You are absolutely correct. I have worked with the homeless. They are extremely vulnerable people. These influencers are using people who are suffering from severe mental health issues, addiction problems and homelessness. This is the internet equivalent of the mean girls offering a date to the weird kids in school in order to get attention from their friends.
I want scumbag dad to do a video where he dresses as the mean girl, dates the weird kid, and has one of his buddies act as a TV reporter to interview scumbag dad about how great of a person he is but everyone keeps telling the weird kid to shut up and smile. Because I was that weird kid (I have brain damage) and I've been homeless so this shit hits home for me.
At least those influencers give money that they make from the content to the homeless, they also help them find housing, sometimes jobs, sometimes they help them get to Doctors. I've seen a woman's life completely changed through this exact type of content that you all seem to detest, she went from being in a run down RV and rolling in an old wheel chair to a fully renovated mobile home and WALK in prosthetics that she would not have been able to afford had it not been for said influencer and their audience. Remind me again how Mr. Scumbag Dad here is helping them? Oh he isn't? He's just shaming those that do? And he's making money off it? Remind me again what your problem is with the other influencers?
Having worked in a homeless shelter, we had a "No Filming" policy...because it turns out a lot of people don't want the saddest most desperate moments of their lives immortalized for the world to see. Who knew?
I love how you made parody videos trying to show how ridiculous and stupid this trend is and it kept getting progressively more aggressive with your skits, all the way to the point where you literally have to spell it out for people. Respect. Hope more people see this.
@@Thyalwaysseekit's all 4. The worst part is knowing that these types of content will only continue growing in popularity because people are unable to see past the facade of charity
@@zeccy337 People don't want to see past it, they want to exist in a delusional bubble because they are cowards who can't face the reality of what we have become as a society.
Same, he was much smaller when I started following, mostly comedy, but Scumbag is the most wholesome and true channel out there by leagues Life lessons and laughs
I agree man.. I agree because the creators making this content aren't the problem, we are feeding them views and our need to watch this kindness content lingers in some peoples minds, If we didn't give these videos so many views, they would stop, and it needs to stop. This Isn't a good trend whatsoever and you said It perfectly.
@@gamingandchess I have NEVER watched one of these types of videos. They've always struck me as cynical emotionally manipulative cash grabs. I hate when people try to tell me how to feel.
Yeah when he's not making fun of people for making stupid videos where they copy everyone else and cash in on your reactions, he's making genuine videos critiquing this stuff and informative videos about stuff he's interested in or a subject he knows a lot about like dentistry (pretty sure he's an orthodontist) or cool watches he likes.
@@cosseybomb Well it is partially opinionated but the fact still stands that they're using people that are in a worse situation than them to make like thousands of dollars in profit that they can then spend mostly on themselves. It's not even like they're supporting a good cause, they are specifically preying in individual people for this profit.
@@cosseybombHis take is the correct one. Using the weakness of others for profit is morally wrong and manipulative. This is like saying,”murder isn’t bad because society decides what is and isn’t bad making murder subjective”
I'm so glad someone called this out. The guy that does that $500 , can't hide his true intentions and motives. His fake voice of concern or care is so forced ,
👏👏👏 Thank you Brad for this message. More people need to see this and understand this message. Kindness content is hypocritical and exploitative. The fact that these people don’t have full knowledge of the contract that they are signing by taking part in the video is sad and terrible. I’m pretty sure the energy would change drastically if they understood that the person doesn’t care/uses this to make a ROI.
They make people feel emotional which is the whole point. It's meant to grab your attention and you're supposed to think "Oh wow, they're doing something great for society! I should give them MY MONEY so they can 'donate' it to helping homeless!" - basically these people beg for you to give up your money and they say it's for the homeless but it isn't. Who's gonna stop them? No one because not even the websites they use give a damn. GoFundMe has millions of fake charities getting set up by guys like this who use it to scam people into giving them thousands of dollars. I've seen them make well over $50k from just 1 video and how did they make that? By setting up a "page for people to donate" and they say it's for the person in the video, but in reality it goes towards the persons channel and stupid ass expensive lifestyle they live.
Same here. I get the "science" of these types of eye-catching content, but I hate it. I hate that I have to see someone's moment of weakness & gratitude, something very personal, being filmed for us to feel better.
Perfectly said 👌🏼👍🏼👏🏼 Scumbag dad is the most truthful and closest to reality when it comes to social media and influencers. It is sad and crazy how everything is based off social media now these days
yeah i totally agree. its really sad to see that people do this kind of content. there are so many other ways to make content but they go down this route…
Well said, mad respect man. Satire really does feel like the best way to address this kind of content, it's a shame it hasn't worked as well we would've hoped though. Regardless, thank you for saying what needed to be said. Looking forward to more content, it might be hard to top off your baby POV though, it's defintiely my favourite: ).
Glad somebody finally said this. Also when you are asked for money in the street, be honest with yourself whether you’re being altruistic or just buying away your guilt
As someone who watched these up until recently I honestly think most of the fan bases think they're doing a good thing by supporting this content. Which is what makes it even more messed up.
But he still gave free money to someone... Yall are getting mad at rich people for doing nothing with their money, and when someone does give it away, you manage to interpret it as something evil and scummy
Bravo for saying this out loud!! You are so correct!!! Charity for views content is very exploitative. Sure both parties theoretically benefit, but there's a power dynamic that makes it difficult or impossible for one party to not participate. If charity was the true purpose, then why donate the money off screen. I've seen good charity content where the creator is very sensitive to the anonymity of those they are helping, but is still able to generate views.
Finally somebody calling these cretins out for exploiting the vulnerable and you're right the people sucking up this content are the problem, thank you.
I think there are ways to do kindness content right, where both the viewers and the persons involved can walk away feeling uplifted, in a sense. But these influencers just opt for the quickest, easiest methods (e.g., exploiting the homeless and vulnerable). Take the show "What Would You Do?" for example. They use a hidden-camera format, they film in typical public locations (bars, restaurants, parks, supermarkets), they just film whoever happens to be there (not preying upon vulnerable populations), they only show faces if consent is given after the reveal, they are not afraid to show reactions that people might find controversial or unkind, and they always try to interview them afterwards to better understand how and why they chose to do what they did. The typical kindness content creator formula is basically a knock-off, Cliffnotes version of this formula. Find a homeless person, shove phone/camera in their face, ask them for favor or $1, give them $500, then immediately interview them about why. I bet, if at any point the homeless man asks not to be filmed, he's 100% not gonna get $500. Just disgusting.
I have a suggestion. Make a non-profit with a salary cap that's quite low that does exactly this. Probably won't be as big as the others, but assuming there's no illegality the workers get paid what they're owed. Certainly a better ratio than this stuff does.
Agreed people do this only for entertainment and money, we think just because we are watching it and don't see behind the scenes we think it's an act of kindness but in reality it's for money or views.
Man finally someone telling the truth about these people. If you want to help someone who is in trouble, you can do that without filming it and exposing the person on the internet. I don't know why people can't understand this
I feel like its a different scenario in his case, since he's giving out massive funds, so he needs a reaction to prove it's not fake. Plus, he is very open about how he uses the money etc, and has a philantrophy channel where he does exactly the oppossite of what the problem with most influencers do and derives no profits. No doubt, he could be giving awa money on the side and not clickbait it, but he's also talked about how it helps him fund the next big charity thing which makes his form of charity more sustainable than most.
@@gwop827 what are you talking about? Mr Beast is not some saint who only makes content for philanthropy, he does it for his image and to grow his channel.
@@desent493yeah. His image is good because of his philanthropy and guaranteed charity in the future, while kindness influences 'help' a person by emotionally manipulate someone on camera for views and money. That's it.
This is absolutely true. There’s SO many people that watch these videos that say this and that…But go out in the real world, NOT ONE PERSON stops by…Everyone literally ignores. You think with the millions of people who watch those, at least 1 would stop to a homeless…But nope, out of the hundreds that walk by every minute…Not 1 stops
I am a huge fan of yours and I completely agree with this point of view. It isn’t just playing on the emotions of a person who is at a low point in their life whether it’s from mental illness or bad luck. It isn’t right and as humans we should not be supporting it. But most of the viewers are mindless sheep.
Man no pressure to do something you don't want to do, but seriously I love these direct callout videos because your arguments are so correct and precise that that seems like the only way the audience of these creators would gain some sense.
i know that some, if not most, of these influencers are scumbags and are more exploiting people than doing charity work, but it is 100% an overstatement to say that i only care to see someone with a tragic story for entertainment. the real problem is that its impossible to tell which of these influencers are genuinely trying to help and are using their platform so that they can 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 people to be more kind to others, especially vulnerable people, and which are essentially just paying people to cry on camera so they can make easy money in return. regardless of either of those possibilities and everything in between though, i know that when i see these videos it makes me happy that someone is putting the message out there to help the homeless, encourage men to express emotions and love themselves (the rose videos), and just generally pay it forward because that message is actually so important especially in north america right now. and this is coming from someone quite vulnerable. im not homeless but i have very little, i struggle with mental illness, and things could fall through for me any day. the means may not always be legitimate but the message is. that said, your videos are hilarious.
@@brad_podrayit really seems like you're spiteful by holding on so strong to your opinion while casting stones at those who don't entirely agree and its not a good look 😂 everything isn't just black and white
Sorry dude. This video is good. But a lot of them lately have been so absurdist and redundant conceptually. The Italians distress beacon? Cool funny. Unique. The 50th double it and next person adding little to no commentary on the last video? I'm sorry man it's just too much for me. I like this video. I think your roleplays with Mr skelly bones are creative. And sure some of the other skits are too but I find you milk the same concept to death a little long. Ofcourse your probably just trying to compete with the algorithm, but here on RU-vid I end up just spammed with conceptually redundant jokes, not all of which hit. I think you do make good stuff, just sometimes it a little too much y'know?
You could be exactly right. However, I do think that stories are important, and I genuinely care to listen to these people stories. I think others do as well. I think it’s important to see that we’re not alone in our sufferings in this world. I think it’s also important to pray for these people. Also, do you think it can be good to be paid for doing good things. A nurse does incredibly good service to people, if they get compensated, do they not care about the people?
It’s different if someone either A. Doesn’t know they are being filmed or B. Has to choose between playing the influencers game or eating garbage that day.
I completely agree, what’s even worse in my opinion are the videos of people “saving” animals from dangerous situations when they’re the ones who put them there. Then all the fools in the comment will eat it up and praise the guy for abusing animals
I think my biggest problem with this type of content is that most of them don't even use their popularity and financial gain to spread awareness or help people avoid poverty in the future. I remember years ago watching this barber go around and give haircuts, shaves etc. to poor people, cleaning them up and asking them how they actually fell into poverty. That not only helped them when going to potential interviews for help later, but also provided his audience with the understanding of how and why someone could end up homeless. He also provided his services for sick people IIRC. What these new guys need is to actually take the time to ask _"How did this happen to you?"_ and try to discuss solutions with their audience and experts, but instead they just use these poor people for money, and never spend a night thinking about them again. _At least Mr. Beast does actual charity work in addition to his content, and spends a lot of his earnings on that, but he's the exception, not the rule at this point..._
Thank you for being one of the real ones. Where I live doing this would be a crime. It's an attack on the person's human dignity which is one of the basic rights. And furthermore and attack on their privacy.
So I’m 54. When I started seeing videos of people giving to homeless a few yrs ago, I always, and still do, say “why on camera? Just give them the money. U wouldn’t /shouldnt film this if it were real charity.”
Been saying this for years. I'd take it 1 step further though. It's not any one individual's fault within society.. regardless of how many views the video has. When society on the whole is actively seeking and participating in shameful exposure for their own entertainment, I see that as a direct reflection of humanity as a collective. We are all hurting.. and we feel the need to see others hurting more than ourselves to normalize our negative experiences in life. When you can minimize your own personal pain via witnessing someone else in greater pain, it gives you the sense that you are doing better and therefore helps you cope with your pain and negative life. The problem with this is, we are all experiencing our own pain and instead of finding ways to remove the pain from our lives and heal from it, we are only temporarily turning a blind eye to it by watching others in more pain than ourselves. And this only gives us the illusion that our pain doesn't exist for a small period of time, when in reality all of our pain is still there with us, and returns the moments we forget about the sad video we just watched. Society needs to stop feeding off negativity and turn to promoting only positivity. When the only content you have available is positive, then people will be forced to ask the question, " why isn't my life this good?" And the answer is; "because you aren't allowing it to be good." You have control over your actions and your thoughts. If you want a healthy and positive life, then eliminate all the negative aspects from it and only focus on and promote positive aspects. Which in most cases, are the people in your life. Happiness is a choice, and the cost of happiness is the actions you decide to make or not make.
Absolutely on point if you are going to do charity fine just don't take advantage of vulnerable people who only agree to filming because they need the money
Yeah, preach. Please. There's so few people even calling this nonsense out, but it's damaging to society as a whole. We shouldn't be promoting other people's unfortunate circumstances as entertainment.
I agree but at the same time the money that these influencers give to the homeless can be life changing for them. I don't think its such a bad trade off for these people
you're right. 100% on everything. but as awkward as it may seem, how is it ultimately a bad thing? isn't this just a profitable way of doing good at the end of the day? are you happier when the "dumb idiots on internet" get swindled out of their money by buying a new iphone? or would you rather that the money from these vacuous impulse purchases end up in the hands of someone who really needs help?
The whole point is that yes these people are down on their luck and it will obviously help them out, but they are in such a vulnerable down on their luck situation, that they are in essence forced to accept the exchange of the bribe to immortalize their worst days on the internet, so that the creator can earn money and goodboy points from anonymous online spectators. At the end of the day, it's manipulative profiteering off the vulnerable.
@@brett3165 again, i get it, it's a terrible choice to have to make to immortalize your worst days on the internet, i don't necessarily support this either. all i'm trying to do is think back to the nike sweatshops and demonstrate that no matter how virtuous our intention of shutting down those child labor sweatshops, what we actually did was cost a huge amount of families their livelyhood. Tons of families starved because we failed to replace the sweatshops with something better, we merely did away with them to make ourselves feel better, with nothing else to leave in their place. Unfortunately unless we find a more efficient mechanism of helping these people financially, we have no leg to stand on in criticizing this. all we're doing is repeating the sweatshop fiasco. If you were dying of cancer and the cure was public humiliation, would it be right of anyone to take that option away from you?
Agreed. A lot of youtubere, if not, most - lack sincerity. Its an easy means for revnlenue for them. We all know if these people didnt have a camera they would have a different day job. You dont tend to hear about those who are sincere with their charity work, they aint got time for no tiktok youtubr shenanigans
I have mixed feelings about those videos because I always want to help people and it used to make me happy to see the "wholesome" interactions. That was until my feed was filled with those videos and it stopped being organic, it didn't feel healthy to consume that content anymore. Also if this guy helped that man then that could start a chain where other people also help, but they're all recording. Basically a lot more people get helped thanks to these videos but for questionable reasons. They've changed a lot of lives like this but it feels immoral to post about it online. If you want to do something good do it in private. You did a good deed, maybe you even saved a life, but at the cost of morality. EVEN IF they reinvested 100% of what they earned from the views I would think it's not morally correct but that's subjective and saying this is also bad because then I'm basically implying that it's best if they aren't helped. The best example I could come up with is this: let's say you are missing 1 point to pass a subject but a teacher agrees to give it to you; but then some classmate says it's morally incorrect and because they decided to report you you end up failing anyway. I've seen it happen and it's shit. It's an endless cycle. If you don't support that content less people get helped, if you support it you're making more people lose their dignity over some money/views.
Folks like you who parody these ridiculous vanity projects are the only people who give me faith that the entire world isn't filled with fake people. I'm not impressed by people who give money for clicks. Mr. Beast does that too, but he is transparent that no matter how much money he gives away, he is ultimately still making money because of the videos. What impresses me are all the people doing good without a camera in their hands because the reward should be the act, not the clout.
I thought you stopped making these types of videos, but I always appreciate you advocating the hypocrisy of these "wolf" in shepherds clothing behavior these content creators do. For every new viewer seeing your videos about these, that's a viewer on the other side whose no longer watching those videos.
I was homeless for years on the streets of nyc. My parents were drug users and I was homeless at 13 then foster care at 18 foster kicked me out. Homeless again until pretty much two years ago. This is absolutely correct. I’d have to beg with a sob story if I made a sign and asked for work no one gave a shit.
This is unfortunately the problem with tiktok, the way it makes people blackout their minds while shortening their attention span, is something honestly disgraceful. So, what are influenceres going to do? Start a business. First, it is "kindness", so people will cancel their minds while watching. Second, people are willing to donate just to support their "kindness". This is where influencers are going to make the most profit with their BENEVOLENCE.
I agree with this but I will say in the case of people such as Mr beast, I think at least some good can be done depending on the content of the interactions. It’s exploitation, no matter what, but I do think sometimes (I’d say very rarely) it’s clear that these people post these videos so they can make enough money for themselves and so they can continue to help those in need. I frequently content block people who clearly are exploiting people, who want vulnerable people to tell a sob story for attention. Even if they ultimately did good. The literal only person who’s been recommended to me who I genuinely feel is trying to do selfless good is a channel called just Knate. Sometimes he’ll have snippets of people telling their stories, but the general most common format is him walking up to someone, asking what they need, getting it and giving it to them (which often involves a several hundred dollar grocery store trip) and offering a handshake or hug. The mere act of filming them can be exploitative but again, I feel it’s somewhat necessary in this case so he can make an income to fund his charity. Even though he films them, he doesn’t make a spectacle out of them. It’s why he’s the only person who makes this content that i follow or will watch at all. I trust my support isn’t causing vulnerable people to be exploited. I truly feel what’s happening in this video and his content are very different things.
I would argue it is charity just very inefficient. Donating to a person who'll probably pocket 90% of the money they make instead of a non profit that's actually trying to do good is the same thing, one is just a severely stupider option. I do believe people care about the homeless in these videos but they forget quick because people move fast in life, especially on the internet.
I appreciate you making this video and calling out this type of behavior. You’ve become one of my favorite creators and unlike a lot of others you seem like a genuinely good person. Keep up the great work 👍
"'So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocries do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others." Matthew 6:2a NIV
While that sentiment is generally true, it doesn't really apply here. Of course he needs to film it, how else is he going to get funds to give more of them away? It's a self-sustaining practice that ends up with doing a lot of good in the world
@@methatis3013 I agree to some extent, as I am a fan of Mr. Beast. However, I’m not sure if kindness content creators post their kindness with the goal of raising money to spread more kindness. I think they just want the attention.
@@Pr0t4t0 well either way "They should give away money without filming and posting about it" sentiment is still silly. Because, again, regardless of their primary motivation, they wouldn't be able to help people. Look, at the end of the day, only God Himself knows what's on their minds while they are doing this and only He can judge them for it. Since we can't read minds, it's best to just look at the outcome, which is philanthropy and people getting at least a bit of help in their hard times
The people that eat up that content irk me because they're not looking for people actually being helped; they just want to see someone at their worst on their favorite influencer's page. And those influencers are even worse for profiting off of this. If you actually want to help people don't try to get clout while doing it. We're a broken society.
I love is part of you thank you for picking apart this video and analyzing it for other individuals to understand the concept of self-awareness and self-understanding . Everything is done for a reason wake up ppl
Man I been feeling what you say in your videos and it’s so nice someone else sees all of this and has words to put it in to express this blatant bullshit in society
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.” Though in this case the behavior can hardly be called righteous in the first place.
I have to say you are correct with most cases but there are some really good exceptions that actually donate every penny they make to that person and or the cause the video was about
The thing that’s probably the most disturbing about these videos is the glaring dehumanisation of the people in them (that the creators supposedly care about and are trying to “help”). Exploiting their vulnerability and reducing them to this pitiful caricature with no identity or agency. Misery and despair is now commodified and a source of entertainment for the masses. It’s quite sickening really.
Honestly the comment section of videos like that alway surprise me. The audience always seems to eat it up and i never understand why, like it's exploitation. I always hope that the people in the videos are just acting, because if those reactions are real then it's shitty. I've learnt to skip or press the do not recommend button.
I watch this one guy Kent He actually does good There are people who cry on camera. But majority of the time hes just going and giving them supplies like backpacks filled with food and stuff He never gives them money But he doesn't just hand people stuff and walk away, he will genuinely Help people try and get off the street I've seen him do it, it's really awesome.
I get it, but it comes to a point where people are almost encouraged NOT to do good things on camera. I understand that not all things should be done for gain, but if your a creator, and you are helping someone,does it make the help less valuable because they also profit off of it. Does it change if they don't monitize it, or is the point more not to record at all? I get your point and agree, but I feel like it's best to look at each case separately, because sometimes I believe the net positive could be worth it. I have to stress,I understand and agree,I'm talking about sometimes, and none of my questions are rhetoricival, they're genuine,thinking out loud type thing,but I get it
While I do agree with everything you're saying I don't think these types of videos are entirely bad just for the simple fact that seeing these videos inspired me to feed a homeless man about a month ago. I had been watching a lot of those videos and I was driving by and I saw him there so I decided to buy him some Chick Fil A Nuggets and Waffle Fries, it wasn't much but he was really appreciative and gave me a hug
@@noahpancakes6507 even if most of the money made from the video does not go to the homeless, at least these influencers give it. I wonder how many people go out and give money to the homeless, and how many of those people make the people critizing the influencers.
There are people who genuinely help out with their problems because they do it to actually help these people off the streets, but most of them actually try to hide the camera.
