[BACKER EDITION] WOKE BRANDS: A Measured Response

Had to get adblocker after youtube decided that because I'd watched some videos I can only assume they categorize as "women's interests" that I might want to watch fucking -classically abby- so I had to adblock that shit right quick

Stephanie Thompson

Sorry about the adblockers bud, but hey, I'm a backer now, sooooooooooo, I'm off the hook~

Stephanie Thompson

Just wanted to let you know that your subliminal messaging is really effective. I watched this video on YouTube when it came out, but only recently became a backer and started watching these old backer videos. About halfway through this one I decided I wanted a snack, and was kind of horrified at the end to realize why I've been eating so much hummus for the last year. Get out of my head!

Kat

I think the video is really good although as some others have said I think the sponsorship is a little... I don't have a problem with sponsorships in general but in this video in particular, with the way you currently integrate it, it makes the video feel kind of cynical, I guess, and I think that's doing a disservice to the general tone and meaning of your content

Kallie

I tried to leave a comment a couple days ago, but Patreon blasted a message at me about being down for maintenance. I just wanted to say, this video is great, and I can’t think of anything you should change. I hope this will be an easy edit stream for you. It seems like it should be.

should be soon!

Hbomb

i'll have to check that out

Hbomb

definitely adding this

Hbomb

I'll make sure you're credited as that if you are. You should be in the credits if you backed me before the flat earth video came out

Hbomb

i'll do that!

Hbomb

I think this is your strongest pre-edit video yet. Very solid timeline and examples of how brands use reverse psychology to get attention. Lots of good little bits like the hamburger, & audio/visuals. I also think it’s completely valid for you to have sponsors, the joke was good, but I think I only got it 100% because I read the description first. I think I also would have thought “is he ACTUALLY sponsored or being sarcastic?” which distracts from the general take of the video... When you talk about watching their videos yourself it /should/ be clear that you’re serious. maybe expand on the comment you made re “brands can be less intrusive”, in that when a brand or content creator contacts the other for advertising they probably have common ground and something actually relevant to advertise. it’s more... wholesome? it can be people helping other people get the word out instead of Big Shilling love you love your videos thanks!!

honestly, i think the sponsorship is fine. you've made your point about brands well enough that it flies. also great video in all. i've found some of the discussion around this issue to be kinda unbalanced, but this worked really nice.

(Gay) Rosencrantz

I am too dumb to have any real criticisms other than the sponsored bit feeling highly unusual despite the lampshading of it (but, like, the world is fucked and depressing and do what you need to to get by and I do not want this to seem like this is a criticism of you as a person and I get it's a reality and I've come to accept it on some other channels I like). I very much appreciate a version without music though. I am actually looking forward to the final version so that I can compare the audio vibe I imagine would go at each bit to what is actually there.

Gary Marshall

Um, can I get a response to this video... Also when did dragon change his name?. Watch "Female-to-Male Trans Gain Male Privilege and it Sucks" on YouTube <a href="https://youtu.be/rQmJ44qcQlU" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/rQmJ44qcQlU</a>

kaemon bonet

This was a very good video from start to finish. I'm sure you'll make some editing choices for the final upload to your channel, but I personally think it's the right length and has a not over the top amount of tangents

Hey Hbomb, unrelated topic, but I’m super interested to hear what you think about this whole “Independent Group” in Parliament and the Red Tories and One Nation Tories coming together like they’ve wanted to for so long. Have you considered beginning the pre-production stages for a follow-up/sequel to ELECTIONWATCH 2017? It seems like another Snap may well be on the way, and a thoughtful, intelligent, and brilliantly presented video from someone as eloquent and artful as you may actually be able to break through the media bollocks about. Also, this video is awesome! Keep up the good work mate!

Yeah given that you made a fake-out joke of a SquareSpace sponsorship/ad in the Flat Earth video I too thought you were going to do a fake-out again.

Button

That last bit was much needed

are you still planning to do the editing stream today? Or has it happened already and I missed an update?

I'm both okay with the sponsorship and I got a laugh out of the placement/humor around it. Even though we don't like it, we do live in a capitalist society; the ending portion of the video is a great example of how our ideals interact with the practicalities of living in that society.

Your eyes look like you're on Dune Spice in this video. I know that's not relevant to the material, I just wanted to point it out because it's amusing to me. Looking forward to the editing stream!

Mallow

I don't mind that you're doing sponsored content - I'm used to (crowdfunded) creators picking up sponsorships and think it isn't the worst form of monetisation; and I'm not going to make assumptions about your financial status through patreon/other incomes (and would invite other patrons to not do that, either...) that being said, I also think the placement of the ad is VERY, VERY awkward. If you're unable to cut/drop it completely (for example if you are contractually obliged to keep it, idk how it works), I think it could do with some contextualisation/explanation and a proper, obvious tonal shift. I personally thought it was a joke at first, which I think is part of the issue? Maybe you could tie it together by talking about your stance on sponsorships and adding actual advertisements to your own videos.

Do you have any source recommendations for time management skills?

The sponsorship is jarring but that's what you were going for.

Yeah, so count me with the million or so people saying "drop the sponsorship if you can". It feels off that you need it when earning a large amount of money per video.

Michał Sporzyński

i was pretty sure that was a hoax/joke

Hbomb

What, you didn't show the guy who set fire to his own Nike shoes WHILE STILL WEARING THEM?

Naomi Hatchman

I love you too

Rebecca Dominguez

I think by testing out how far anti-brand you could go, you have givem them the exactl kind of advertising they want. In a way, you lampshaded your own advertisment, making it seem less like marketing, because ist part of a joke and its surrounded by a video starting with how much you hate branding. To the viewers, you lower their barriers for letting the advertisment effect them and connect the brand to woke anti-brandness. I get what you were going for, but by doing so, you have made an advertisement disguised as an anti advertisement video : /

Sascha Moros

Loved this video, but I do think that the sponsorship was a little jarring, given the subject matter. Regardless, I wish you well and I'm looking forward to watching the editing stream (as much as I can of it, anyway).

This was a thing I enjoyed and since I'm completely numb to commercials under capitalism I didn't even notice it was an actual advertisement for curiosity stream.

At the burger part cut away to you fucking a burger passionately.

Tristan

Wuvs it. The patreon bit at the end got an actual lol from me at work.

Spencer St. James

If you remove the curiosity sponsorship - please replace it with a parody of a sponsorship spot to help make fun of this insidious way advertising is slipping into yet another corner of our lives. And as incentive, I'm willing to double my contribution per video - I'm sure others here would happily up contributions to help you avoid having to compromise yourself like this. But hey, I get you need to make money - figure out what you feel you need/deserve - make a post about it and give us the opportunity to meet that goal. If we don't come through for you - then I'd be more willing to put up with sponsorship - but make sure its an ethical sponsorship as someone said earlier - a non-profit worker owned company.

diphtheria

Harris and the durty burger made my day.

Thank you for the video, I quite enjoyed it! You pinpointed a lot of what annoys me regarding brands and their... I guess white-washing of their ethics/business decisions? Kind of like how so many companies are all "Rah rah run for breast cancer!" but they're not actually investing anything worthwhile into it. (There was a good documentary on it, Pink Ribbons Inc.) As for the sponsorship at the end: Agreed with the "No ethical consumption under capitalism" sentiment and all that, which I felt you highlighted pretty effectively, but might benefit from a more anvilicious approach given some anvils need to be dropped. (One day, I'll be free from TV Tropes, but that day is not today.) We live in a capitalist world where it's basically impossible to truly escape its grasp without consequence, so it might be a good idea to also emphasize that in your sponsorship segment? (I have no idea what I'm talking about.)

Fool Errand

A few things, although none of them are really structural notes: I like the color grading a lot. Your eyes look very blue. Which is cool. I like the video, it’s something that’s bugged me for a long time. Have you read No Logo by Naomi Klein?

Rory Blank

I love the hamburger bit. But I am going to join the chorus about the sponsorship thing. Did you have to plug the channel? Also, one store went out of business for refusing to carry Nike products: <a href="https://eu.freep.com/story/sports/ftw/2019/02/13/sports-store-closing-after-nike-colin-kaepernick-protest-backfires/39053759/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://eu.freep.com/story/sports/ftw/2019/02/13/sports-store-closing-after-nike-colin-kaepernick-protest-backfires/39053759/</a>

The sponsorship is fine, but the way it's just completely without warning is just not good. please at the least add a "and now a word from our sponsors". to use Offcom's rules for TV: "Breaks containing advertising spots of any kind, including teleshopping spots, must be identified in vision and/or sound, for example station identifications going in and out of breaks."

A Sentient Mongoose

@20:01: I would say, "Their coffee isn't very good," but honestly, the implications of, "Their coffee isn't very nice," are hilarious to me, so keep it. Re: the sponsorship: I'm actually pretty indifferent to it? I mean, I find video sponsorships in general to be pretty annoying, but, like, this one was not exceptionally offensive? Idc that it's in a Patreon-sponsored video, either. If there's no ethical consumption under capitalism, then why not? Why the heck not?

I'll add on to what other people are saying - drop the sponsorship if you can. If it's a joke or one that twists around, then it'd be okay. (Like the lootcrate joke from a while ago.) Otherwise... It's distracting, skews the tone of the video by flipping to earnest praise, and just unpleasant to hear.

Nalte

Love it

Don Friðrik Ólafsson

I never thought about it that way. Yeah, if the whole sponsorship is just some long con, then I'm all for it. Otherwise, as Peter said, I'm not sold on hbomberguy brought to you by (although that rhymes).

Anarchy69

I totally get the impulse for wanting sponsorships, but I feel like this one isn’t the best company for a Left Tube channel to have. I feel like a company thst is worker owned or a non profit would have been better. Or you could just go without sponsorships. It also really cheapens your message. I mean you make a great video about how ads are everywhere and you can’t trust companies. So then after you go into what I was praying was intentional parody and just shill for a corporation, it feels like a betrayal. Like, why am I donating Patreon money to you on top of your buddy buddy deal with the very thing you were fighting against the whole video. If you really feel you NEED the money, I’m sure there would be companies just as Bourgeois as your sponsor like Planned Parenthood that I’m sure would also sponsor you.

Anarchy69

This is a great video, thank you.

David McArdle

I don't think you should necessarily cut/undo the CuriosityStream plug, but this ain't it chief etc. I have been thinking that since you only post videos so often and you charge on Patreon by the video, maybe you could charge by the month (without changing your upload frequency) if you need more money. I'd gladly pay what I'm paying now per video per month instead.

loved the video. I really hope the sponsorship thing was a stunt to drive your point home and that it was a one-off thing. In that case: Well played Mr. Bomberman. Otherwise please stop. After all not having to watch you sell your soul is one reason I'm your patron.

Alina Marquardt

Keurig is an environmental disaster akin to those plastic wrapped unpeeled bananas but on a massive scale

King Dead

Kerug thing was not even a first time it happened. For years, companies did it online by coming out for or against homosexuality, with rainbow branding and such, as one of the more common examples. There was also that disastrous pepsi commercial from a couple of years ago that might be worth mentioning as an example.

while i am sad my lengthy freeloading patreon streak is now behind me, i guess this is good. lack of music easily solved by playing soft background jazz, as i often do with youtube. the only time this hasnt worked is when i watched brutalmoose. i was pretty confused for too long a while, listening to 2 jazz tracks at the same time. *** opinions of how to video better are coming from someone who doesnt video but u asked for it m8 *** YES!!! HIGH SCHOOL MEDIA STUDIES!!! I LOVED THAT COURSE!!! I HAD SO MUCH FUN!!! even back when i had very little political or social passion compared to now, i still fucking hated capitalism and thought perhaps we should, at least, nibble slightly on the rich. points for the random bits of laughter. thats what i signed up for, quite literally. NEVER APOLOGIZE FOR LOSING IT LAUGH MORE YESSSSSSSSS i'd like the KILL ME text to be more intense and dramatic, maybe get bigger and more ominous, idk. go hard or go home. isnt it "kewrig"? i pay like 200 times the value of ads with my 2 dollar dono, lets be real. just be sure to give everyone i watch a piece and itll be chill. as always, a lovely chic wallpaper background. i have been following interior decoration media for years. grandma knows whats up ! ! ! would be funny to have the audio cut off a titch earlier in the "dont you love me anymore?!" scuffed audio there btw but idk if thats fixable lol. (part 2 coming soon i just took like an hour to watch 10 mins of the video lol) #coolstorybro in high school i listened to a CBC radio show about advertising and actually contacted the narrator, who thanked me for caring because they werent sure how many people actually did. i was never a normal child.

@thiccrat_

Same I had to stay up to watch the whole video

I thought this video was pretty great! Its good to see you up to the usual after the intensity of DK64 and I've no criticisms about the vid itself! I will say that the sponsorship bit feels... weird? Like it feels like The Pitch for the sponsors a lot of folks on the media-crit left do. Things are ticking along and then the tone shifts and we realise that we're no longer learning - we're being sold something. And the thing is - that genuinely sounds like a service I'd use and haven't heard of but trying to ease it in a similar way to the use of sources (and, well, kinda citing it as a source for some of it) feels off. And it looks like a few other people kinda feel it too? Its... sort of uncanny and it makes the video feel more like a product by its presence. It also stands kind of in contrast to the old credits, with verbal shoutouts - they've been removed (rightfully I feel) because they took an age to get through, but now a corporation gets its own extended shout out. That said, I'm p sure everyone will understand if money is tight or you might need to increase patreon dues or whatev, its just kind of a whiplash without a heads up.

Samael

CGP Grey did a good video called "This Video Will Make You Angry" about how seemingly opposed ideas (such as opposing political viewpoints) can actually re-enforce each other and keep each other relevant much longer than they would have if they did not have an idea to oppose. It seems like marketing firms just figured out how to exploit that to promote #brands.

Tyler Knott

That's how I would say it, so I guess?

Dagmar Makara

The sponsored ad sucks. I'm pledging money to you specifically so I don't have to deal with that kind of thing, so if you keep it up I'll be cancelling that pledge.

sometimes sponsorships are necessary cause you need money to live!!!!! also is that how english people pronounce keurig?

No notes from me - just really enjoyed it, great video :D I'm still laughing at the Nike fires :P

Dagmar Makara

All in all, I don't mind the sponsorship as much as others, though it is kind of jarring. But I would say that the message of this going both ways should go before the sponsorship, since you acknowledge that lots of people check out at that point and close the video. Honestly, 'don't give the right wing version the time of day because it's just an advertisement' is one of the active takeaways of the video, which isn't very effective if it's after the 'you don't need to pay attention anymore' spot. I kept watching because I could see there was another good chunk of time left and I knew they couldn't be credits, but that won't be true on the live version. Good video overall

Bosstoaster

Thank you for showing that absolute masterwork in American Consumption -- Frat Guy Burns 10 Nike Shoes In A Fire Cage On His Parents' Backporch. So far as notes go: - I think you could bring back that internal memo from Keurig during the "Oops! All Capitalism" section at the end -- highlight management's stated desire to pause advertising as if it were --&gt; "business as usual" - It can't just be Peter Coffin bringing up Guy Debord and the Society of the Spectacle. If ever there were a video ripe for the application of the spectacular lens, this is it. Both of Debord's books on the spectacle are available online for free from your favorite algorithmic search engine which hopes to be the "Alpha" (bet) in the new cyber-feudalism. Could be a significant amount of VO work as well, and may bloat the video -- as it stands, you've got it awfully slim and sexy. Consider applying it to the Night in the Woods video, Garbo and Malloy do a great job of wearing the spectacular beast plainly

A Howling Planet Of Restless Ghosts & Lesser Ghouls

Great video with lots to think about. There was already a leftist version of this kind of thing, where people burned New Balance because their CEO voiced some support for Trump. Not sure if sales were effected. <a href="https://money.cnn.com/2016/11/10/news/companies/trump-new-balance-burning-shoes/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://money.cnn.com/2016/11/10/news/companies/trump-new-balance-burning-shoes/</a>

Ashley Stoering

Cant wait to get into this. Love u daddio

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Anybody else sad that the sponsored advert joke wasn't a joke this time? 😥

Would you be willing to give some more context as to why you have decided to try out a sponsorship deal? I-i-is *sniff* our meager patronage not enough *dubbel sniff* for Soybeks Chosen anymore? Are the pre-production costs for The Inevitable Prequel Video(s) ramping up?? *Wild wailing and crying* Is Kevin extorting you?!?!???! (As for the video itself, minus the Curiosity Stream plug: Merry good stuff. I have nothing to criticise).

Ruben Rydell-Sandgren

I was curious how brands' social media plays into this, like recent Sunny D cry for help? it seems like another facet of the same argument, that the reaction is the ad, but I guess I felt the absence of social media used that way in your video. Very good content either way!

I love your work and have been a sponsor for a while, but the curiosity commercial inserted here was rather disappointing, as Fabien said earlier the whole point of supporting artists directly was to get away from art/content beholden to corporate interests. The awkwardly place sponsorship ad ends up really detracting not only from this specific piece, but if you continue this route i feel it will undermine the trust I have in whatever you are presenting. Clearly you seemed uncomfortable shilling for company - if you feel weird about it...maybe don't do it. If you legitimately need more money, make your case to your supporters. I really enjoyed the work, but those last few minutes really were a disappointment.

diphtheria

wewwy noice video!

Hello Harris B Guy, I very much enjoyed this video and its use of stock footage. I like stocn footage.

I can't think of anything critical to say because I'm dumb but I love how your videos are so humorous and informative at the same time, they are a joy to watch!

SausageSalad

I loved it. My one suggestion is that in either this video or a follow-up, I'd love to see you discuss the Brand Accounts on twitter, especially in their latest attempts to seem relatable—up to and including the official account for Sunny Delight deliberately talking as though it was depressed or even suicidal (!!!), followed by other Brand Accounts offering "words of comfort" to it.

Oh and besides the sexual tension: I really liked the video, but I think the "Stop staring at me like I'm some piece of meat" joke was a little bit too long, maybe cut out the middle part of that But dont you dare remove the unzipping

MayaCaninetrash

awwwww I love you too. also a small treat from the french ads of yore <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHY4I29jxjo" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHY4I29jxjo</a>

Selth Blackwings

Thanks dad

MayaCaninetrash

yeah, the guy burning his shoes gets alittle too much screentime

civilization fiction

That's actually a really good question, and the answer is, good question! I should come up with a new title!

Hbomb

I really needed that message at the end. Not directly about being mad away brands but that I can better spend my time. Your videos are helping during a rough time. Also one thing that I think would be a cool effect in a future video would be to get edited prints if the floral background that is slightly different so the last shot has a noticable different look. In my mind the flowers just get further from each other and it's just so amusing. Or if it was more subtle or would give everything an unsettling feel if it was changed randomly. Idk, I just want to see some content aware scale in real life.

this fish flies

Really great vid. Best one I've seen on this topic! Keep up the awesome work! Hail Sobek.

Josh

Brilliantly insightful and informative!

Dave

As usual I really like your video. However, I am uncomfortable with the "sponsorship"/commercial of any company, including that one. This makes me reconsider my (modest) support. I am a patron specifically because I prefer to pay for your content rather than you having to resort to such financing. If you need more donations, please ask us beforehead, I know I would gladly pay more rather than this.

Fabien HILDWEIN

This is a relativel minor nitpick, but why is this video part of your measured response series? As i see it most of the other videos in that series respond to someones arguments, this video however doesn't seem to fit in with that theme.

Possum Laura

Closest we have is what Ireland's Supermac did in response to Theresa May not getting a deal through.

Tim Stoddard

Wow living in England I've seen almost none of these adverts before. I wish we had some cool British YouTubers who dealt with our British cultural and political issues! Oh well.

It really is amazing, but the comedic effect of the guy burning his shit to the storry splengly boomer would be enchanced if you cut around it and trimmed it down. Also, please, no one like this posty. Mine was the 69th like and I want to have this shining momeGOD DAMMIT IT'S AT 73 ALREADY

Nalte

By my calculations you make well over $9000 (insert Vegeta joke) per video. Do you really need to put ads in them?

great catch!

Hbomb

delet this

Hbomb

thanks. I really ought to look into that stuff - also it's not very hot in my garage, in fact it's often super freezing which is why i look so red, so it's not as much of a pain as it might be for others

Hbomb

Great lighting. Great points and structure :) the sole thing I'd change is there's a bit where you say 'less' where you should have said 'fewer'. It's on a voice-over bit.

Jess Harris

Your ongoing, years long rivalry with Kevin is perhaps one of my favourite parts of your personal canon.

I liked this video. It was short and snappy, and even though i want all of your videos to be feature length (hey, sherlock) i thought this was nice and contained. Thought you might have been going down the depressed brand twitters talking to kids(tm) route when i saw the title which i still think would be a good one to do??

Super as ever 👏👏👏

Noclip

but you're a brand

Rock Steady

So if I just started backing, do I get my name read in this video or the next one, after my first pledge goes through? Because the only reason I became a backer is to be credited as "International Womanry" and I don't want to miss a single video as such 😁

Ladies Making Comics

You think Sonic couldn't read Victor Klemperer?

Sheepless

This was really great. Also I agree with candace maplestreet, very vivid lighting? Or very blue eyes, one of those. You have mentioned wanting to do sth on nutrition in the past - I'm really curious what you will end up doing. Just wanted to let you know, you have a pharmacologist sitting here in your comments, in case you may have use for that. I probably don't know many answers, but I may know where to look (depending on what angle you might wanna take on the video(s))

Hit this one right out of the park

I was really struck by how vivid the lighting was in this one.

Candice Maplestreet

The sponsorship bit might undermine the message. Just a smidgen, just a smidgen. Not to mention in combination with being a patreon paid vid.

Your Resident Homestuck Guy, Gumba Masta

That was good and the Curiosity Stream bits were hilarious.

I feel torn about telling every male dudecreator who stands in front of hot camera lighting for extended periods that it is a good idea to invest in some loose translucent powder. It's not make-up, it won't make you look like you are wearing makeup, but it will help with lighting so SO much by taking away those sharp glare points on your forehead, nose and lip caused by sweat / oil. Translucent powder is your filming friend. <a href="https://www.byrdie.com/best-drugstore-setting-powder" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.byrdie.com/best-drugstore-setting-powder</a> Source: theatrical costume designer / makeup artist Other than that, looks good so far! I think the pacing is overall good, and the few clips that run a second or so long, you probably already know where they are so it's not worth mentioning for your final edit. Even if you just posted it as-is it would be perfectly fine. Great job, and glad you have the energy to bounce back so quickly after your stream. Take care.

desaturate your eyes please, distracting

Kristaps Porzingis

As I've seen some people say, I do think some jokes go on a bit long; specifically, the McDonald's burger-fucking and the Girl Razor bit. Cutting those down a little I think are the only ""necessary"" things

Eliza Jay Writes

"look up time management skills" wow I wanted you to attack brands, not me

#BoycottCuriosityStreamDotComSlashHbomberguy

!!!!!! Was not emotionally prepared for a new vid so soon, so when I saw the motif my entire existence turned into the thought equivalent of a caffeine molecule. !!!!!!

MayorWarhead

Way to start the morning. Now, where's my coffee maker?

Sascha Erni

love the vid and you hbomb, glad you're still making great, anticapitalist stuff lol. i was hoping this video would go in that direction tbh

Daryl Hudson Davis

plus one for hummus

I thought Sonic was your dad.

This was really excellent tbh. thanks for more quality work &lt;3

There is no music in this version. May I provide you with some? Contact me, and tell me what kind of music you're after

Subspace Jet Witch

Thanks Hbomb. Watching your video has convinced me that I'd been keeping my skin prisoner all this time. Now there's only one thing to do...

Kewl0210

I really love the colors in this vid

the second adam smith quote should be from bernays, the guy who wrote propaganda.

CuriosityStream confirmed woke brand

I paid money to learn they made a shick hydro bot with tits

De3ta

All i need is soy

Madison Marceline

Praise Sobek, he's back so soon. Excited for the full release, Hbomb!

Dammit hbomb I was just about to go to bed