Dan & Phil Part 11: Kinda queer and terrible #ComeTogether

[SquishPhan]

Re voldy: Imo it's reasonable to think they might not be together now because we don't see much of their lives (even though I tend to believe they really are a couple), but to think they planned the V-day video?? That would mean their early interactions were not sincere, and thus their friendship/relationship wouldn't be as strong as it appears to be today. They would basically be the British version of Lush.

Yeah I don't really see how that would work either and I feel like it that were the case they still wouldn't be this close so many years later. Plus we only know about voldy, trough a legit Youtube glitch. Like they couldn't have planned for that, unless they made the glitch happen somehow, but that just makes no sense to me.

[LurkingTrash]

I agree with you on Dan contributing to Phil's continued success, but I'll be more negative about it. (Mind you, I love Phil, but....) Phil would be long outdated at this point in time, were it not for Dan. I'd go so far as to say, he'd probably have been slightly forgotten like other "boring" vloggers have become from back in the past. Many have brought this up, but his continued popularity is propped up by Phan, the curiosity in the relationship, the Phandom itself. Today, you essentially can't be any level of intense Dan-fan without being a Phil fan. (And obviously vice versa, but how many people have you heard say "I loved Dan's videos.... and then I found Phil." I find that to be an overwhelming majority, but let me know if I'm wrong.)

Well... that might be the case for a lot of people, but I particularly found phil first and then found dan, I watch all of phils videos multiple times while sometimes if a dan video has a not-so-interesting title I'm not bothered to watch it. I do feel like people are more drawn to dan because he makes relatable and easy to watch/share with people who don't know nothing about him content while with phil you have to know a bit about him and his personality to understand a lot of his videos.

Also, personality wise- I relate a lot more with phil and his shyness and I don't buy the whole 'more awkward than most people' thing from dan, but I still love both of them a lot.

[alittledizzy]

Also, do you really think they were this calculated and focused on marketing schemes and brands? An accidental leak of a prank vid (in poor taste or not) or a pre-planned leak as a PR -stunt followed by careful manipulation to create a certain image of a fake relationship ...well that's on an entire other level than 'i promise we'll upload an undertale episode today '

Yeah... honestly, I don't see this as being Dan and Phil's style at all.

It's possible that scenario to be true. I just can't understand why anyone would want to be a fan of people they genuinely think would stoop to that level of manipulating their young, highly LGBTQ/representation-seeking audience.

The minute I believe they're capable of that, I'm out.

[hollyphan]

I found Phil first, tbh idk why, I think it was through Tyler Oakley and the first vid I saw from Phil was the one with the taste berries with Tyler. I remember thinking "weird guy, I LIKE". After I found him I binge watched his vids and began to love that boy. I actually subscribed to Dan, I think, almsot half a year after Phil.

But I totally understand that most people find him through Dan, because Dan's content seems easier and more relatable, idk.

At this point in my life I love them both equally.

Idk why I wrote this little unpopular opinion, but I'm bored and can't sleep. Nothing more to say.

[LurkingTrash]

It's possible that scenario to be true. I just can't understand why anyone would want to be a fan of people they genuinely think would stoop to that level of manipulating their young, highly LGBTQ/representation-seeking audience.

The minute I believe they're capable of that, I'm out.

SAME, I said it before but who would be a fan of someone they think is capable of that?

[SquishPhan]

I found them at the same time, thanks to tumblr, but have enjoyed Phil’s video more right from the start. Subscribed to him right away, but didn’t subscribe to Dan until a few months later. And while I enjoy Dan’s content, it are always Phil’s videos that I rewatch, almost never Dan’s.
Still have to say that one of the things that makes me more than just a casual fan is their relationship, whether it is platonic or romantic, it’s just great to watch. Without that I might still have watched their videos, but I wouldn’t be this interested in them.

[blueapple_x]

As SquishPhan said, the glitch that unprivated youtube videos was legit and other people have confirmed that other accounts had videos leaked. Not just Phil's. Also, if it was all a publicity stunt, why would they have acted the way they did afterwards? Particularly Dan and his rude/angry comments. They're not the type to want to gain fame through controversial/negative means as they try to avoid drama.

[coffee pig]

It's possible that scenario to be true. I just can't understand why anyone would want to be a fan of people they genuinely think would stoop to that level of manipulating their young, highly LGBTQ/representation-seeking audience.

The minute I believe they're capable of that, I'm out.

SAME, I said it before but who would be a fan of someone they think is capable of that?

This is true, but me liking them as people isn't the only reason that this particular scenario just doesn't ring true to me. In 2010, when the video was made, they did not have their shit together. Dan had just dropped out of uni and had been barely making videos for a year. They were essentially two people messing about on a platform that wasn't quite the polished money-making machine as it is today. Not that I'm saying that the video is real, but the possibility of them actively maneuvering a PR stunt at that point in their lives is kind of ridiculous. Not to mention the glitch thing like SquishPhan said.

[LurkingTrash]

SquishPhan, hollyphan
I think I found my people.
I actually only subscribed to Dan about eight months after I found Phil, this was in 2013/14.

[alittledizzy]

It's possible that scenario to be true. I just can't understand why anyone would want to be a fan of people they genuinely think would stoop to that level of manipulating their young, highly LGBTQ/representation-seeking audience.

The minute I believe they're capable of that, I'm out.

SAME, I said it before but who would be a fan of someone they think is capable of that?

This is true, but me liking them as people isn't the only reason that this particular scenario just doesn't ring true to me. In 2010, when the video was made, they did not have their shit together. Dan had just dropped out of uni and had been barely making videos for a year. They were essentially two people messing about on a platform that wasn't quite the polished money-making machine as it is today. Not that I'm saying that the video is real, but the possibility of them actively maneuvering a PR stunt at that point in their lives is kind of ridiculous. Not to mention the glitch thing like SquishPhan said.

Your timeline is a bit skewed. In 2010, when the video was made, Dan hadn't even started uni yet, much less dropped out. Youtube as a career didn't appear to even be something Dan was considering at all, he was about to start studying law. He and Phil had only met in real life five months before. The events Phil talks about in the video all happened in the past five months for them. That makes it even less likely that it's some big masterminded situation to me, even if there weren't solid proof that the leak was widespread and not just Phil's video.

[oqua]

As SquishPhan said, the glitch that unprivated youtube videos was legit and other people have confirmed that other accounts had videos leaked. Not just Phil's. Also, if it was all a publicity stunt, why would they have acted the way they did afterwards? Particularly Dan and his rude/angry comments. They're not the type to want to gain fame through controversial/negative means as they try to avoid drama.

Building on this, here is proof from the bowels of Twitter that other people had videos unprivated that day. (These aren't famous YouTubers or anything, just random people.)

These tweets all come from the day of the first Voldy unprivating, 17 September 2011. Also note that if you search twitter for terms like "private," "public," "unlisted," and "videos," there aren't many tweets about this kind of thing happening. I looked through all the tweets from a period of like ten days before and after 17 September, and these were the only relevant ones. So it's not like people tweet about this happening all the time and I just cherry-picked these examples to prove a point or anything.







(the times given are UK timezone)

[kuensukki]

I agree with you on Dan contributing to Phil's continued success, but I'll be more negative about it. (Mind you, I love Phil, but....) Phil would be long outdated at this point in time, were it not for Dan. I'd go so far as to say, he'd probably have been slightly forgotten like other "boring" vloggers have become from back in the past. Many have brought this up, but his continued popularity is propped up by Phan, the curiosity in the relationship, the Phandom itself. Today, you essentially can't be any level of intense Dan-fan without being a Phil fan. (And obviously vice versa, but how many people have you heard say "I loved Dan's videos.... and then I found Phil." I find that to be an overwhelming majority, but let me know if I'm wrong.)

Well... that might be the case for a lot of people, but I particularly found phil first and then found dan, I watch all of phils videos multiple times while sometimes if a dan video has a not-so-interesting title I'm not bothered to watch it. I do feel like people are more drawn to dan because he makes relatable and easy to watch/share with people who don't know nothing about him content while with phil you have to know a bit about him and his personality to understand a lot of his videos.

Also, personality wise- I relate a lot more with phil and his shyness and I don't buy the whole 'more awkward than most people' thing from dan, but I still love both of them a lot.

Same!

rizzo The stats you found were very intriguing. That being said, I think saying Phil is dull is a highly subjective statement. I find him interesting and funny. I actually enjoy his content and have been watching his content for a while now. Dan and Phil interact with their fans equally I would argue, but Phil tends to respond to cereal tweets while Dan takes over the more risque. I think it is phan, the mystery, as well as DP friendship and chemistry that have made them both last long. Dan could have also easily burned out, especially with his recent DINOF videos and uploading schedule. It happened with all the gleamers so it could have easily happened with DP. Would one survive better without the other.. maybe? But for me, I think that if Phil wanted to stay relevant, and Dan wasn't there encouraging the phandom or even present in his life, he would still have a viable and interesting channel.

[fakelights]

Would they really plan a PR stunt like that so early in their friendship/partnership/relationship??? Like... The video was uploaded on Valentines Day in 2010 and the glitch only happened in 2011. The 'prank' excuse could be acceptable, but a PR stunt? I don't think so.

And about finding one before the other, I don't think it really matters here. I agree with the people who said that Phil is still relevant and popular nowadays because of Dan. Liking it or not, it's (probably) the truth. Like bedhead91 said, they complement each other, but Phil gets the attention because Dan is the one who gives out more information and/or personality traits for both of them. (Not talking for myself here, I prefer Phil and think he is interesting on his own, but for the general public it's probably what happens)

[sweetmm]

Well this is a nice surprise John wearing Japhan sweater in his collab with 2 gay couples

[pearshaped34]

While I do accept a valid argument can be made for the fact they filmed Voldy as a PR stunt that they changed their minds about going through with I don't think a valid one can be made for the actual release being a stunt.
To bullet point the (main) plot holes in that theory;

- There is evidence to back up the glitch that unprivated it was real.
- They actually almost successfully buried it from the first leak. Surely people who leak things on purpose and want to pretend they didn't go more down the publicly tweeting about how unhappy they are it's out there route to get it maximum exposure rather then making every effort they can to keep the thing they want out there buried?
- Their reactions when it leaked the second time. While Voldy probably helped them build the Phandom by bringing all the shippers to the yard their reactions to it (admittedly mostly Dan's) did neither of their images any good. Dan's rants and Phil taking down fan blogs on copyright grounds was not a fan winning strategy. If this was really a plan why didn't they react better?
- They didn't pretend to be a couple. In my mind if Voldy was a deliberate PR stunt the plan that makes sense is they were going to fake a romance. It being a deliberate PR stunt where the plan was actually what played out, them telling fans they thought faking being gay together would be a good joke, just seems like it had way too high of a chance of backfiring to me. (Because faking being gay for a joke actually is offensive). And keep in mind here if this was all deliberate it was like a two year plan so they had a lot of time to think about this.

Seriously if Voldy was a PR stunt it was an iffy idea at best and for a very questionable stunt that was could have easily backfired they must have played one hell of a long game. Assuming it was all a plan they uploaded it for Valentines day 2010, waited to leak it till sep 2011 and then buried again so they could re-leak it in 2012.
And for what? In the hopes that releasing a romantic video that they would claim to be a joke would gain them fans rather then turn fans off because faking gay for a joke is grossly offensive.

[timtam]

This is vaguely on topic

I don't think I watched any Phil videos until about a year after I subscribed to Dan and I only watched Phil because of Dan. I loved Dan's video and I always thought that Phil's were meh. Phil is basically a glorified a vlogger except instead of getting to watch the actual incident you listen to him retell it. I mean Dan's kinda the same but I've always loved Dan's acting/reenactments.

I think it has been the gaming channel that has actually made me appreciate Phil a lot more. I still don't love his content but I certainly like Phil a lot more than I did.

that was a waffley mess but there you go!

[spaceguitar]

I'm not sure if I found Dan first. I knew who both D+P were through tumblr, and then I saw them in other youtuber's vlogs every once and a while. I think i might have started with watching the pinofs and the DITLs. Somehow I just ended up liking Dan better
I like his videos, but mostly I just really appreciate his sense of humor.

[adequate duck]

Would they really plan a PR stunt like that so early in their friendship/partnership/relationship??? Like... The video was uploaded on Valentines Day in 2010 and the glitch only happened in 2011. The 'prank' excuse could be acceptable, but a PR stunt? I don't think so.

I don't really know what youtube culture was like in early 2010, I know Phil was popular and Dan was just starting out. What I am trying to figure out is if a PR stunt/April Fool's joke like Voldy would be a thing that a 2010 youtuber with 15k subscribers (Dan) or even 95k subscribers (Phil) would pull? I don't know how rabid the Phan shippers were then that an April Fool's video would be a thing that they'd make for, say, 15k people at the max. I guess it depends on what the youtube atmosphere was back then. (Personally, I think it's real, and that they were together then, whether they are now or not I dunno, but in my middle-aged nose pervert brain they're electroshocking each others balls on a regular basis).

[Winston]

Would they really plan a PR stunt like that so early in their friendship/partnership/relationship??? Like... The video was uploaded on Valentines Day in 2010 and the glitch only happened in 2011. The 'prank' excuse could be acceptable, but a PR stunt? I don't think so.

I don't really know what youtube culture was like in early 2010, I know Phil was popular and Dan was just starting out. What I am trying to figure out is if a PR stunt/April Fool's joke like Voldy would be a thing that a 2010 youtuber with 15k subscribers (Dan) or even 95k subscribers (Phil) would pull? I don't know how rabid the Phan shippers were then that an April Fool's video would be a thing that they'd make for, say, 15k people at the max. I guess it depends on what the youtube atmosphere was back then. (Personally, I think it's real, and that they were together then, whether they are now or not I dunno, but in my middle-aged nose pervert brain they're electroshocking each others balls on a regular basis).

That last sentence...
I have never seen voldy and don't really know if I want to. But I have seen a transcript of it, and screen shots of it. To me it seems legit and then when it 'escaped' they panicked, and came up with the most plausible answer aside from the obvious. Even though they were young they would have realized that a fake/joke relationship would have been very distasteful and probably would have cost them many viewers. Now if they are still together or were together in a romantic way for a long time is still a question. I go back and forth daily, are they or aren't they? Sometimes even hourly...

[offtopic]I was thinking about Dan talking about editing Phil's vid last night. What was the last video that Phil actually edited? I can't remember. I assume it was his Florida one, but with collabs with Dan what was the last one he did? Why does it seem like Dan edits most of them? Just wondering if any one has any thoughts on that.[/offtopic]

[alittledizzy]

[offtopic]I was thinking about Dan talking about editing Phil's vid last night. What was the last video that Phil actually edited? I can't remember. I assume it was his Florida one, but with collabs with Dan what was the last one he did? Why does it seem like Dan edits most of them? Just wondering if any one has any thoughts on that.[/offtopic]

I was listening to the TABINOF audiobook this morning while I was out walking and because the whole editing issue was already on my mind it really stood out to me that Dan specifically says he edits the gaming videos. (But that he leaves the whole hookup of video game screengrab tech to Phil.)

If Phil really is heading a lot more of the BTS tour/admin stuff then Dan editing the videos makes sense to me. I'm thinking that there's division of labor that's more or less even, we just don't see a lot of the stuff that goes on. What Dan does (editing) happens to be one thing they do once in a while bring up in talking to their audience.

[adequate duck]

(Personally, I think it's real, and that they were together then, whether they are now or not I dunno, but in my middle-aged nose pervert brain they're electroshocking each others balls on a regular basis).

That last sentence...

I wish I could take credit for it, but I am just paraphrasing someone else from earlier

[offtopic]I was thinking about Dan talking about editing Phil's vid last night. What was the last video that Phil actually edited? I can't remember. I assume it was his Florida one, but with collabs with Dan what was the last one he did? Why does it seem like Dan edits most of them? Just wondering if any one has any thoughts on that.[/offtopic]

Good question! I'd like to know that too. I mean does Phil ever have time for editing any more or does masterminding everything ever take up his productive hours?

[uglyamerican]

off topic but is this related to tatinof? have some of you have heard of something similar?

That's both really rude and very ballsy, I have to say. Can see though why they wouldn't be very happy with it. Still it's probably legal, so nothing that can be done about it. Or maybe Phil can find out the peoples' emails and write them angry DMs.

Their only practical protection in the US is a local vendor regulation - unless District Lines has a license on their designs since it appears that they produce the merch. In any event, it's probably not legal, but probably not realistically enforceable (unless you are Disney and employ an army of attorneys that aggressively crack down on this kind of shit.)

[Catallena]

Slightly building on whether Phil would've been irrelevant by now if it weren't for Dan (I agree that he would've faded by now btw, tho I feel like he still would be making videos as hobby/job on the side just obviously nowhere near as successful), but both need to watch out that they don't get too comfortable with how things are going because on YouTube standing still is moving backwards. Just because every video they make is successful now doesn't mean they'll be in a few years as well, and I'm kinda worried about their attitude towards their Channels this last 1.5 year because of this. I know many of you dream of self managing D&P, but they're truly like amateurs sometimes.

In 2014 they lose/leave their weekly BBCR1 slot, which sucked up a lot of time. Dan admitted to the radio taking too much time once or twice, and expressed he wanted to focus on YouTube more. They get their monthly slot allowing them to do just that, they launch DAPG with a lot of hype, say they want to upload there 'all the time' and they keep that up for a few months.

I never forget boys. Never.

2015 starts, uploads are faaaaar less frequent on the gaming channel already. They drop a book and tour on us, things they must have been aware of when they launched DAPG and should've allowed them to prepare to keep up frequent uploads. Instead, everything on YouTube becomes second best to the bour. A+ planning there. Main channels get neglected too until the UK tour, but only because they had a book to promote and DAPG comes back to life because they promised Spooky Week.

2016 is just as bad. Two months on the road for the USA tour, with limited time and internet access to film and upload, yet they film only a few videos in advance and don't even seem to think that that is pretty unprofessional and unfair to people not going to TATINOF? Once again, YouTube becomes second best to content only a small percent of their audience will see.

Neglecting their channels in favor of things like that is just unprofessional to me, like either they don't know how to properly divide their time and effort or they just don't care, and both options are equally shit and smell of amateurism. If they had a sense of business, they would want their channels to keep growing and understand they need to put effort in that. Books and tours are great and good moneymakes, but they also do very little for your online presence. It's fun for your existing audience (if they're the lucky few who can go), but you don't get new people willing to watch you and spend money on you by dicking around on a tourbus while all your channels are neglected for longer periods of time. And although the phandom is crazy dedicated, most of them are teenagers and teens go through phases of liking something. If they become bored due to the lack of content, they will move on. People moving on + no new people = trouble in Pharadise.

Now they're nowhere near in danger yet. They are very lucky with the dedication and loyalty of their audience and even luckier that their fans entertain themselves a lot. But we're apparently still getting a world tour and at some point luck and patience will run out. I dunno when/if all the other touring is gonna happen, but letting their channels remain in this state for another year can't be good. And what will happen after that? Will they actually, for the first time since 2012 actually focus on YouTube again? Will they launch some other side project taking up all their time? I really hope they realize they'll have to work on their YouTube presence again soon if they wanna keep people's focus on them in the long haul. Some of the old Top YouTubers once seemed untouchable, but they grew comfortable with having an audience who would watch anything they put out even if they didn't upload for weeks, so now they're not getting any new subs and old subs keep leaving while their videos barely touch 50k views despite that shiny gold 1m subscriber plague .

Yeah talking about relevancy made me think about this, it's been bothering me for a while.
I just don't want them to get comfy and lazy, then lose everything. They need a kick up the arse sometimes.

[karma_yeah]

Re: the voldy discussion and the nature of their success:

I believed they were a couple from the first videos my daughter showed me: "Dan and Phil Frolic with Kittens", "Easter Baking - Triple Chocolate Nests", and "PINOF 1". When I said told her I thought they made a cute couple, she told me about the big "controversy" and showed me voldy, which pretty much sealed the deal for me.

In all honesty, I don't see how anyone could see it as "fake" whether for a PR stunt or "prank", for several reasons:

- There's zero amazingphil persona. I think that's the "real" Phil Lester.
- I love Phil, and no disrespect, but he's not a great actor. He can pull off some acting in short spurts, but not for that long in a video.
- Phil never goes into that much personal detail about anything (how often have we had that discussion)
- The glitch affected other youtubers, not just them, so it couldn't have been a deliberate PR stunt
- I can't see them as master manipulators, or ones to stoop so low as to fake a gay relationship. They had several gay friends at the time and I can't really imagine them something so disrespectful
- We've never seen either of them make a video remotely similar to that, before or after the leak
- Their reactions to the leak (Dan's rants and Phil's relentless efforts to have it removed every time it surfaces, even 5 years later) wreaks of "thou dost protest too much"
- And, let's be real, their idea of a prank video is square flakes and glitter faces not "here, let me pour out my innermost thoughts and feelings to you"

I do think that the "controversy" over the video and the nature of their relationship contributes to their success in that it does get some people hooked on the intrigue, ok, yes i'm one of them although I doubt that's the majority of their fans because we know it isn't their captivating content, fantastic production skills, or their consistent and frequent uploading schedule.

But in the end, there's something endearing about them that over rides their short-comings that keeps us watching. (There are even people on this forum who say they aren't big fans of one or both of them, yet they chose to spend their time reading the threads and posting comments, so there's got to be something that keeps them here).

(sorry to be so long winded)

[majitzu]

I hope everything tour related ends this year. If they extend the world tour to 2017 I'm going to scream.

--------

How many times did they go out to run? 2? 3?



But you can enjoy the company Phil
Phil's ls Jan 24, 2015
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