of their degree of influence on the Internet, it is important to note that activism stems from a place of genuine care for the issues one is fighting for. However, both Logan and Jake’s previous actions suggest that these videos were made solely to make themselves feel better about themselves and to convey to the public that they are showing support for these important movements, rather than an internal desire to actually help. Referencing, Jake’s video entitled “It’s Time to End Gun Violence”, he never cites what charity he will be donating to.
While both of their controversies lead to infamy, in the realm of social media and stardom there is no such thing as bad publicity.
What Does all of this say about the dynamic duo?
The Paul brothers are social media geniuses. Despite their countless and continuous wrongdoings, they have sustained loyal fan bases and with this, their paycheques continue to rise. Through their entire careers being based on social media the two have learned to use it as a platform for exploitation.
1. Early Bird Gets the Worm
The Vine app launched in January of 2013. Logan and Jake were some of the first individuals to download and post on the platform. Their early beginnings on the app allowed them to bypass the hundreds of thousands of content creators who would later be using the platform for their own comedy videos. In an interview with People magazine, Jake notes that within six months of being on Vine, the brothers were making more than their parents — their father, Greg, is a realtor while their mother Pam is a registered nurse. When the app shut down the brothers had accumulated 9.4 million followers.
Their early success on the application served as a stepping stone to the their other endeavours. They began to promote their respective Instagram and Twitter handles, allowing them to have leverage on virtually all social media platforms. As the Vine app began to slowly dwindle, they effectively shifted their audience to a new platform — YouTube.
2. Consistency
Both brothers went through a period of daily vlogging on their respective YouTube channels. Starting on Sept. 12, 2016 Logan Paul vlogged everyday until Jan. 1, 2018 on LoganPaulVlogs. Similarly, Jake Paul has posted roughly 500 consecutive vlogs (rarely missing upload dates, aside from the filming of his “It’s Time to End School Shootings” video).
This degree of posting satisfies the YouTube algorithm. The platform favours quantity over quality. An individual posting 3 times a week will be promoted more often and be featured more frequently in the ‘Recommended’ section than one that takes time to produce high quality content.
It is also important to note that both have high engagement on their respective pages. On YouTube for instance, they receive millions of views on each video posted. Further, both average nearly 100k likes per video. They effectively increase their engagement through posing questions to their fans, encouraging viewers to comment their opinions on particular topics either on their videos or on their Instagram photos. With this, it is safe to say that their videos are being seen, and their opinions are being heard.
3. Naming Your Fan Base
The easiest way to understand the impact of naming a fanbase considering a stuffed animal. Once you name it, it becomes family-like and one immediately creates a stronger connection to a once trivial toy. Consequently, Jake has created the Jake Paulers; a name for the dedicated fans who watch his daily vlogs. Similarly, Logan has dubbed his followers the logang or logang-sters. Further, Logan often tells his audiences ‘to be a maverick’. The maverick is a symbol that he has adopted for the logang where in he is encouraging his viewers to embrace their novelty and be strong in doing so.
Each of them has capitalized off these fan bases, incorporating their famous slogans and even the names of their fanbases in to merchandise. This brings me to my next point.
4. Merchandise
The brothers are masterful in promoting their merchandise throughout their videos. It has grown to the point that it is no longer a suggestion, but a repeated demand for viewers to go out and buy their t-shirts. The Paul brothers’ merchandise has become a sort of product placement in their videos. In any given video any t-shirt or hoody pictured on the Paul brothers is from their respective merchandise line. Both brothers speak to their fans in a way that suggests they are not simply taking through a camera or a phone screen. Through providing their fan bases with specific names and posting frequently that have successfully convinced their respective viewers that they care about them.
Logan has created Maverick merchandise that he sells through his own website, while Jake sells his ‘Jake Pauler’ merchandise through the most popular service used by social media influencers, Fanjoy.co. Currently, Jake Paul has the best-selling merchandise on the website. Their hoodies cost between $50 to $60 USD on average. According to Forbes, the brothers earn an estimated $1 million monthly off of their individual merchandise sales.
Merchandise is often an important aspect of any influencer’s social media domination. These merchandise sales represent an additional revenue stream for the Paul brothers, both in terms of the actual money garnered from the sales as well as through a form of marketing. Thousands of kids around the world are walking around in these t-shirts and posting pictures of their clothing online. With this, merchandise serves as a form of ‘free’ advertising. Even when we are not seeing the Paul brothers on YouTube, we can surely see their faces, catch phrases, or brands plastered across a young child’s chest. Moreover, both brothers have capitalized on their YouTube analytics. While most YouTubers tend to sell generic Unisex t-shirts, the Paul brothers understand their viewers’ demographics and have created separate lines for their male and female audiences respectively. This allows their viewers and merchandise consumers to feel more included, represented and important.
5. Open to the Public
The mistakes of traditional media superstars are limited to the ability of paparazzi to be at the right place at the right time. While many celebrities have fallen victim to paparazzi accounts revealing their most inappropriate or embarrassing mistakes, there is no doubt that there is much that goes unseen. However, for daily vlogger Jake Paul, he has no choice but to film virtually every second of his day to ensure that he has enough content to post a video each day.
Continuing this point, while traditional media celebrities often are not in control of the images/videos that released of them in the press, YouTubers have a different sort of control. They have the ability to shape what they want the world to see about them based on how they choose to film and edit their videos. With this, everything that is posted on social media is presumed to be a reflection of the parts of themselves they are most proud of. This enables their viewers to develop a closer connection to the Paul brothers because they believe their videos are sincere and leads their fans to think that their behaviour is acceptable since it is being posted for millions to see.
6. How Their Videos are Filmed
Logan Paul’s Suicide Forest apology video was filmed with a simple background with the camera positioned at eye level and close to his face. This worked to capture his watery eyes and depict sincerity. Moreover, there are repeated clips throughout Jake Paul’s videos wherein the camera man films from a downward angle. Similarly, when he films himself the camera is positioned below his chin so that he is looking down at the camera. This technique, of filming from a low angle so that the subject is looking down at the camera, is often used in films in order to convey the power of the character in question. Consequently, the power of Jake Paul is captured in every video and thus, is unconsciously ingrained into the mind of his viewers. Furthermore, the use of music works to sway viewers’ emotion in a particular direction. A sad video will be scored with slow, melancholic music while a prank video will include upbeat music to induce excitement amongst their audience.
Overall, the success of these brothers boils down to their ability to exploit every aspect of social media. They have made their subscribers feel like each video is a personal conversation, created a family via naming their fanbases, they continue to successfully create and sell merchandise, and post consistently on all social media platforms. All things considered, the Paul brothers are demagogues in their own right. They act in the interest of the individuals who keep money in their pockets; pre-teens. Further, they exploit the passions of their viewers through haphazard apologies and creating the notion that they care about their fans. Whether they are in the media via YouTube, their roles in long form entertainment, or for their inconsiderate actions, they are nonetheless in the public eye. In a world that is increasingly dominated by social media, celebrities and brands, it doesn’t matter what people are saying about you so long as they are talking about you in the first place.
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