Sat 13th June, 2020 09:30 BST: The YouTuber Wood "BeatEmUps" Hawker has uploaded two videos about his removal from the program. In the most recent one - published on 9th June - he explains how two other creators received the same email.
Clearly, there was a changeover - we went from an old program to a new program, and Nintendo must have used it as a chance to get rid of some creators they felt didn't fit the program anymore. So it wasn't just me, it was a few of us.
Fri 29th May, 2020 05:30 BST: Nintendo has been known to spread the love of um...all things Nintendo with the assistance of marketing companies and influencers, but in recent times it's reportedly been busy restructuring its brand ambassador program.
If you're not familiar with the role of a Nintendo ambassador, it's their responsibility to represent the brand in the best possible light and create smiles by sharing Nintendo's experiences with others.
GoNintendo explains how its own anonymous source with "direct ties" to the program supposedly confirmed the changes. A tweet by Wood Hawker - a YouTuber who runs the popular channel BeatEmUps - seems to support this:
Sadly, Nintendo contacted me today to say their Nintendo Ambassador Program is coming to an end and they would not be continuing my membership.
It feels really weird to not be on their program as I joined them 5 years ago. Nintendo and my channel have been synonymous since 2013.
Hawker also noted how "there may be a new program on the way" and expressed his interest in being involved while at the same time thanking Nintendo for the "love and support" over the last five years.
How should Nintendo utilise brand ambassadors moving forward? Share your thoughts below.
Related stories:
[source gonintendo.com]
Comments 48
I’m a 3DS ambassador...that’s all I know. Is this a YouTube thing?
Viral marketers are scum.
Never heard of him nor care
How does Nintendo feel about mods in their game? He posted a video a couple days ago with mods for Breath of the Wild. Would it be enough to end the partnership? Are other youtubers getting the same letter?
Wait, I thought that was the program where Nintendo allowed you to show footage of their games, while taking way too much of one's revenue. The one where Arlo said he was incredibly happy that it ended. I'm probably getting two things mixed up here aren't I?
@StefanN Yup, you're thinking of the Creator's Program.
Not enough info to feel one way or the other.
Arlo get rekt boiiiiii
@NinChocolate I was disappointed when more never came of that. lol
Not sure he really understands the definition of synonymous.
@super08mario I've spoken to GoNintendo, and they told me multiple YouTubers have been contacted (BeatEmUps is just one example).
At this point, it appears to be tied to YouTube channels, but it may go beyond this. If I hear anything else, I'll update the story.
He made another status and said other youtubers got the same message so disregard my last comment.
@super08mario It could be a combination of restructuring and the mods video. I prefer Wulff Den, which Bob was never an Ambassador, so who knows what their criteria are. At this point it's all speculation.
@Liam_Doolan Thank you for checking! I look forward to an update because I watch him often. Will people still get copies to review early?
@Wilforce That guy is pretty cool. I watch his videos from time to time. Who knows what the criteria is for it.
@super08mario If a new program was to go ahead, I assume so - if it doesn't though, there are no guarantees...
saygoodbye to Abdalasmash, and all the ambassdors for nintendo there gonna cry
If you happen to read this, thanks for all the great videos Wood! I love your upbeat cheerful content. Keep up the good work.
This dude is a massive consumerist who hoards far more stuff than he needs and gloats about it in the form of "YouTube content".
A real shame considering he came from near-poverty and now makes a living complaining about things and reviewing things he doesn't even have a full idea about.
Also goes through and deletes any and all comments that may be perceived as slightly critical towards him.
@Liam_Doolan Can you please explain more about the program? The article only says ambassadors have to portray Nintendo/its games in the best possible light - so is it a set of guidelines? In that case, he should be happy that he is now free to post whatever he likes. Or is it that the ambassadors get benefitted in some way, like free review copies or even monetary benefits? Sorry but a quick Google search didn't help much.
I remember this not being received well by fans when Nintendo started it. It had to do with Nintendo being so strict on fan created content, in favor of these annoying influencers. Am I remembering this correctly?
Oh boo hoo, that Beatemups guy's videos are unbearable. Quit shouting in every single video....
But yeah interesting to see they're playing around with their licensing.
I’m not keen on this idea at all. I don’t like “influencers” I’ll admit I’ve watched beat em ups and have enjoyed some of his vids. To now know he was a brand ambassador (a fancy way of saying paid stooge) doesn’t sit well. It was well advertised he was a brand ambassador and that in itself stinks.
YouTube is one big unregulated minefield of adverts disguised as something else.
Not good really
A lot of these channels get so few views and subscribers it not much of a win for Nintendo anyway, so why risk some form of negative coverage, this guy has 931 subscribers and could pretty much carry on with or without Nintendo's help, even a larger established channel like GameXplain has only around 1.2 million subscribers which took them years to get to, put this into context when PewDiePie has around 104 million subscribers, it's pretty much small fish in the world of YouTube.
@super08mario Breath of the Wild has so much potential if Nintendo brought it to PC or even Game Pass.
The PC mods are next level.
So does Ambassador always have to show Nintendo in a good light?
I mean can they not give a less than favourable review if the game is poor?
@deafswin37 I watched a couple of videos of his a while back, what really turned me off was the fact that he was moaning about spending money on a 2nd hand copy of Twilight Princess on GC, despite having the cash to buy a room full of games. (Someone actually sent him a copy I believe).
Last Ambassador thing I ever heard about was the New 3DS (also got a DS several months early to drum up interest). That was ages ago.
About time these people paid for their own games, stopped begging for freebies from their fans and got real jobs!
@Julien And it's about time people such as yourself started seeing "entertainment provider" as a real job.
Do you think people just trip over and suddenly find that they have 931,000 subscribers? Or do you think that they work hard to get there?
Maybe it's not digging a hole or some other profession that you deem to be a "real job" but so what? They're creating their OWN job and making their own money without relying on government handouts or loans. I'm not saying they're all perfect, but damn get off your high horse.
So this Ambassador thing is nothing related to the 3DS Ambassador program?
@popey1980 Another great reason not to watch him
@deafswin37 absolutely no reason to be be rude here
@super08mario
Ah! So that may be part of the issue.
If he is/was a brand ambassador then obviously the program did not work. I have never heard of this Youtuber but after viewing his videos they are like most of the ones out there trying to give people the impression he has uncovered something about Nintendo that was never known. Almost everything known about Nintendo is out there with the exception of some small bits of company lore that are shared with legitimate news sites.
He is not synonymous with Nintendo because that implies one is viewed the same as the other and it appears most did not know anything about this.
@SuperKMx
I tend to feel this really does not qualify as a real job. Sure it may take effort and some expenditure to get a certain amount of subscribers but in my opinion YouTube subscriptions are like email newsletters; free and forgettable. We may sign up and really enjoy it at first but eventually we forget about it and lose interest. The reason we do is because we are not paying for it and it does not offer real entertainment.
I would argue that most YouTube subscriptions are not active most of the time which means the advertisers are not hitting the demographic. If we were directly paying for it we would look for the highest quality, best value for our money.
@Zidentia "I tend to feel this really does not qualify as a real job."
Fair enough. I'm sure the people earning salaries that are many multiples of what they would earn working on a customer service desk or in a store would disagree.
As for the rest...you're describing a job. With a skills requirement. Retaining subscribers and keeping them engaged is part of the job. And advertisers hit the demographic because they aren't paying for subscribers who aren't active. They're paying per view.
"It does not offer real entertainment" and "if we were directly paying for it we would look for the highest quality, best value for our money" are largely subjective, too. It may not be real entertainment to you, but it seems to fit the bill for many, many millions of people. As for looking for the highest quality...you can just look at any videogame sales chart to realise that what many would say is trash represents high quality value for money entertainment for a lot of people.
@SuperKMx " And advertisers hit the demographic because they aren't paying for subscribers who aren't active. They're paying per view."
Well he averages about 115 K views via a quick estimation so he he is getting around 10% of subscribed viewers looking at a video. What are they looking at besides the video? I never see an ad on YouTube because I block it so the advertiser is not reaching me and I would guess most have the same situation. So how is this a measure of talent and business acumen?
I posit the advertiser is paying to get the viewers/subscribers meta data to sell to multiple tracking companies. Again this is not a measure of actual entertainment value(although I am not suggesting this person is talent-less) only a means to secure personal information.
I still got an ambassador 3DS with the GBA games on it.
@Grayson_ Who said i was being rude dude! I don't know who the youtuber is nor care thanks goodbye
@deafswin37 needless comment and many of us thought it was rude. If you don’t have anything good to contribute don’t comment.
@Zidentia Not disagreeing with what you're saying. I just don't understand how "some subscribers fall away or don't watch the videos" and "advertisers don't get 930,000 ad views from a channel with 930,000 subscribers" has anything to do with whether being a YouTuber that makes actual money is a real job or not, which was the point of the discussion.
@SuperKMx
I am not saying being a YouTuber is a financially bereft title I just feel it does not fit the description of a real job since real statistics and measurements are not in play. My points were an attempt to bolster that claim. I like some YouTube channels and I am sure they make really good money. They also, to me anyways. provide a real service and/or possess actual talent which I would pay for directly. With YouTube you really cannot do that so the numbers are fuzzy and the results are skewed as to what is really popular entertainment in my opinion.
Are the lovely people at NintendoLife ambassadors, though?
Good.I hate that guy.
I don't know how anyone could not like Wood as he is clearly a good guy. Anyway his vid just went up I believe its his take on what's goin on here
@NinChocolate
Yes, this is only about content creators
Love Wood! Don’t care that he’s “a schill” Hawking Nintendo goods at an absurd rate. He genuinely looks like he enjoys what he promotes, and gosh darn it, people like him! He’s honest in his reviews, despite some games being First Party and/or AAA Tier (see: FH3H, XC2); he also doesn’t hide/deny his love for games on other systems. Probably have developed a bit of a man crush on him over the past 4 months, but whatever, I’m comfortable with who I am after midnight...
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