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MKBHD, Fisker, and "the worst car ever reviewed"

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Re: MKBHD, Fisker, and "the worst car ever reviewed"

#51

Post by reaperman »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #49
SllX wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not by the people making the products they’re reviewing. Marques Brownlee runs an extremely popular YouTube channel; his money comes from YouTube ads and subscriptions and his reputation is everything just like any other product reviewer.

You seem unaware of the term "press junket" - events where car companies invite press to fancy locations and wine/dine them. The top tier press are invited to that, and they're expected to have nice things to say or they aren't invited back unless they have such a large audience nobody can say no to them. Just getting access to the press car fleet alone is worth something to a reviewer; if they can't get access to ca…

Here is a great article[0] with an overview of the press junket model. In it, a newly-established author with a passion for integrity wrestles/struggles with having to participate in the press junket scheme in order to write the articles that his readers want.

0: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2017/03/ars-asks-how-do-you-fee...

Re: MKBHD, Fisker, and "the worst car ever reviewed"

#52

Post by znpy »

unsupp0rted wrote: post #34

> More people subscribe to Brownlee's YouTube channel than to the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today combined. In the recorded call with the senior engineer, he called Brownlee "this kid". Should have taken "this kid" seriously earlier.

This most likely means that this youtuber is doing a better job at delivering information than all those institutions combined

Re: MKBHD, Fisker, and "the worst car ever reviewed"

#53

Post by throwaway4good »

reaperman wrote: post #51
KennyBlanken wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem unaware of the term "press junket" - events where car companies invite press to fancy locations and wine/dine them. The top tier press are invited to that, and they're expected to have nice things to say or they aren't invited back unless they have such a large audience nobody can say no to them. Just getting access to the press car fleet alone is worth something to a reviewer; if they can't get access to ca…

Here is a great article[0] with an overview of the press junket model. In it, a newly-established author with a passion for integrity wrestles/struggles with having to participate in the press junket scheme in order to write the articles that his readers want. 0: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2017/03/ars-asks-how-do-you-fee...

Great link.

But what is described here is how common reviewers and influencers are treated. However a superstar like Top Gear or MKBHD won't be impressed by a night at a London airport hotel. They require much more resources otherwise the company risks the hammer coming down like it was case here.

People really shouldn't be surprised by this stuff - this phenomenon is as old as mass media itself.

Re: MKBHD, Fisker, and "the worst car ever reviewed"

#54

Post by KennyBlanken »

adrusi wrote: post #13
mongol wrote: post #4

He called it "the worst car I've ever reviewed" How many cars have he reviewed? I thought he mostly reviewed smartphones.

42 videos on his car review channel plus 13 videos on his main channel (a few might be crossposted) plus a couple tesla reviews from several years earlier than the others. So 50+.

Which does not mean he's qualified to review cars.

There's been a huge trend in the last 5 or so years for corporations to go to "influencers" like Brownlee because they're ignorant and uninformed to the depth the industry press are.

This has been going on for a decade with shitty kickstarters for bicycle accessories which had to be kickstarted because the designers couldn't sell the idea to any existing companies, get funding, secure distributorship, or all of the above, because the industry knew their idea was shit.

Nowadays it's fly-by-night e-bike importers who hire a firm to do some high-end looking branding and import some shitty e-bikes with some gimmick (for a while it was lightweight single-speed ebikes, for example), last just long enough to sell a bunch, ship out replacement parts at the drop of the hat to keep early adopters happy and then evaporate as the bikes really start to break down and the brand's reputation tanks.

Brownlee knows a lot about cell phones and cameras, but his knowledge in the automotive industry is shit and everything he puts out is tepid and "safe". He regurgitates the press packet, follows the standard "nice things to say but a few subjective criticisms/opinions to make it seem impartial", and that's a wrap.

Look down his list of videos: "the Bolt EUV is the best deal in EVs!" "The Kia EV9 is surprisingly good!" Whoa whoa Keith, don't get too controversial!

Re: MKBHD, Fisker, and "the worst car ever reviewed"

#55

Post by akmarinov »

l5870uoo9y wrote: post #27
mattrighetti wrote: post #3

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1766231831345541571.html

> Separately, Fisker announced last week that it may not have money to survive the year. Brutal if this is primarily due to one bad review from a social media influencer. No wonder why companies fear them and Fisker wanted to postpone the review.

MKBHD didn’t lie or embellish anything. Fisker SOLD a bad car to people, MKBHD went and rented one as it was SOLD and reviewed it.

Re: MKBHD, Fisker, and "the worst car ever reviewed"

#57

Post by eXeP »

adrianmsmith wrote: post #45

> Unaware that they were being recorded, the rep let some things slip How is it OK to record a private phone conversation and publish it publicly without consent?

In my opinion, the Fisker representative made it abundantly clear that the phone call was not private, but part of an official inquisition by Fisker.

Asking to pull out your customer's fingernails while representing your company is a sure way to attract attention.

Re: MKBHD, Fisker, and "the worst car ever reviewed"

#58

Post by slim »

The reaction of the market is disproportionate with regards to the issues. Something else is going on here. Either shareholders know something we don't know, or Fisker got caught in an opportunistic crossfire originating from Competition and Shorters

Re: MKBHD, Fisker, and "the worst car ever reviewed"

#59

Post by rsynnott »

throwaway4good wrote: post #17
SllX wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Marques Brownlee is a professional. Good product reviewers don’t accept money for good reviews.

A professional is someone who gets paid for his work.

A professional reviewer is paid by the publication they write for, or, these days, increasingly, by a monetised YouTube channel. A ‘reviewer’ who accepts pay from the manufacturer of the thing they’re ‘reviewing’ is actually doing advertisement, not reviewing. And if they don’t disclose they’ve been paid, they’re doing _fraud_.

Re: MKBHD, Fisker, and "the worst car ever reviewed"

#60

Post by KennyBlanken »

throwaway4good wrote: post #53
reaperman wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here is a great article[0] with an overview of the press junket model. In it, a newly-established author with a passion for integrity wrestles/struggles with having to participate in the press junket scheme in order to write the articles that his readers want. 0: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2017/03/ars-asks-how-do-you-fee...

Great link. But what is described here is how common reviewers and influencers are treated. However a superstar like Top Gear or MKBHD won't be impressed by a night at a London airport hotel. They require much more resources otherwise the company risks the hammer coming down like it was case here. People really shouldn't be surprised by this stuff - this phenomenon is as old as mass media itself.

Top Gear is a household name around the world, even with people who aren't car enthusiasts.

Nobody knows who Marcus Brownlee is unless they're into tech and under 30.

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