Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. (Bet you didn’t expect to be hit with a religious sermon today, did you?)
While this bible passage might not seem like the most obvious sequitur into a post about online content creators, it actually sums up the relationship between creator and follower, and how quickly a brand can backfire.
When you put yourself out there, you invite criticism. That’s true for all professions and all walks of life. But when you’ve established an online brand built on criticizing others, it’s only expected that, if you make waves by falling short yourself, those waves will quickly turn into a tsunami of blowback.
Something Marques Brownlee found out all too well…
MKBHD: the OG of tech reviews
Marques Brownlee - or as his nearly 20 million YouTube subscribers and five million Instagram followers know him as, MKBHD - has built a massive community who turn to him for his firm but fair reviews of the latest tech gadgets and trends.
His brand has been built over the years thanks to his unflinching and unbiased honesty.
He isn’t afraid to risk angering the powers that be - the big brands he reviews and the companies behind them - all for the sake of keeping them ‘on side.’ His reviews have even been accused of being too scathing in the past, with some questioning if he should be more mindful of how his words could have the power to sink a new brand when they’re just getting started, or tarnishing them without the chance to improve.
And the irony is, he learned just how important that distinction was the hard way.
Missing the Marques - unpacking the Panels disaster
One of his first major ventures, Panels promised to provide a range of high-definition wallpapers for phones… for $12 per month.
Already, people were dubious. It’s one thing to promote artists, but $12 per month for something that most people already got for free? It seemed to miss the mark on his market.
Combine that with a rough rollout - with the app being accused of being littered with ads, collecting excessive user data, and uninspired wallpaper offerings (there was one titled Orange that was, literally just a wall of orange) - and MKBHD’s brand seemed to be tainted for good.
At best, people thought he just wasn’t prepared enough to be launching such a pricey project.
At worst, he appeared to be a hypocrite - someone who didn’t hesitate in calling out the flaws in others but who didn’t have the quality in place himself.
How he responded was, without hyperbole, able to make or break his brand. And fortunately, he did the smart thing.
He didn’t get defensive. He listened.
A number of changes were announced for Panels in response to the criticism, such as reducing the price of subscription and removing the amount of ads.
Learning and listening
As the kids say, Marques has taken a few Ls - and Panels wasn’t the last time he found himself being reviewed as harshly as he sometimes judges gadgets and gizmos.
In late 2024, fans were - once again - furious at MKBHD. In a video titled How My Video Gear is Changing, what became quite apparent quite early on was this wasn’t going to be an authentic or independent review.
The fully sponsored video for DJI wasn’t just peppering in sponsored content or brand deals, the entire video felt like an ad staged as content.
And the comments agreed. With over 12,000 likes, one fan drily pointed out, “This can’t even be considered a sponsored video anymore. It’s literally just a ten minute advertisement.”
If that wasn’t enough, the contents of the content came under fire. In one section, perhaps trying to keep up with the high-octane, cinematic content of his peers, MKBHD showed himself pushing the car to 95 miles per hour in a 35 miles per hour zone.
It felt inauthentic to someone who had built a platform based on honest, peer-to-peer product reviews. Not only that, it felt needlessly dangerous and, let’s be honest, dumb.
To his credit, Marques listened. He later pinned a comment on the video, saying he cut out the “unnecessary driving clip” and that he “hears everyone’s feedback on sponsored videos.”
Learn from MKBHD’s mistakes
- It’s ok to mess up - as long as you learn from it, and as long as you try to change the behaviors that you apologized for (something many fellow YouTube apology videos get wrong)
- You can’t be a hypocrite - he accepted his criticism without getting defensive
- Stay true to your brand - Sure, MrBeast is on his way to billionaire status thanks to his epic, multi-million dollar videos. But that doesn’t mean everyone has to go out and compete. Especially if you can’t compete where you don’t compare.
- MKBHD is honest - sometimes to a fault - with his reviews. But that’s why people trusted him. Losing that trust could undo years of brand building, but his ability to authentically acknowledge mistakes is how he will continue to win back the fans who have faith in him.
