Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, you’re probably aware that on December 31st, 2017 Logan Paul made the biggest mistake of his career.
While on a vacation in Japan, the 22-year-old YouTube sensation uploaded a video clip of himself and his friends walking around Aokigahara Forest (a.k.a. the “suicide forest”) at the base of Mount Fuji – where they came across the body of a suicide victim and proceeded to vlog the experience.
The video was soon condemned by fans, critics, the media, other YouTube personalities and celebrities. Paul was forced to remove the vlog, issued an apology on his Twitter account, and soon uploaded an apology on video on his channel.
Today YouTube officially announced it was planning to cut business ties with Paul.
Sounds a bit harsh? Most people would disagree, but Paul isn’t the first YouTube creator to make a mistake at the height of his career. In the past few years YouTube stars like Zoe Sugg (Zoella), Felix Kjellberg (PewDiePie) and Olajide William “JJ” Olatunji (KSI) have all made some serious mistakes that have cost them fans’ respect, trust and views.
Last year, Sugg was heavily criticized for working with ghostwriters when authoring her best-selling book, Girl Online. This past holiday season, she was forced to deal with more criticism surrounding her over-priced advent calendars…
Kjellberg has also come under for casually making racism and Anti-Semitic remarks in his videos.
In 2012, Olatunji was banned from attending future Eurogamer Expos due to his inappropriate behavior towards women at the event. This eventually led to the loss of several big name brand sponsorship deals, including his deal with Microsoft.
So, how can these career-crushing mistakes by young YouTubers be prevented?
Influencers and creators need to ensure they’re surrounding themselves with a solid team, that understands the long-term vision and branding strategy of that influencer/creator’s brand.
Unlike your average twenty-something, when a YouTube star or Instagram celebrity screws up they do it in front of millions of people. A good team, working behind-the-scenes for a creator or influencer, will minimize the risk of error from occurring while also providing PR support and business advice.
This also provides stability to brands looking to collaborate with creators or influencers, as management can strive to ensure that a particular public image is portrayed by their clients. Therefore, up-and-coming vloggers and brands should strive to work with reputable teams when seeking success in the influencer marketing industry.
Overall, 2017 was an excellent year for Logan Paul – it’s a shame he walked into 2018 on a bad note.
While his trip to Japan caused quite the controversy (and his recent trip to Italy didn’t make a splash), Logan was incredibly well received when he visited Dubai with ITP Live this past November. He was respectful of local UAE culture and customs (including when he was vlogging), yet still portrayed himself as the goofy Logan Paul that the Logang all know know and love.
Hopefully young YouTubers and influencers will learn from Paul’s experience, and we’ll see fewer of these debilitating career mistakes going into 2018.
What are your thoughts on Logan Paul’s controversial vlog? Let us know in the comments below…