The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 11.29 Why This MrBeast Squid Game Scandal Is Idiotic, What You Need To Know About Omicron, Jack Dorsey

Episode Date: November 29, 2021

FINAL CHANCE! - Only a few hours left! http://beautifulbastard.com   Shoutout to Keeps! Go to https://www.keeps.com/defranco to get 50% off your first order of hair loss treatment.  More PDS: https://youtu.be/81pDSVTisF4 TEXT ME! [phone] Get More Phil: https://linktr.ee/PhilipDeFranco -- 00:00 - Final Chance to Snag Beautiful Bastard Merch! 01:10 - MrBeast Gets 100+ Million Views in “Squid Game” Recreation 05:29 - Jack Dorsey Resigns as Twitter CEO 06:55 - Sponsor 07:38 - Omicron Variant Prompts Travel Restrictions, Economic Fears -- ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ MrBeast Gets 100+ Million Views in “Squid Game” Recreation: https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7dd7j/mr-beasts-squid-game-ripoff-is-exactly-the-kind-of-video-youtube-rewards Jack Dorsey Resigns as Twitter CEO: https://apnews.com/article/technology-business-media-jack-dorsey-twitter-inc-8d65dace88c1b4fae95251e09bb6896c Omicron Variant Prompts Travel Restrictions, Economic Fears: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/29/omicron-variant-spreads-across-world-heres-what-we-know.html ——————————     Executive Producer: Amanda Morones  Edited by: James Girardier, Julie Goldberg, Maxwell Enright Art Department: Brian Borst, William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Cory Ray, Brian Espinoza, Maddie Crichton, Lili Stenn, Neena Pesqueda Production Team: Zack Taylor, Emma Leid ———————————— #DeFranco #MrBeast #Omicron ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So two of my editors are out sick today. A backup editor who was coming in to help got clipped by a car while riding in, had to get rushed to the ER, luckily, just a broken toe. And then unprompted, the one remaining editor, editor Julie, said she wasn't behind what happened to the team. Which makes me feel like you are responsible

for what happened to the team, Julie. Which one, not cool, Julie, but also two, I kind of respect the hustle. Passion's important, but maybe we direct it in a more positive place. Yeah, I guess that's kind of an aroundabout way of saying today's show might be a little bit shorter. And then two, I guess because I might have to hire

more editors, at least at a faster pace than Julie can take them out. I want to give you one final reminder that today is the last day you can get in on the Thanksgiving Christmas drop over at beautifulbastard.com. Emotionally exhausted, one day we'll all be skeleton, split, awesome, embroidered designs.

Any and all the good stuff I've been showing you for a week now, all going away at midnight tonight. But with all that said and joking aside, welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. Hit that like button if you want to support some common sense news coverage and or you just want to give editor Julie some props for putting the show on her back today. But let's just jump into it.

You know, the first thing that we're going to talk about today is this crazy controversy and debate regarding Mr. Beast and his now absolutely massive Squid Game video. And if you watched last Wednesday's Philip DeFranco Show, you know I was very excited for this video. I said it's kind of the YouTube equivalent of a big blockbuster Thanksgiving weekend release. Saying how it really highlights how independent creators

these days can go from several years ago, recording a random video in their room to doing a production that's like $3.5 million. But now five days and over 114 million views separated from that take, we're seeing a new controversy with this story. And what makes it really interesting is that the controversy is happening

at like two completely opposite ends. On one side, you have people like John Ushai tweeting, Mr. B's Squid Game's video, 103 million views in four days. It took seven weeks to make. Netflix's Squid Game series, 111 million views in 30 days. It took 10 years to make. More views, less time, fewer gatekeepers. That's the promise of the creator economy.

And on the opposite end, you have things like this Vice article that reads, while the video is popular, it's a reductive rip-off of the original, not a triumph for the quote creator economy. With Geeta Jackson writing that it's bizarre to watch Mr. Beast and former YouTube executives celebrate its popularity as a huge success

for so-called quote creators, saying that this video doesn't just badly misunderstand the anti-capitalist message of Squid Game, it's a literal recreation of the villain's ultimate desire to watch desperate people compete for money purely for his amusement. And adding more than just bizarre, Mr. Beast's Squid Game highlights

a fundamental problem of YouTube. There is no shortage of people who make original art and put it online, but the internet is dominated instead by people who can take advantage of existing properties and fan bases. This is a particular problem on YouTube where people film themselves literally reacting to things or laughing at other people's memes

and making a lot of money off of it. This video is no different from those. And so you have these takes on complete opposite sides of the spectrum, people loving and hating both of those. And personally, I think both are flawed. I think the vice piece is unsurprisingly, but annoyingly dismissive of online creators or what they call so-called creators.

The idea that Mr. Beast is recreating the villain's ultimate desire of seeing desperate people play for his amusement. Well, one, the main difference is in the show, people die. That's how desperate they are. That's a big part of the commentary. And two, if you have such a problem with it, then cancel all game shows ever.

And I also think we need to throw out this idea that if something is not a 100% original piece of work, it's automatically garbage. Art and entertainment, I think, just naturally borrows and steals. And I truly do believe this was an amazing feat to see someone that, once again, four or five years ago, his videos were like him saying Logan Paul

a hundred thousand times on camera, based off of the choices he has made over the years, he's now in a place where he can put out this thing. But also, on the other hand, I think John's argument is really fucking stupid. Like one, it just feels weird to compare an original piece of work and an original series with Mr. Beast's video, which pretty much strips out most of the story and just has the gameplay mechanics.

Like there's no Mr. Beast Squid Game video without the original series Squid Game. Also to say that the series took ten years and that Jimmy's took seven weeks, that's weird. Or the story behind Squid Game is that it took ten years because he made this piece of work, couldn't get it financed for the longest time, then Netflix came in. But, I mean, using that same kind of thinking, you could argue that Mr. Beast took four to five years to make this because that's how long it took him to go from like basic ass videos to massive productions like this.

Or I mean, hell, you could even argue that it took Mr. Beast 10 years plus seven weeks to make this video because he couldn't remix, remake, copy, whatever the hell you want to call it, until the source material, the original, is actually released. Also regarding the note of there being fewer gatekeepers, I think that is largely true,

but also there are still hurdles. There are still gatekeepers. Squid Game the series does not get made if the gatekeeper that Netflix is does not write a check. Almost the same as MrBeast probably doesn't make this video unless Brawl Stars, the sponsor of his video, doesn't write a check. There are still gatekeepers in play.

It's just who the gatekeeper is is changing. And if you haven't been able to tell yet, I think just the whole situation is incredibly stupid. Both of these things can be awesome. Not everything has to be a constantly changing of who's who in the us versus them. I'm so thankful that we got an original piece of work with the squid game series in a world that prioritizes

sequels and too many seasons of a series over original works. But I'm also really fucking excited to see a homegrown YouTube talent like Mr. Beast skyrocketing over the years. And yes, also really fucking excited to see a homegrown YouTube talent like Mr. B skyrocketing over the years. And yes, he is an outlier, but someone that's gotten to a place where you can make such a crazy video for YouTube, raising the bar of what can possibly be done

on a production level. But that is where I'm gonna end this story. And of course, the biggest part of the Philip DeFranco show. I'd love to know your thoughts on this, whether you agree with me or you don't, right? Maybe you land in the vice camp. Maybe you're agreeing with John. Maybe you agree with me. Let me know where you stand on this and why, because I'd really love to know your thoughts on this, whether you agree with me or you don't, right? Maybe you land in the vice camp, maybe you're agreeing with John, maybe you agree with me. Let me know where you stand on this and why, because I'd really love to know. And then in massive business and social media news,

we should talk about Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey resigning this morning. Initially, we started seeing reports citing an anonymous source, but then Dorsey himself tweeted, after almost 16 years of having a role at our company, I decided it's finally time for me to lead. And adding, there's a lot of talk about the importance of a company being founder-led, but noting, company, I decided it's finally time for me to lead." And adding, there's a lot of talk about the importance of a company being founder led, but noting, ultimately, I believe that's severely limiting in a single point of failure. I've worked hard to ensure this company can break away from its founding and founders.

With Dorsey then announcing that starting today, chief technology officer Parag Agrawal will begin as CEO. With Dorsey adding that yes, he himself will be active on the board until around May, but then after that, he's getting the hell out of the way. Writing, after that, I'll leave the board. Why not stay or become chair? I believe it's really important to give Parag

the space he needs to lead. And back to my previous point, I believe it's critical a company can stand on its own, free of its founder's influence or direction. You know, this is a standout story for a few reasons. I mean, one, what a weird, wild ride for Jack Dorsey. You don't know the history of Twitter. I mean, he was pushed out as CEO back in 2008,

then later returning in 2015. Then last year, he saw Twitter stakeholder as CEO back in 2008 and later returning in 2015. Then last year he saw Twitter stakeholder Elliott management trying to oust him again. And that because Dorsey is also the CEO of Square and reportedly execs were worried that running both was stretching resources at Twitter too thin. And two, in the coming weeks, months and years, it'll be interesting if anything with Twitter

looks drastically different. I don't mean that just in like the way it looks or the way it works, but also as far as how it has been moderated. Right now it appears that Wall Street doesn't really know how to react to this. The news first started breaking, the stock price went up 10%,

then later it dropped back to essentially where it was. Yeah, ultimately time will tell what the hell this is gonna do. But from that, I wanna take a second to thank the fantastic sponsor of today's show, Keeps. Did you know that two out of three guys will experience some form of male pattern baldness by the time that they're 35?

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let's talk about the new COVID variant Omicron. And one thing that I want to make incredibly clear here, right off the bat, is the information that we have right now with this new strain is very preliminary and subject to change. So what we know, starting from the beginning, Omicron was first detected in South Africa, where scientists made the data

on the variant public last Tuesday. And based on the initial data, epidemiologists around the world sounded the alarms because Omicron has a high number of mutations, which could make it more transmissible and more able to defy immune responses than previous strains. Meaning that it may be more likely to evade protection

provided by both vaccines and antibodies from natural infection. But again, we do not know for sure if Omicron is more infectious, but many experts have said that right now it is looking like it is. Now already the variant has spread rapidly in South Africa, though notably the country has a low vaccination rate with just around 25% of adults fully vaccinated. With the

World Health Organization warning in a report yesterday that the variant poses a quote, very high global risk and adding, depending on these characteristics, there could be future surges of COVID-19, which could have severe consequences depending on a number of factors, including where surges may take place. But also going on to note that quote, evidence for this assessment contains considerable uncertaintyiderable uncertainty.'" Now for those who are vaccinated and wondering how effective is my vaccine gonna be, right now we don't know.

The potential good news is that many experts believe that the shots will provide at least some protection against severe infection and death, which again is one of the main points of the vaccine in the first place. While the current sample size is small, South African public health officials have said that while they've seen a higher level

of breakthrough infections among people who are vaccinated in South Africa, the majority of hospitalizations occurred among those who were not immunized, meaning that current data indicates that vaccines are proving effective. Still, with all that, vaccine makers are also working to find out how their products protect against Omicron, as well as developing new boosters

that anticipate strain mutations and designing Omicron-specific boosters. Another piece of potentially more good than bad news is that so far there are no indications that Omicron causes more severe illness than previous strains. But ultimately, like I keep coming back to, this is very early on, we need more information,

we need more time, which is why right now, I think one of the most important things to note is do not panic. Be aware, be cautious, pay attention. Don't let this be the thing that makes you kind of throw your hands in the air and give up or a panic spiral. This is not March of 2020 all over again. As experts have noted, we have vaccines

that experts believe will still provide some, if not a lot of protection against the worst results of COVID. We have tests at the ready that can identify it. We have therapies in place that we know work. Now, as far as where all is this, right now it's been reported in about a dozen countries, including nearly half a dozen European nations as well

as Australia, Israel, Hong Kong, and Canada. But also you have public health experts saying it is very likely that it has spread to a number of countries beyond where it's been detected. With many noting that the first infection in Hong Kong involved a passenger who landed on November 11th, more than two weeks ago. As well as the fact that most, but not all,

of the cases are tied to travel. But regarding travel, we've seen many countries, including the United States, responding by cutting off travel to Southern Africa, other nations going even further, like Japan, Israel, and Morocco banning all foreign visitors. With those efforts then sparking backlash,

prompting accusations that Western countries are discriminating against a region that's already suffered vaccine shortages because of wealthy nations hoarding doses in the first place. Many leaders in Southern Africa condemning the travel bans, calling them hasty, accusing Western nations of scapegoating countries just because they were quick

to provide information about the potentially dangerous new variant. This including South Africa's health minister who described the bans as misdirected and draconian. The president of Malawi is saying the restrictions amounted to Afrophobia against African nations. And interestingly enough, they're not alone. Many public health experts too have cautioned

against the bans, warning that they're too late anyway and could actually make the situation worse in the long run. Pointing to multiple studies have found that travel bans are not actually effective at preventing the spread of COVID, with researchers saying that a travel ban can actually provide a false idea

that the virus is being contained. Saying that it makes it harder to transport healthcare workers and key resources to countries that are in the most need, and it hurt scientific transparency. And instead, many of those experts say that the best way to stop the new variants from emerging is to reduce vaccine inequality and increase transparency.

Saying these Western vaccine makers are the problem. They're refusing to allow the lower income countries to produce their own vaccines. But to wrap up this story for now, well, unfortunately we're gonna have to wait and see how all of this plays out. The main takeaway that's being echoed by officials all over the world, including in South Africa,

is don't panic. That's also something that President Biden hit on while addressing the nation earlier today. First, this variant is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic. We have more tools today to fight the variant than we've ever had before. From vaccines to boosters to vaccines for children five years and older and much more. The best protection against this new variant or any of the variants out there,

the ones we've been dealing with already, is getting fully vaccinated and getting a booster shot. In the event, hopefully unlikely, that updated vaccinations or boosters are needed to respond to this new variant, we will accelerate their development and deployment with every available tool. We've moved forward in the face of COVID-19. We have moved forward in the face of the Delta variant. And we move forward now in the face of the Omicron variant as well. And ultimately that is where that story and today's show ends.

Of course, with that, whether it be the final, the first story, anything in between, I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments down below. Also last friendly reminder, today is the last day. You can go to beautifulbastard.com to get any of that awesome gear. But of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco.

You've just been filled in. I love yo faces and I'll see you tomorrow.