Jake Paul is in the Dog Haus

Why isn't Amazon promoting its new creator exclusive?

Author

Emily Burton
October 21, 2024

TOGETHER WITH

It’s Monday and Ted Sarandos says Netflix—not YouTube—is “home to the best storytellers.” Would content creators agree? 👀

🗞️ Today’s News 🗞️

  • 🌭 Jake Paul plans to open 25 sports bars

  • 🇺🇸 The “influencer election” heats up on TikTok

  • 🎬 iShowSpeed gets a play button and Druski gets a movie

  • 🤔 Why isn’t Amazon promoting Markiplier’s Prime Video Exclusive?

  • 🎙️ This week on the podcast…

IN THE DOG HAUS

Jake Paul just signed a deal to open 25 sports bars

The deal: Logan isn’t the only Paul sibling going all in on consumables. While his brother makes headlines with bev-and-snack companies like Prime and Lunchly, Jake Paul is betting big on national restaurant chain Dog Haus.

In addition to joining the “craft casual” sports bar’s board of directors, the younger Paul brother and his Most Valuable Promotions co-founder, Nakisa Bardarian, have signed a deal to become franchise owners of 25 new locations, complete with their own branded menu items. Four of the duo’s locations have already opened in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio; others are set to arrive in Florida and Puerto Rico.

The financials: Neither Paul nor Dog Haus have commented on the scale of that investment, but a 2022 report from Restaurant Dive pegs the chain’s initial required investment per franchise at between $500,000 and $1 million, with a fee of $40,000 for franchisees’ first restaurants and $20,000 for every location thereafter. Franchise owners also reportedly get charged a 6% royalty fee. In total, that means Paul and Bardarian are likely putting up between $13 million and $25.5 million.

The context: Paul has made moves in the consumer market before. The boxer’s body care brand, W by Jake Paul, hit Walmart shelves in June and is expected to hit $50 million in sales by the end of 2024. Given those numbers, it’s interesting that Paul is now pivoting to franchising—a sector populated by seasoned businesspeople and athlete investors buying into established brands—instead of following the traditional content creator path of putting his weight behind a homegrown DTC company or big-box food-and-bev brand.

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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

HAVE YOU HEARD? 👂

Have you heard? YouTube’s CEO hand-delivered iShowSpeed’s play button

The column: Each week, we select a handful of headlines that best encapsulate the latest trends, updates, and more from around the creator industry. In this week’s roundup: YouTube’s CEO delivers a personalized gift, everybody loves Druski, and nobody loves DrDisrespect.

Creator Commotion: YouTube’s creator rewards may be shrinking, but the platform is compensating with exemplary customer service. Case in point: CEO Neal Mohan hand-delivered iShowSpeed’s diamond play button.

DrDisrespect might be too controversial for even the internet’s most anarchist platforms. After being banned from Twitch for reportedly soliciting a minor, the streamer was promptly spurned by Kick. Now, it looks like right-leaning Rumble might turn him away, too.

Pop culture: Druski is, like, so hot right now. In addition to killing it as a podcaster and Instagram Live celeb, the man behind Coulda Been Records is currently working on a Netflix project and shopping a movie alongside comedians Shane Gillis and Theo Von.

Has the world’s favorite soccer rivalry moved into the arena of creator hydration products? We know Cristiano Ronaldo is friends with iShowSpeed, who has a partnership with KSI and Logan Paul’s Prime—and now, Lionel Messi’s beverage brand is suing Prime over allegations of “anti-competitive” practices.

Tech talk: Tech reviewer Marques Brownlee (aka MKBHD) has repeatedly called for stronger regulations around the training of AI models. His latest complaint: people are leveraging AI to use his voice in ads without his permission.

Check out the full column here to meet the world’s first AI rockstar and find out how TikTok plans to help creators launch their own product lines.

MARKETING MYSTERY

Markiplier starred in a Prime Video exclusive. Why isn’t Amazon promoting it?

The mystery: With 37 million subscribers and 150 million views a month, Markiplier is one of YouTube’s top creators. A live-action adaptation of his podcast, The Edge of Sleep, has been hotly-anticipated for months. So why would Amazon snag exclusive rights to to it…and then keep it a secret?

Fans have been asking that question since October 15, when Amazon dropped all six episodes of The Edge of Sleep a full three days before its stated release date—with no announcement and no promotion.

The timeline: The mystery of The Edge of Sleep’s nonexistent marketing goes back further than last week. In 2021, Markiplier (aka Mark Fischbach) first announced that he would star in and executive produce a TV adaptation of the podcast, with New Regency serving as production studio and independent financier. By March 2023, Fischbach had signed with UTA and was planning to shop the fully-shot show around to potential distributors.

It wasn’t long before one bit. But for months, Fischbach couldn’t say what it was. Even on September 30—when the creator posted a video asking fans to help support The Edge of Sleep upon its release—he admitted that he was “legally not allowed to say where it is coming out.”

Fischbach finally broke his silence on October 15, when The Edge of Sleep unexpectedly dropped on Amazon. In a video, the creator confessed that he didn’t “fully understand” the reasoning behind Amazon’s hush-hush approach and once again asked fans to show their support.

The context: As of now, Amazon’s motivations are still a mystery—especially since we know the ecommerce giant is willing to promote creator-fronted projects. After all, it announced MrBeast’s now-contentious Beast Games not long after the $100 million deal had been signed.

Luckily, Fischbach’s own fanbase seems to be picking up the slack. Despite Amazon’s handling, The Edge of Sleep surged to Prime’s #9 most-watched property shortly after his October 15 video went live. 

LISTEN UP 🎙️

This week on the podcast…

YouTube updates and exec beefs: This week’s episode of Creator Upload features a special co-host: Miles Sellyn, VP of Partnerships at Course Studio. Tune in to hear Sellyn and creator economy expert Lauren Schnipper break down the latest beef between LinkedIn’s founders, review YouTube’s recent round of updates, and analyze Lionel Messi’s lawsuit against KSI.

It’s all right here on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Drew Baldwin, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen.