1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:04,760 Hi everyone, welcome to Mini Scroll, the daily Internet 2 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:07,480 culture podcast bringing you the biggest stories from social 3 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:10,520 media, the creator economy and the digital space. 4 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:13,200 Every Monday through Thursday and sometimes Fridays. 5 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:17,200 I'm your host, Lauren Meisner, the founder of the youth digital 6 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:21,480 media brand Centennial World. Welcome back to Mini Scroll, 7 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:24,840 everyone. OK, it's December 1st, which you 8 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:28,880 guys know that means our Patreon has officially launched. 9 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:31,600 It launched overnight. Thank you so much to those of 10 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:34,680 you who have already subscribed. I just put it as a community 11 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:37,000 note on YouTube. So, you know, I know a lot of 12 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:39,160 you guys probably haven't seen it yet, but it will be the first 13 00:00:39,160 --> 00:00:42,480 link in the description. If you guys want to subscribe, I 14 00:00:42,480 --> 00:00:45,440 talk more about what you guys can expect from it on the first 15 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:48,760 Patreon episode. I also do a bit of AQ and A and 16 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:52,440 I give you guys a brief history of Centennial World's business 17 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:55,320 journey and all the things that I've been through especially in 18 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:59,760 these past couple of years. But as a very high level recap, 19 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:05,160 right now we have only one tier. It is $5.99 Australian per 20 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:07,400 month. You will get behind the scenes 21 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:11,480 content of Centennial World. You'll get vlogs, chatty podcast 22 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:15,360 episodes with myself, friends, Annabelle, possibly my husband 23 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,360 also host crossover episodes I thought could be really cool. 24 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:20,800 So like if you want to see Annabelle and like, I don't 25 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:23,200 know, Maddie from high stakes podcast together or something, 26 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:27,800 advice segments, Q&A's, pop culture hot take explainers, 27 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:29,680 things that I'm not super comfortable talking about 28 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:33,320 publicly and extra mini scroll episodes for when we are on a 29 00:01:33,320 --> 00:01:35,880 break, when it's a public holiday, stuff like that. 30 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:38,920 Also a private Discord chat where you guys can chat with us. 31 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:41,440 So yes, I'm really excited. Thank you guys so much to 32 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:44,360 everyone that has signed up so far, like I said, and I'm really 33 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:48,040 excited to kind of start this new journey of the business. 34 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:51,320 All right, let's just get into the stories for today. 35 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:55,800 So the first story that I have for you guys is I need to talk 36 00:01:55,800 --> 00:02:00,320 about the TikTok boy band, Boy Throb and how there are 37 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,920 questions over if they're real, how we're now following the 38 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:06,520 journey to getting Darshan's O1 visa. 39 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:10,520 Like this is a whole narrative on TikTok and I need to fill you 40 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:13,200 guys in. So Boy Throb are this boy band. 41 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:16,160 They were created on TikTok and they've been going viral for a 42 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:17,880 couple of reasons. First of all, there are four 43 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:20,800 members of Boy Throb. Three of them are based in the 44 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:23,920 US and one is based in India. His name is Darshan. 45 00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:27,560 Now the other three members include Evan Papier, Anthony Key 46 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:29,880 and Zach Sabinia. They launched at the end of 47 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:33,280 October, and they have since taken over the online zeitgeist 48 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:38,120 because people just cannot tell if this is a troll or if this is 49 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:41,760 a real boy band. Given that both Evan and Anthony 50 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:44,960 have content creation or like musical backgrounds, some think 51 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:47,360 that's a pretty big indication that this is a real band. 52 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,480 Despite this, they've had two major goals this entire time. 53 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:54,120 First, get Darshan over to America and second, win a 54 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:56,520 Grammy. So to achieve this, they were 55 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:59,160 trying to get to 1,000,000 followers, which they actually 56 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:02,240 just achieved yesterday. And now they're asking 57 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:05,760 journalists to give them press mentions so Darshan can apply 58 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:08,560 for his O1 visa and hopefully have a better chance of getting 59 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:10,800 approved. And O1 visa in the US is 60 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:12,800 basically a visa for like a special talent. 61 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:15,840 So if you have press mentions and write ups and lots of 62 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:18,320 followers and stuff like that, you're considered more of like a 63 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:20,920 special person with like a special talent and therefore 64 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:22,560 it's more likely that you'll get this visa. 65 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:25,600 So I don't know if mini scroll counts, probably not, but we're 66 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:28,960 here for you, Darshan. This is a press mentioned from 67 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:32,480 us. So this is from the tab quote on 68 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,320 on their road to the Grammys. Boethrob has performed at a 69 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:37,480 nursing home and in a public park. 70 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:40,200 They're still worlds away from selling out arenas, but 71 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:42,800 considering how fast they've grown their followers, nothing 72 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:45,160 is off limits. Across TikTok, they've dropped 73 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:49,200 covers of wicked somber, Sabrina Carpenter, K pop demon hunters, 74 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:51,480 cats I Taylor Swift and Olivia Dean. 75 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:54,280 Their repertoire is ever expanding. 76 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:56,920 I want to say part of their success is not just that they're 77 00:03:56,920 --> 00:04:00,600 documenting, you know, trying to get Darshan over to the US and 78 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:02,440 trying to win a Grammy and trying to build this boy. 79 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:06,080 And it's like, the style of content is also so funny. 80 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:07,880 That's why people are like, is this satire? 81 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:13,440 It is kind of like brain rot mixed with, like, 2000s music 82 00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:15,760 video culture. It's really interesting and 83 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:18,480 funny and bizarre and very chronically online. 84 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:21,720 So in response to the allegations that they are 85 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:24,160 satire, this is what they said. Quote. 86 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:26,880 While the reception is mainly positive, there are quite a few 87 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:30,160 unkind comments, mainly people asking if we're satire. 88 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:33,160 We know our content can seem playful and fun, but comments 89 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:36,400 like this really affect us as we are aspiring to be legitimate 90 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:38,200 artists. But we're not going to let the 91 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:40,640 negativity stop us. In fact, we've been actively 92 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:43,760 using it as fuel to prove the haters wrong, which is why we 93 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:46,520 are currently in the process of creating original music. 94 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:49,400 That's right, we're currently working on a debut single. 95 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:54,440 OK, so if the band is real, this narrative of getting Sean over 96 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:57,440 to America through reaching 1,000,000 followers and the 97 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:01,400 press mentions like all of that is honestly marketing genius. 98 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:04,680 Because we know that right now the music industry has this huge 99 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:08,920 focus on follower count, right? And artists are expected to play 100 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:12,560 a huge role in promoting their own songs through social media 101 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:15,360 now. So this gets them ahead of that. 102 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:18,640 Like they're getting all of that tough stuff like building a 103 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:21,680 following, getting organic press mentions, becoming part of the 104 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:24,320 cultural zeitgeist in general. Like they're getting all of that 105 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:27,080 out of the way first. And now they have millions of 106 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:29,800 people invested in them. So I actually think that this is 107 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:32,800 a really great strategy. I don't know if it will really 108 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:37,040 translate to like longevity if they do let's say, like release 109 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:40,200 an original album, if they'll be able to sell out stadiums and 110 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:42,880 actually win a Grammy and like actually develop fans or if this 111 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:45,280 is more of just like an in joke with the people that are 112 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:48,240 following them right now. But either way, it's working. 113 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:50,120 Whatever they're doing so far is working. 114 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:53,200 They hit a million followers in basically one month. 115 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:55,320 Darshan is getting press mentions. 116 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:57,800 He's on his way to America soon, I'm sure. 117 00:05:57,800 --> 00:05:59,680 And yeah, it's all working out for them. 118 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:02,800 OK, the next story that I have for you guys is a creator on 119 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:06,840 TikTok is going viral after proposing to her partner of 14 120 00:06:06,840 --> 00:06:09,880 years this weekend. So a creator named Estella is 121 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:12,960 the talk of relationship talk right now after she took the 122 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:16,320 viewers along on her experience proposing to her partner of 14 123 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:18,280 years. They have children together. 124 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,840 I will say the reports on how many kids they have is very 125 00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:23,640 conflicting. It's either two children or 126 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:25,520 four. And they also currently live 127 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:27,520 with his parents. She said that she wants to 128 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:31,000 propose to him because she wants to be married and he's never 129 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:33,120 proposed. Even though she said that he 130 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:36,120 tells her that, you know, he wants to spend the rest of his 131 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:38,480 life with her. They have children together, 132 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:41,080 they've been together for so long, but he's just never gotten 133 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:44,520 around to proposing. So this has sparked such intense 134 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:47,680 discourse online around the whole like if he wanted to, he 135 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:50,360 would narrative. Lots of women are saying that 136 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:53,440 this is an example of when you leave your man, like you deserve 137 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:54,760 better. If he won't give you the 138 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:58,160 commitment that you want and have wanted this entire time 139 00:06:58,280 --> 00:07:01,320 while still having children with you, that's not a man that 140 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:03,040 respects you. That's what people are saying. 141 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:06,080 It's also sparked a whole trend of women asking their husbands 142 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:08,960 what they would do that they proposed to them after being 143 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:11,640 together for 14 years and getting their husband's 144 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:14,120 reactions on camera did. You guys hear about the girl 145 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:16,760 that proposed to her boyfriend of 14 years and they even have 146 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:19,720 like two children together. I just want to know like what 147 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:22,000 was in her decision making process that made her think 148 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:24,880 like, you know what, this man has been with me for 14 years. 149 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:26,920 He's never proposed. I'm just going to go ahead and 150 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:28,680 take that load off of his shoulder and I'll propose for 151 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:30,160 him. Like I just don't get that 152 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:31,600 process. Like because we all know as 153 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,520 women, especially if he really wanted to, he would. 154 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,200 So I just want to know like what do you guys think about this? 155 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:40,920 Like my honest opinion is like, more power to you girl. 156 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:42,640 Like if this is where you felt like you were in the 157 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:45,200 relationship, like I'm just going to go ahead and put the 158 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:46,920 pants on and do what I need to do. 159 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:50,200 I get it. But like a are you genuinely 160 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:53,600 happy and B how much of the pants do you wear in the 161 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:55,760 relationship? I don't think that proposing to 162 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:58,560 your partner, to your boyfriend, whatever is cringe. 163 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:01,080 I have a few friends who have proposed to their partners and 164 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:03,160 it's like if you want to get married just do it. 165 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:05,880 Like you definitely don't need to wait for your man to be the 166 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:08,480 one to propose. However, what most people seem 167 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:11,160 to have an issue with is that she's wanted this for so long. 168 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:13,960 Like they've been together for 14 years and he still wouldn't 169 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:15,720 do it. And a lot of people are saying 170 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:18,000 that is giving red flag. So I'm interested to hear your 171 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:21,520 guys's perspective on this. I think for me, if marriage was 172 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:25,040 so important to me, I probably wouldn't have children with a 173 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:27,880 man who wasn't at least on the same page with me. 174 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:31,440 It with that, like, I don't know, I, I think I would care to 175 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:33,880 be married or at least engaged. Like knowing that that is 176 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:36,280 something like that. I really want, I really want 177 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:37,799 that for my future with this person. 178 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:40,559 So it's like, OK, if you want to have kids with me, if we want to 179 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:43,039 start a family together, like I need that level of commitment. 180 00:08:43,039 --> 00:08:46,680 I think that is probably where I land on that. 181 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,800 But I'm interested to hear what your guys opinion is. 182 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:52,000 Reminder, Please remember to rate, review and subscribe if 183 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:54,000 you guys like mini scroll. We're trying to get to 1000 184 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:55,920 Spotify star ratings by the end of the year. 185 00:08:56,960 --> 00:08:59,800 OK, the next story that I have for you guys is a quick update 186 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:03,480 on the TikTok Awards, the whole saga that I reported on back on 187 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:05,840 Friday. So TikTok Australia has made a 188 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:10,280 public address about the racism and all of the event backlash 189 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:12,320 that occurred. So for an incredibly high level 190 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:15,200 recap, there's several black creators who have come out, some 191 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:16,720 of them nominees, some of them not. 192 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:20,400 Regardless, creators who were at the awards saying that they 193 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:23,960 experienced racism specifically from the photographers at the 194 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:28,000 media wall and event staff. So this has really blown up even 195 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:31,080 more over the weekend. However, I will still say that 196 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:34,080 mainstream media has not covered this yet. 197 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:37,760 At the time of recording, none of the mainstream media that was 198 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:40,600 on the red carpet, as far as I've been able to find has 199 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:43,040 actually covered this. I mean, aside from us, but I 200 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:44,880 wouldn't consider us mainstream media at all. 201 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:48,600 So TikTok has now issued a statement on TikTok in a 202 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:50,480 carousel. They said we are all deeply 203 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:53,280 upset that some of our valued guests had a negative experience 204 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:55,880 at this year's TikTok Awards and we wanted to address our 205 00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:58,600 community personally. This year's event was the 206 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:01,200 biggest ever with more than 5000 guests. 207 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:04,240 The huge increase and change of venue was to accommodate more of 208 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:07,320 our valued creator community who previously couldn't attend due 209 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:09,920 to capacity. Tickets for everyone were free. 210 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:12,440 It was always our intention for everyone to walk the red carpet, 211 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:15,160 but two hours before guests arrived, the venue's risk 212 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:17,840 management team told us a severe storm was coming and it was not 213 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:21,040 safe for our media wall and some activations to proceed. 214 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:23,600 In the interest of safety, we made the decision to move 215 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:27,120 inside, having the space available and making the flow of 216 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:28,880 people throughout the venue challenging. 217 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:31,520 We sincerely apologize to anyone who felt excluded or 218 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:33,520 uncomfortable at this year's TikTok Awards. 219 00:10:33,560 --> 00:10:36,160 Our amazing and diverse community is what makes TikTok 220 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:38,960 great, and the awards are designed to celebrate that. 221 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:42,000 More than 1/3 of this year's nominees were from culturally or 222 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:43,880 linguistically diverse backgrounds. 223 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:47,000 Our priority is always to maintain a safe, positive, and 224 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:48,640 inclusive environment for everyone. 225 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:51,760 We appreciate the feedback to help us improve future events. 226 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:54,840 So instead of going into this again and also inserting my 227 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:58,120 opinion over top of, you know, the women who are speaking out 228 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:00,840 about this, the creators of color, the black women, I don't 229 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:02,640 want to be doing that in this situation. 230 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:06,600 So I'm going to actually direct you guys to a newsletter by Z 231 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:08,680 Feed by my friend Crystal Andrews. 232 00:11:08,680 --> 00:11:12,800 She is the founder of Z Feed and she spoke to TikTok Australia's 233 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:15,000 PR team. She spoke to Niall, who was the 234 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:16,680 first creator that spoke out about this. 235 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:20,240 She spoke to various different sources to figure out what 236 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:22,080 happened here, how this could have happened. 237 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:25,720 And she put together a piece that essentially dissects 238 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:31,240 Australias racism problem in the media and how lack of safeguards 239 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:34,800 in place because of like this quote UN quote weather event and 240 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:36,080 having to move everything inside. 241 00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:41,160 How that kind of contributed to allowing the discernment to fall 242 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:44,240 on the individuals, as in the photographers of who gets their 243 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:48,040 photo taken and who doesn't. Because creators were not made 244 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:51,280 aware that, you know, their position at the awards change, 245 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:53,760 that people didn't want their photos unless they were nominees 246 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:58,760 and media was not necessarily briefed well on kind of these 247 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:01,280 changes. And therefore allowing the 248 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:04,840 discernment to fall on an individual is what brings out 249 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:08,120 that individual's bias and bigotry and racism and 250 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:09,840 discrimination. The root of it is that the 251 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:13,400 Australian media industry is incredibly racist and there is 252 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:17,000 nowhere near enough diversity and you know, because of the 253 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:21,080 logistical issues that racism was able to present itself. 254 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:25,000 So anyway, she did a much better job of explaining that in her 255 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:27,000 piece. So I will link it down below and 256 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:29,120 I highly suggest you guys go read it. 257 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:30,800 OK. And the last story that I have 258 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:35,160 for you guys is there is this Black Friday quote UN quote scam 259 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:37,520 by Michael's craft store that is going viral. 260 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:41,720 So a gaming creator named AJ has gone viral after she exposed 261 00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:45,400 what she has called, quote, the biggest Black Friday scam that 262 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:48,240 she's ever seen at Michael's. For those who are not in North 263 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:51,720 America, at Michaels is a craft store across the US and Canada. 264 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:55,000 AJ is a big crafter so she buys a lot of things from Michaels. 265 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:57,880 Specifically, she builds winter villages with small wooden 266 00:12:57,880 --> 00:12:59,640 houses that she gets at Michaels. 267 00:12:59,920 --> 00:13:02,600 So yesterday she made a video explaining that she went to 268 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:04,800 Michaels to buy some on Black Friday sale. 269 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:08,800 The price of these houses are normally $6.49. 270 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:12,800 Michaels had them marked as 50% off for Black Friday, so she 271 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:15,520 expects to go into the store and that she'd be able to buy them 272 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:18,800 for $3.20. However, when she went into the 273 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:23,840 store, the houses were tagged newly as costing 1299, which 274 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:28,440 meant with the 50% Black Friday discount, they actually ended up 275 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:31,520 costing more. I mean by 1 cent, but still, 276 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:35,200 they ended up costing more than they normally would have without 277 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:37,160 Black Friday. So she was essentially 278 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:40,960 insinuating that they marked the price up and then put it on 279 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:44,200 Black Friday sale so they could essentially charge like the same 280 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:46,560 amount. She also noted that many items 281 00:13:46,560 --> 00:13:49,080 that were marked for Black Friday had the price stickers 282 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:52,680 ripped off the display items. So you were unable to see what 283 00:13:52,680 --> 00:13:54,640 the original price was. And then they were like, these 284 00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:56,440 are 50% off and it's like from what? 285 00:13:56,440 --> 00:13:58,440 We can't even see what the original price was. 286 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:01,800 However, a lot of the items that were not on Black Friday sale, 287 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:04,400 they still had the display price stickers. 288 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:07,560 So that led her to believe that Michaels was doing shady pricing 289 00:14:07,560 --> 00:14:10,440 stuff with basically most of their Black Friday items. 290 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:13,120 These are 50% off today, so I thought I was going to come in 291 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:17,200 here and get it for $3.20 No 1299. 292 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:20,560 It cost more today. Than it usually does. 293 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:24,920 Editing me bumping in here. What I meant is that it cost 294 00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:27,600 more on the Black Friday. Sale to buy it. 295 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:31,000 With the 50% off than it would to buy it on a regular day, OK. 296 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:33,280 We all hear about. Items being marked up on Black 297 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:36,800 Friday? No, it was costing more to buy 298 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:39,120 it with the 50% off than it would to buy on a regular. 299 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:41,800 Price the week before let. Me show you something else. 300 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:46,960 Anything that's on sale on Black Friday today has had the tag 301 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:50,600 removed. Anything that's not on sale 302 00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:53,240 hasn't had it removed. So if it's only on these items 303 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:56,440 that have had the tags removed, you ready for the most insane. 304 00:14:56,480 --> 00:14:58,600 Part. Price check. 305 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:00,280 There used to be a price check here. 306 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:02,720 Every single price check has been removed. 307 00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:04,200 I was here last week, they were here. 308 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:06,760 Now, there were tons of people in her comments section 309 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:10,160 explaining that a lot of stores do this, but there were also 310 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:12,560 some people who have come out saying that they noticed the 311 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:14,720 same thing at their local Michael store. 312 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:17,880 So one woman in particular claims that she went in to look 313 00:15:17,880 --> 00:15:20,280 at Christmas trees before Black Friday. 314 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:21,880 She took a photo of the one she wanted. 315 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:25,080 So the price was in that photo. She went back during Black 316 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:29,600 Friday and the store had upped the price by $50 and then quote, 317 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:33,000 UN quote, put it on sale. So Michaels has responded to AJ 318 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:36,280 about the situation. She now says that some of the 319 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:38,760 information she put in her original video was maybe not 320 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:41,960 totally accurate. But the important thing here is 321 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:45,640 that the information that she provided in that first video, 322 00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:49,080 she has said this is, you know, like what she was able to gather 323 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:53,320 from the information she had. She was like any general 324 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:57,120 consumer, would assume these things based on what I was 325 00:15:57,120 --> 00:15:59,480 seeing and what I was hearing. I don't want to take my video 326 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:03,040 down, I think that's wrong, but I do feel like the information I 327 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:06,720 gave in the video might not be 100% correct. 328 00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:11,640 Now as the consumer, this is all the information that I had. 329 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:13,920 Nobody was giving me an explanation until I had 4 330 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:16,000 million views and Michael's employees were messaging me. 331 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:19,680 So I expect that there are plenty of people that were in 332 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:23,680 the store and saw the same exact thing from me that I saw with no 333 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:26,080 explanation. So I still do believe that they 334 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:28,840 are scamming and deceiving people, whether or not they tell 335 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:30,320 you the reasons for things or not. 336 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:34,360 From the information that I have received, I believe that the 337 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:39,480 house has been 649 since the day it came on the shelves, but it's 338 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:43,760 been 50% off the entire time. They were never technically 339 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:46,880 selling it for 1299 because they advertised their Christmas stuff 340 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:50,600 as 50% off the whole time. Now, is Michael's the only store 341 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:53,240 in the world to do this? No, but it's a new model that 342 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:58,000 I've seen and have experienced this holiday season that things 343 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:00,320 are on sale as soon as they hit the shelf. 344 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:04,680 So this house that I've been buying for 649 since October 345 00:17:05,319 --> 00:17:09,920 must have had to be honest, a 50% off Christmas in that 346 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:12,760 section. But they removed the original 347 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:17,079 signs and replaced them all with one day Black Friday signage. 348 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:20,760 OK, Black Friday deal, just today you can get this item for 349 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:23,280 50% off. They took away the original sale 350 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:26,839 item, put the same sale back on, but slapped it on that this is a 351 00:17:26,839 --> 00:17:28,359 deal. It's only going to be happening 352 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:30,880 this one day. Now let's get to the scanner. 353 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:36,360 So what I've heard is that the scanner system changed, right? 354 00:17:36,360 --> 00:17:38,520 Like the programming that they were using, it changed and 355 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:42,000 Michaels was too lazy, literally the words of many people, and 356 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:46,720 too cheap to afford to fix it and pay for the new service, 357 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:48,560 right? So they just got rid of it all 358 00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:50,840 so that you have to use their app to scan items. 359 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:55,120 I have the app. I tried to scan items and 360 00:17:55,120 --> 00:17:59,280 anything that had the new tag on it, I could not scan. 361 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:04,840 It did not work. So if the whole truth is that 362 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:07,240 the scanners were not working, they were. 363 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:08,880 They didn't want to pay for them. 364 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:10,840 And they didn't just do this for Black Friday. 365 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:15,280 OK, But I couldn't scan items. And as the consumer and as you 366 00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:17,640 know, as a human being, this is the information you're shown. 367 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:19,280 You're not hearing this explanation, right? 368 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:21,200 So what else are you supposed to believe? 369 00:18:22,120 --> 00:18:26,160 Now, for the price tags, plenty of people are telling me that 370 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:29,360 the reason it's ripped off and placed with new tags is because 371 00:18:29,360 --> 00:18:32,000 of tariffs. OK, They didn't know the price 372 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:34,520 that it was going to be. They shipped them in and made 373 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:36,880 employees stick the individual stickers on. 374 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:42,560 So those are the technical 3 reasons for why that those 375 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:44,920 things might have happened. But has Michaels made a 376 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:45,920 statement? No. 377 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:49,920 I think something we can really take away from this episode in 378 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:52,400 general, especially with the TikTok awards and now with this 379 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:54,800 Michaels thing. And this is no surprise, right? 380 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:57,800 Like we know this about TikTok, but TikTok in so many ways has 381 00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:02,360 given the power to the consumer, to the individual, and that can 382 00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:07,400 really challenge systems, right, and corporations and 383 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:09,480 exploitation. So what that is what I would 384 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:12,000 like to take away from these final two stories. 385 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:15,480 Is that positive in it? I never even thought about the 386 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:18,600 fact that stores when they put things on sale, could up the 387 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:20,720 price 1st and then be like, look, it's on sale. 388 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:23,360 That literally never even crossed my mind. 389 00:19:23,360 --> 00:19:26,520 And now I'm going to be so aware of this and because, and that's 390 00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:28,600 all because of TikTok. Anyways, guys, that's it for 391 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:30,680 mini scroll today. Thank you so much for listening. 392 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:33,120 I love you guys. Please remember to rate, review, 393 00:19:33,120 --> 00:19:35,400 and subscribe. 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