Dan & Phil Part 59: the literal other half

[alittledizzy]

Ooh, someone just sent me this on tumblr (thanks miss-awesomesauce!!) - if you click through the pics there are a couple of new shots of deppy with the pups.

[LtrllySusan]

Not sure if someone has pointed it out yet, but in the start of the video, they blur out the back with all the preview photos, yet if you pause at 11:17 you can somewhat see them

The interior designer pose is different than the one we saw in the video, for example.

[liola]

That doesn't necessarily mean they're not together but it means I take a lot of the 'omg so soft!' 'love eyes!' stuff with a huge pinch of salt, especially since it's so subjective. For example, I don't think Dan is looking at Phil fondly at all in the January picture. I looked at it for ages trying to work out what everyone else was seeing that I was missing and to me, he's just... looking at him. With a kind of grimace on his face. It's how I look at my brothers when I'm trying to freak them out haha. In fact, this calendar (although I LOVE IT) is the textbook definition of pandering to me - right down to the 'family photo' description. I can almost guarantee someone at IRL wrote that and not D&P: it's just marketing, they know what their audience likes.

(Sorry ignore my negativity go back to drooling at dogs)

Sorry if I go back to this but I feel this personal since marketing is my job: just because something is made for marketing it doesn't make it bad or less realistic. The idea behind it is cute and some thing they obviously thought was exciting and they know fully well the implications of presenting themselves on par with awkward families with dogs. Sure, they know the audience will love it, but they consider more than that, because whenever you want to market something you gotta have an idea behind it and if it's done right that idea has to be genuine with what you are/ what you're trying to sell.

Just because Dan and Phil know what their audience like it doesn't mean they're not genuine in how they present themselves. They could take fully advantage of the shipping and they don't actively do it, it's the audience that see more into their interactions - and its because their interactions are genuine. Just because they play it as jokes it doesn't mean it's not genuine. It just takes the pressure off them of some thing they want to keep private.

Also I agree that often it's the phandom that puts layers of "more" into some things they do or say that are clearly jokes, one example is when Dan talked about borrowing Phil's coat or the infamous "I feel special" "you are" interaction in pinof 4.

But for example to say that Dan is looking at Phil with a grimace in the January pic is a reach imo. That is a cute look, something fond, and of course it is because they're recreating Phil's bday. In this case I feel like its more of a reach to be negative about it for the sake of not shipping than anything else.

Tl;Dr: not everything is "omg look how married!!1" but that doesn't mean everything is "hahahah how much money can we make them waste if we pretend we're in love".

There are blurred lines, because they might be partners in business but they're also two people who have spent 8 years together sharing a life and a relationship, whether platonic or not, and a lot of the interactions the phandom use as context for their relationship and their fondness are from a time that is previous any kind of business they set up for themselves, both separately and together.

[George]

They aren't blind to the major reason they sell out tours and merch. "The fans want to see us look like a couple while playing with dogs? Great, we'll do a professional photoshoot and they can buy their perfect ship". And it works The D&P merch empire is steadily expanding.
In light of that, i think people might read way to much into their behavior on camera/on a calendar. They are entertainers first and they're good at it .

I did cringe a bit when Dan said at the end of the dog video "I guess we'll just have to relive it every day when we get the... calendar. See what I did there, I'm so good at this". So apparently Dan himself things they are good at it But it felt like a reminder of how they cater us on purpose every now and then and I did taste the salt.

[annabanana]

Not sure if someone has pointed it out yet, but in the start of the video, they blur out the back with all the preview photos, yet if you pause at 11:17 you can somewhat see them

The interior designer pose is different than the one we saw in the video, for example.

Is it just me or does it seem like dnp are looking at each other in the sunflower pic rather than the dogs?

[sunshinias]

Not sure if someone has pointed it out yet, but in the start of the video, they blur out the back with all the preview photos, yet if you pause at 11:17 you can somewhat see them

The interior designer pose is different than the one we saw in the video, for example.

Is it just me or does it seem like dnp are looking at each other in the sunflower pic rather than the dogs?

It looks more like they're looking at the camera to me but their faces are so blurry it's impossible to tell.

[autumnhearth]

casualIDBstalker it definitely is the downstairs kitchen.

George I think he was just proud of himself for tying into a promo for buying the merch, which is kind of the point.

In the sunflower pic Dan’s head does seem to be at 3/4 and Phil’s could be tilted up a bit towards Dan, but it’s hard to tell.

[Puffy]

Did anyone else notice that the jumpers they wore for the October photo were THE jumpers Bryony stitched together?

[liola]

Some people already have the calendar! Pics under the spoiler

[autumnhearth]

More calendar pics

Gah I still don’t understand the Tumblr embedding. Help?

[captainspacecoat]

I feel like that video was the best possible reward I could have gotten for finishing all my uni assignments and then working all day, how wholesome and good ;_;

Dan rocking the little dogs like babies really did something to my heart, and those baby golden retrievers moved me to tears. Great content

I don't personally understand the cynicism some people are feeling. Like, obviously the calendar is a product that they wish to sell. They make calendars every year, no one hasto buy them but obviously the aim of making them is to sell them and earn money - it's an element of their job. It makes sense that they would want to make the product as appealing to their audience as possible, thus they came up with the idea of making it about dogs - in part because they love dogs and knew that would be a fun concept for themselves, and also in part because they knew it would sell.

This video was not only a behind-the-scenes of the shoot, but also a chance for them to advertise their product. Don't really get why that's come as a surprise for some people? It makes sense to me, and it's well within their rights. They are youtubers, they are entertainers, this is their profession and I don't understand why people hold them to this weird standard where they expect Dan and Phil to make videos purely out of a desire to make them/entertain us, and not out of any desire to earn money. Obviously, ethics and morals apply, and I'm the first to critique youtubers who become so concerned with success that they lose all integrity, but I don't think that's really the case with Dan and Phil (*cough*exceptforthewholepewdipiesitch*cough*)

[dailybooth]

for those of you who have seen the calendar photos - thank you liola & autumnhearth! - which one are your favorites?

I really adore the February one and the they look SO GOOD in the September one

[Reizam]

Some people already have the calendar! Pics under the spoiler

Oh my god the June pic is so damn domestic it's giving me heart palpitations. It's like a peek inside the Dan-and-Phil house if they actually had a dog. Also the interior designer picture is they both look so damn good

[alittledizzy]

I did cringe a bit when Dan said at the end of the dog video "I guess we'll just have to relive it every day when we get the... calendar. See what I did there, I'm so good at this". So apparently Dan himself things they are good at it But it felt like a reminder of how they cater us on purpose every now and then and I did taste the salt.

I interpreted that as Dan saying 'I'm good at selling our merchandise, I remembered to plug the actual calendar' because historically Phil is the one that likes to shill the goods while Dan makes faces at the idea of them even having merch and reassures people they don't have to buy it. So I'd say he was more catering to Phil and Phil's desire for Dan to actually seem like he wants people to buy their stuff, than to us.

I don't personally understand the cynicism some people are feeling. Like, obviously the calendar is a product that they wish to sell. They make calendars every year, no one hasto buy them but obviously the aim of making them is to sell them and earn money - it's an element of their job. It makes sense that they would want to make the product as appealing to their audience as possible, thus they came up with the idea of making it about dogs - in part because they love dogs and knew that would be a fun concept for themselves, and also in part because they knew it would sell.

And yes, definitely agree with all of this.

[sarmstr2]

What happened to the dog video? It's no longer listed under my "subscriptions" tab and last night it stalled at a view count around 499K. Now it is listed if you go directly under Phil's channel and the count looks correct...but no longer in sub boxes...

[smol beans]

thoughts on the calendar photos:

this entire calendar is really them giving us a sneak peak of their lives together in a few years, isn't it?
i'm gonna have to say my favorite one is june because that is my birthday month and it feels like out of all the other months, the dog isn't a focal point whatsoever, but it's on them. sure, the april one (which i also adore) represents their first trip to japan, being under the umbrella, the cherry blossoms, the shibe..... but there's something about june and how domestic it is! it's almost like a screenshot from a DITL or something.

[captainspacecoat]

June is definitely my favourite, it's soooo lovely and also my ideal future tbh - me and my future gf and our dog chilling on our laptops in pjs and comfy silence :')

What happened to the dog video? It's no longer listed under my "subscriptions" tab and last night it stalled at a view count around 499K. Now it is listed if you go directly under Phil's channel and the count looks correct...but no longer in sub boxes...

Yeah it's not in my sub box either, though it was there this morning right after it was first uploaded as I checked before I went to work to see how long it was and I remember seeing it there. Probably the subscription box fucking up again I'm guessing?

[confusedpanda]

What happened to the dog video? It's no longer listed under my "subscriptions" tab and last night it stalled at a view count around 499K. Now it is listed if you go directly under Phil's channel and the count looks correct...but no longer in sub boxes...

YouTube glitch I think because nearly half my sub box doesn't have any of the videos I watched for the past two days listed anymore. It was not like that last night...
Correction, it took out almost all of the top youtubers videos I've watched in the past week??? The baking video isn't even in my sub box now?? And the only ones listed are from the creators I'm subscribed too with less than 1 mil subscribers?

[autumnhearth]

June does actually feel the most authentic, I love their relaxed little smiles. It’s funny because when Dan explained the concept for his birthday month in the video I found myself thinking “really?”, but I actually think it’s perfect.

Objective favorite? I dunno. Maybe still April... but March is a close second. February ended up a tad too cheesy for me, though I know that’s the whole point.

Am I the only one who gets fussed about the appropriateness of the activities for the months? I think the sunflowers should be in July or August with the planting one back in the spring.

[hello9217]

What happened to the dog video? It's no longer listed under my "subscriptions" tab and last night it stalled at a view count around 499K. Now it is listed if you go directly under Phil's channel and the count looks correct...but no longer in sub boxes...

Just about to say this. I think Youtube had a glitch last night because all my subscriptions from yesterday are gone. The last video that shows up is from two days ago. However last I checked, which was an hour ago, the video was on 700,000 views. I also was on twitter this morning and saw people saying the same thing happened to them. Many thought the video got deleted. Youtube is really starting to screw over youtubers

[sarmstr2]

Oh yeah - I just checked and I only have videos with creators with less than 1mill subs in my subscription box. This is really weird.

[alittledizzy]

Oh yeah - I just checked and I only have videos with creators with less than 1mill subs in my subscription box. This is really weird.

Oh weird, the same thing is happening to me.

[LtrllySusan]

More calendar pics

Something about the march picture looks weird to me. Is the background to bright compared to the other colours/contrast? It doesn't feel as well lit as the other photos.

Has anyone who has the calender listed the special dates marked? ("Tweet us your dog" day etc)

[alittledizzy]

More calendar pics

Something about the march picture looks weird to me. Is the background to bright compared to the other colours/contrast? It doesn't feel as well lit as the other photos.

Has anyone who has the calender listed the special dates marked? ("Tweet us your dog" day etc)

I wonder if that's the photos themselves, or if it's the fact that (I'm assuming) someone took a picture of a picture?

[LtrllySusan]

More calendar pics

Something about the march picture looks weird to me. Is the background to bright compared to the other colours/contrast? It doesn't feel as well lit as the other photos.

Has anyone who has the calender listed the special dates marked? ("Tweet us your dog" day etc)

I wonder if that's the photos themselves, or if it's the fact that (I'm assuming) someone took a picture of a picture?

If you look closely, Phil's side of the face is lit up more than his face and his entire body is pretty dark too. All the other photos have very well-lit faces - so I do think it's the source material, not the tumblr user's fault. Too bad, cause I really like the aesthetics and the goldens :/

(I also disagree with the extremely white teeth on the Feb photo and August looks a bit washed out? IDK, maybe it's my eyes/monitor and not the photos)