Dan & Phil Part 91: A Decade of Deppy

[CapriciousCrab]

The smattering of activity (chum in the water) before a merch drop seems a bit too textbook even by Dan’s standards—maybe I’m giving him too much credit (or perhaps being wishful), but I wonder if he’s well aware of the backlash and is having a nice big laugh because he plans to drop a video along with the merch—perhaps a mukbang or some other kind of ~JOint ConTeNT~, knowing damn well most all the criticism would wash away.

If that was the case it would kinda be even worse for me. I don't like feeling played by creators I enjoy watching and the idea of Dan knowing we want him to interact with us and staying silent just so he can drop a new video and yell "surprise" is very off-putting to me. It also invites conflict into his fandom because if that happened, you'd just know a lot of people would attack those who were disappointed in him yesterday and today for not believing in him or whatever. I think the current situation is bad but I also kind of hope it's just a merch drop because somehow any other scenario feels worse to me.

I agree with this, especially the bolded part. There was already plenty of finger-wagging going on yesterday about any negative feelings about this merch drop. People react rather strongly to any criticism of deppy, even if it's valid, and a surprise video would just make it worse.

[parallel]

This has all got me thinking about that time we talked about parasocial breakups. Because we're disappointed in Dan and he needs to rebuild our trust in him, much like a mutual relationship where one person betrays the other's trust.

And, like a real relationship, I expect that it'll wash over with time, and Dan will be back on his bullshit and we'll be back on ours. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing that, as both a fandom and as internet culture in general, we forgive and forget so easily, but I don't like being disappointed in Dan and I do kind of hope he does something to make us all like him again and trust him not to manipulate us.

[Grey]

I hope that everyone who is disappointed now also chooses to vote with their wallet and doesn't buy the new merch.

I think Dan is done with YouTube and his fandom, but he's afraid of saying so and will continue to milk his hardcore fans.

And @ the people who say "let him be a fashion designer" – he's really not. This is merchandise, look at his shop name alone. It's cheap Made in China shirts that they buy in bulk to print witty things on them. That's merchandise.

Yes! My thoughts exactly!!

I will also chime in to agree with @stufflizloves that I’m currently unconvinced that Phil is part of the manipulation. Yes he posted photos from the same location shortly after dan, but I also feel like they’re photos he might have posted anyway. He’s been posting photos fairly consistently (also videos and generally interacting with us). I think it’s kind of “unfair” to say he shouldn’t have posted something he might have posted anyway just because dan had this stupid plan to reel in his audience to sell them shit. If they’re separate content creators then he is not responsible for how dan does business. Maybe I just have my rose coloured glasses on for Phil because I need to believe one of them is still worth being a fan of.
(And I'm using the eyerolling pumpkin because that’s the cutest emoji and it’s halloween!)

[liola]

Yeah I mean I'm fully up Phil's ass so maybe I am biased but I truly think it's unfair to involve in this. I mean it was an outing for his brother's birthday, he's been out and about a lot and posting quite a bit, I think it's more.. fair that he posted about the day anyway. The instagram story about the drink, eh, I'm on the fence, he usually posts about their drinks but I agree it's not a great look that you can see them both when Dan is pulling this..

But is it Dan's fault or both of them? Whose idea is it? Look maybe I'm petty or maybe I m salty or maybe I just found it hard to like Dan when he does these stupid business stunts that I would scold any client for, but i can't direct my annoyance at both of them when in my opinion it's mostly Dan acting in the wrong.

[autumnhearth]

Idk, I think Dan considers merch design to be content. I just don’t love how we get all excited for their pretty photos and it turns out to be buttering us up for merch. I never used to doubt anything they said either until I read enough times of people thinking they were hiding something, it’s crap to lose that trust.

IDB, why have I stayed away from you? I’ve probably liked two dozen of your comments this morning, you all speak my language. The term ‘buttering us up’ popped into my head last night in bed. I used the term ‘emotionally manipulative’ when Dan posted that ‘still alive’ pic last spring, followed an hour or two later by an danandphilshop newsletter that they were having a sale. And maybe it’s not as cold and calculated as all that, but it certainly felt that way.

This time around with the double pic posting it feels more like buttering us up. I would bet that if Dan wasn’t planning a merch drop, we would have just gotten Phil’s Instagram stories from the gardens, like we did from the art fest. But unfortunately at this point Dan posting an actual picture on Instagram is never just because he wants to share something, it’s all about promotion. And Dan deciding to set a Tumblr queue after separate Instagram and Twitter activity the same day, just before dropping merch is definitely calculated. (I mean I guess he could have been lazy and just cross posted the pic on all three platforms, so cheers for the effort). And like fine, he probably realized that dropping merch without any social media activity beforehand would look bad, but this doesn’t look much better.

I’ve been very zen about the gaming channel and Dan’s hiatus. I’ve accepted he’s not a full-time YouTuber and don’t think he needs to release videos in order to release merch. I’m fine with merch being his creative outlet and his contribution to keeping IRL profitable for not just them but their employees. I also am fine with him taking a break from (or hell even leaving) social media for his mental health and am sympathetic to the pressure of being a public figure and where anything you post feels performative. It’s the way these things all line up that rubs me the wrong way.

At this point it feels like Dan is only selling this image of being a tortured dark soul: disappearing for weeks at a time, then posting a self-deprecating or dark humored tweet and releasing merch to match that mood. And the sad thing is, that sells, because how relatable! We’re all depressed and apathetic and death is inevitable, am I right? Yeah, no thanks.

(Yes props to the few actual social justice/political activism things he’s promoted this year, it’s just hard to appreciate when it comes after ‘lmao climate change. yeet’, but maybe I’m just old).

I posted a thing on a Tumblr yesterday that I then got attacked for (which is why I usually stick to just reblogging fan works) that *if* you do feel strongly about the way Dan is conducting his business and want to let him know, you can unsubscribe from his newsletter and use that box that asks for your reason and give it (kindly and without demanding anything). I have no idea how those things are monitored, but if someone from IRL Merch looks at it and sees a pattern of discontent, it might just come to Dan’s attention. Alternatively if you want to support people whose content makes fandom enjoyable consider buying merch from you favorite fan artists or contributing to your favorite authors ko-fi.

And if you aren’t that bothered or are just broke and tired enjoy the free pictures we get today. I’m betting on a dark soul candle myself. You can’t tell me Dan didn’t pick out his scents when they were working on Phil’s. There’s an ‘I lit the black candle’ Hocus Pocus joke in there somewhere (which speaking of merch releases wow there’s a ton of that at the Halloween stores).

[Amiaw]

I’m not mad at phil, just disappointed with some decisions about how to promote their merch. Otherwise Phil has been doing what he can to communicate and his content has been really enjoyable. I know that neither of them are making things because they’re our friends and their goal is to make money but at least with Phil I feel like he still enjoys interacting with us.

[liola]

I posted a thing on a Tumblr yesterday that I then got attacked for (which is why I usually stick to just reblogging fan works) that *if* you do feel strongly about the way Dan is conducting his business and want to let him know, you can unsubscribe from his newsletter and use that box that asks for your reason and give it (kindly and without demanding anything). I have no idea how those things are monitored, but if someone from IRL Merch looks at it and sees a pattern of discontent, it might just come to Dan’s attention. Alternatively if you want to support people whose content makes fandom enjoyable consider buying merch from you favorite fan artists or contributing to your favorite authors ko-fi.

Well they use Mailchimp for their newsletters, and on the main dashboard it always shows the results of the latest email campaign, with clicks, opens and unsubscribes, so it would literally take them 0 seconds to find out and see the reasons, and I'm sure Dan would know as well since I'm assuming they get reports of their merch campaigns to decide how to coordinate promotion, discount codes etc.

Sidenote, I just realized that if you subscribe for their newsletter now they give you a 10% discount for the first order. That is interesting actually, they didn't do that for dnpshop and then when the individual shop opened they used the same list of subscribers for the dap newsletter so no discount code. That isn't the case with dnpshop so i'm going on a limb and say it's to boost sales. Do anyone but me care? who knows

[LtrllySusan]

We’re all depressed and apathetic and death is inevitable, am I right? Yeah, no thanks.

I won't buy Dan's merch but I'd buy yours

[glitterintheair]

I’m not mad at phil, just disappointed with some decisions about how to promote their merch. Otherwise Phil has been doing what he can to communicate and his content has been really enjoyable. I know that neither of them are making things because they’re our friends and their goal is to make money but at least with Phil I feel like he still enjoys interacting with us.

That’s why I can’t bring myself to be mad at Phil. Yeah, he releases merch but he also uploads videos, does liveshows etc. Dan on the other hand... goes mia for days, weeks, months and then he sets up a tumblr queue and posts a selfie to justify his release of more merch in a “look I am active, but my stuff” kind of way which doesn’t sit right with me. It’s not a behavior I’d expect from someone who used to roll his eyes every time Phil did a shameless dnpshop promo on dapg.

Also I am curious to know what’s gonna happen after today; he’s gonna disappear again just to show up again before Christmas to promote his Christmas-themed merch?

[Susanisnotafish]

The thing is, even though they’re publicly branded separately now, I still think that they function personally and professionally (bts) exactly as they always have, meaning all decisions (business and personal) are joint. So imo Phil is unfortunately half to blame for Dan’s fiasco. I am frankly disappointed in both of them, but of course Phil has done much more that I agree with recently. Ooo, I just realized that going by my original premise, Dan deserves half credit for all Phil’s been doing! Don’t know if that makes me feel better about the situation though. I’m very curious about what happens today. I even took off work (actually due to the weather, but hey).

[parallel]

The thing is, even though they’re publicly branded separately now, I still think that they function personally and professionally (bts) exactly as they always have, meaning all decisions (business and personal) are joint. So imo Phil is unfortunately half to blame for Dan’s fiasco. I am frankly disappointed in both of them, but of course Phil has done much more that I agree with recently. Ooo, I just realized that going by my original premise, Dan deserves half credit for all Phil’s been doing! Don’t know if that makes me feel better about the situation though. I’m very curious about what happens today. I even took off work (actually due to the weather, but hey).

The thing is, even if it was Phil's idea, Dan agreed to it. Ultimately we only see Dan's side of things publicly, and I can't blame Phil for something where I have no evidence that he's done it. Yeah, sure, maybe Phil was a part of it too, but innocent until proven guilty, no? And maybe I want to believe that at least one of them is worth being a fan of.

Anyway, on another note (related to Dan's situation but not directly replying to the quoted post), it's sad to think that Dan's "meaning of life/dick" tweet was a part of this social media re-engagement. I do believe that his reply to Olly's original tweet about his video was genuine and I have no problem with that, but I feel like that tweet was an attempt to excite the part of his audience that gets excited whenever Dan does anything gay. It's upsetting to think that Dan might use someone's coming out as leverage for his own merch.

To be perfectly clear, I don't think that Dan's inclusion in Olly's video is related to his merch, and I don't think his engagement with the video when it first came out was a part of it either. To me that just reads as Dan being supportive of other queer creators which is great. But only his most recent tweet has me disappointed, because he's already said his piece on Olly, and now he's just replying in order to excite his fanbase that Dan is back.

[blueapple_x]

The thing is, even though they’re publicly branded separately now, I still think that they function personally and professionally (bts) exactly as they always have, meaning all decisions (business and personal) are joint. So imo Phil is unfortunately half to blame for Dan’s fiasco. I am frankly disappointed in both of them, but of course Phil has done much more that I agree with recently. Ooo, I just realized that going by my original premise, Dan deserves half credit for all Phil’s been doing! Don’t know if that makes me feel better about the situation though. I’m very curious about what happens today. I even took off work (actually due to the weather, but hey).

I think it's safe to say that they definitely help each other behind the scenes sometimes based on what we've seen--but I wouldn't necessarily say Dan deserves half the credit for the specific effort Phil puts into interacting with the fanbase through tweets, liveshows, youtube stories and ig stories (and Dan's lack of interaction seems to be the main issue people have right now)--even if Phil's doing it for the benefit of them both.

[onceinaugust]

Merch is up- candle, nail polish, hoodie dress.

[Becky.rigby]

Yep, a candle, nail polish and a black jumper, I'm sorry but it's not for me, and now his going to be silent again until Christmas.

[Becky.rigby]

I am cringing so much right now he is such a creative person, as recently seen with BIG, what is he doing!!

[alittledizzy]

[blahblahblah8]

After reading his blog most of my disappointment is alleviated tbh. The merch still isn’t my taste so I won’t be buying any but I’m glad he’s communicating

[Birdie]

Listen, I actually do think Dan sees this stuff as more than merch. But it just isn't. It's merch and it's not even that original. I could probably get all of these things at any H&M for less money. That ain't it.

And yes, I think it's really cool how the dress is unisex and that he models it as an actual dress in one picture. But at the same time can the phandom stop falling over themselves applauding him for it. It's a great thing to do and yet he's hardly the only Youtuber who questions gender roles. And we also need to remember that he's trying to sell us something here and he knows his target audience are pretty much queer teenagers and allies who will feel validated by him wearing a dress and nailpolish. I'm not gonna go as far as saying he's exploiting queer aesthetics for sales but I do wish we'd see him dressed like this out and about or in a video as well, not just when he wants to sell something.

(Wow, does this make sense? I'm so tired of this drama my English went.)

EDIT: Blog post sounds a lot like damage control? Like, he must have noticed how angry and disappointed people were and suddenly he can communicate now when his sales depend on it but not in all these weeks before? Kay.

[flarequake]

I’m intrigued that it’s a matte nail polish, though I don’t need it or like it enough, I’m not that into looking so gothy. I’m more curious about the candle, but I’m not sure I’d like the scent. Also I haven’t lit Phil’s yet. Cripes, I still remember my poor cat fully jumping sideways on sniffing it. I like the design of the words on the jumper, but I wouldn’t wear a huge long one like that. Still too hardcore black hole design for me anyway, I think.

I’m not sure I’m quite not-buying-on-principle, though maybe I should be and I felt more strongly last night, but I was very stuck on feeling annoyed and woke up with a hell of a headache. I don’t like how he’s gone about it, but I don’t want to believe he’s that cynical, maybe he’s too much in his own bubble out there, also I’ve put too much energy into liking him too much for 4 years (though that’s on me, not him). I did laugh at his photo in the sweater with no pants. Lotta leg there, Danny, and it’s cute, but also funny especially with that cheeky look on his face.

Adding having just read his tumblr post... okay, acknowledgement of the content:merch ratio and some honest, open communication. Phew, how long have we waited and wondered. I’m just soaking it up, at last, thank you, Daniel. Well, I’m curious what his project is, let’s hope it does come to fruition.

[alittledizzy]

[bluecaterpillar]

Preface for the blog: Tonight I proudly present what for the time being is my penultimate drop. Whilst for many online personalities designing merch is a valid creative project all on its own, as someone who is known principally for their comedy content I personally feel like my merch should more often be in support of the other things I make (don’t want to go full Rihanna lmao no shade).

i think he saw some of the online annoyance lol

good to finally get confirmation that he has actually been working on something besides merch for the last few months, and hopefully we'll get to see the 'exciting project' soon. also glad to know that the merch releases are coming to an end soon. see dan, communication isn't that hard after all! i'm still annoyed at him for ghosting us then only reappearing to plug more merch though, i'm not completely letting him off the hook

[rizzo]

I'm stuck, because I love that he explained himself in his post. I REALLY appreciate that he did that and didn't ignore the anger.

But I hate what that explanation was. I miss Dan. I hate that we have to wait any more to see him do things. We don't know when this October thing will come, so we don't know when we're actually gonna get to appreciate Dan as an artist and entertainer. And given that he's calling this the ~penultimate~ merch suggests to me that it'll be a long time before we get anything else he'll be making more merch "in support of".

The merch is nice. I kinda want the hoodie. But I am... just a bit too sad? disappointed? to buy it.

Dan, could you at least pad the wait with some IG stories? More tweets? Existing?

[Amiaw]

Does it count as communicating if you only do it when money’s involved and it’s after a lot of people get upset? I guess we have an answer as to why he’s been quiet but it would have been nice to know this before the merch drop.

[alittledizzy]

[Becky.rigby]

I'm still not letting Dan off the hook that easily, he could have communicated to us before everyone got upset and angry. Still doesn't explain the lack of tweets until he wanted to release merch either. I'm just glad he has listened to us.