Videogamer.TV: KSI and Xbox: Why Microsoft Got it Wrong

That KSI guy looks like a real piece of work and I agree that it's a major fuck-up by Microsoft to use a guy who acts like that as a 'face' for their brand. Good on Matt Lees for calling them out on it, I enjoy his humourous video content, but there's a proper journalist there too.

I follow quite a few games journalists on twitter and many of them have been saying things like "Why isn't it common knowledge that a lot of youtubers take cash to cover games?" amid general whining. Isn't it kind of the role of the so-called journalist to cover that kind of practice and expose that side of the industry?

Edit: and by cover I mean, write an article or produce a piece of content exposing it, rather than gripe on Social Media.
 
You clearly didn't watch the video or see ANY of Microsoft's marketing on the One. Their target audience in the family.

And, I have to say, that was a great video. I've often championed media literacy education - we now live in a world where we perpetually consume media and most people are given the tools on how to interpret the messages they're being bombarded with or how to critically analyze them.

That may be the case, but half the media features aren't even available in the UK. Microsoft won't have enough confidence in this being a box for all of the family, and I think it'll remain a CoD and FIFA box in this country.

Microsoft might be hoping for more, but that's their best bet.
 
I had never heard of this fella but that where are your tits clip made me rage, what the fuck is that dude's problem? Dude should be sued for SH for doing stuff like that.

Pretty stupid from MS to associate with a person like that.
 
Never heard about this KSI guy and never saw any of his videos, but after watching this I am glad.

Microsoft's PR sometimes looks like it fails to grasp what gaming audience is like and what it wants. Pretty sure their target audience isn't 13year olds who like rape jokes, but sometimes it coincides and it's hard for them to tell it apart.
 
I think the worst one is when he asks that girl "What are you doing not fingering yourself?"

Yeah, the guy's a total piece of shit. Glad he got banned from future expos, but it's a shame he continues to get corporate work. Unless you're trying to be edgy and appeal to the humour of 12 year old boys (or dumb chavs), he's pretty much the last person you'd want to hire to promote your console.
 
I didn't knew this KSI character but from the samples in this video he is a proper asshole indeed. I understand why Matt goes for the Microsoft family brand angle and it being inappropriate to have such a polemic representative but Microsoft knows that early adopters are the militant ones that are more inclined to be KSI subscribers, they'll target families afterwards. And they are betting on family targets being completely oblivious to who KSI is in the first place and unfortunately they are right. So from a marketing perspective, Microsoft is "right".
 
That thing he did at EGX was one of the douchiest things I've ever seen. Class-A asshole behaviour.
I don't understand how people can be that mean to other people.
 
What is lame about this guy KSI is that he asked that question to girls who were working and were taped on camera. Basically limiting them from telling him off, which most girls would have told him had this not been on tape or at their working place.

So not only is he harassing girls, he is also doing it in a very protected setting. Douche 2x

If this happened in a club, the girls would have told him to go suck his own mothers sagging tits and leave them alone or get his ass kicked by their boyfriends and their friends.

But that is not really point of the video, Matt is basically questioning why Microsoft, a company that could have aligned themselves with anyone, chose this guy. They probably were not aware of his "content" and just saw his subscriber base and went with that.
 
KSI is an idiot.
I don't care about the corporate angle, don't hire him because he's behaving like a pig.
 
KSI is a cool dude. He has both consoles as well.

Fair enough this guy doesn't enjoy KSI's sense of humour.

I don't appreciate this dudes whiny videos. Turned it off after a minute.
Oh he has both consoles? Well that makes it ok to record sexually harassing women in public. He should've mentioned that to the Eurogamer Expo people who banned him from the event, right after telling them they just don't get his sense of humor.

What the god damn shit?

This video is my sole exposure to this guy. Maybe he's a decent entertainer or whatever, gotta be some reasonable explanation for those 4 million subscribers. But based on this video there's no arguing that this guy has no business acting as a public representative for any company that would have a problem with making it look like they're endorsing this kind of behavior. I'm glad Eurogamer banned him.
 
Fuck me when he asked that girl where her boobs had gone. Deserves a smack in the face.

I was waiting for her to clatter him.

Still, I watched the whole video waiting for them to show some inappropriateness during one of his MS gigs. I get the point that he is making though.
 
I watched one of KSI's videos once, I think where he was insulting people dressed up as characters or something. The kind of harassment that he was dishing out to girls was vomit inducing.

Hated the guy ever since then. Joking, teasing, and flirting is fine. BUT what he did that in that video was not something that was acceptable.

Women too are human beings beyond boobs etc, and some respect needs to be accorded.MS using this man is just baseless. They should have gone beyond the subscriber count and seen whether this guy is good enough to represent a corporate. There is a thing called ethics and values.
 
Im sorry but how can people take offence to this. So guy makes funny videos on youtube for his subscribers and has jokes with women. Fair enough you dont think he is funny but he should then crawl into a hole and die?

This is worst than his suda 51 video. Taking offence to something completely unrelated to him to get views.
 
He's crude shock humor. "Where are your tits?" made me laugh. It's not nice but it's like when a comedian starts ragging on someone in the audience. Probably sucks to be that person getting roasted but nearly everyone else in the crowd gets a laugh out of it which is the entire of point of it to begin with.

KSI definitely isn't for everyone or those who abhor anything that could possibly offend anybody anywhere under any circumstance. But hey, few people are. Companies go with this guy because they want to be edgy to the audience that he has and then, say MS for example, runs super PG commercials during football games (although I think there might be a beer in them somewhere so that probably offends someone somewhere as much as KSI offends this dude) to get people that aren't going to be turned on by edgy content like that.
 
He's crude shock humor. "Where are your tits?" made me laugh. It's not nice but it's like when a comedian starts ragging on someone in the audience. Probably sucks to be that person getting roasted but nearly everyone else in the crowd gets a laugh out of it which is the entire of point of it to begin with.

Wow. Just... Wow.
 
Dude's an asshole. Yeah. But the guy who spent 8 1/2 minutes doing a video to defame another guy doing the same job he's doing is in the wrong too.

Different audiences speak to different people.

If there was someone at the butt of the jokes saying something, I'd be behind that person
 
Wow. Just... Wow.

You're unfamiliar with stand up comedy?

I think the extremely sheltered PC life most GAFfers seem to have grown up in completely shields them to the reality of what everyday life actually is. Pro-tip: It's not peaches and cream where everyone is a lovely individual with a kind spirit and a heart of gold towards every stranger they meet.
 
He's crude shock humor. "Where are your tits?" made me laugh. It's not nice but it's like when a comedian starts ragging on someone in the audience. Probably sucks to be that person getting roasted but nearly everyone else in the crowd gets a laugh out of it which is the entire of point of it to begin with.

Bullshit. The difference is that when you go to see a comedian you have the expectation that he might pick on someone in the audience, whereas this dickhead is going up to people at a trade show or in the high street and asking completely inappropriate questions.
 
Bullshit. The difference is that when you go to see a comedian he might pick on someone in the audience, whereas this dickhead is going up to people at a trade show or in the high street and asking completely inappropriate questions.

I'm not saying it was nice and kind. He was being a dick. That's his thing. He went there and did his shtick. If someone had punched him or told him off, I would think, "fair." When he got a lifetime ban, I think, "makes sense".

I just can't get as shocked as you guys over the revelation that people aren't always nice, not everyone is PC, and that some will make a joke at others expense.
 
Dude's an asshole. Yeah. But the guy who spent 8 1/2 minutes doing a video to defame another guy doing the same job he's doing is in the wrong too.

..

Not sure where the defamation comes from when he is just reporting facts about his work and the past, Lees isn't making up anything.

You're unfamiliar with stand up comedy?

I think the extremely sheltered PC life most GAFfers seem to have grown up in completely shields them to the reality of what everyday life actually is. Pro-tip: It's not peaches and cream where everyone is a lovely individual with a kind spirit and a heart of gold towards every stranger they meet.

Dear god man, no.

Its got nothing to do with the humor (or lack thereof) or whether you enjoy it, as Lees clearly stated its the use of someone whose fame is based on a brand of humor which is far from family friendly being used as a spokesperson for a company which caters to the whole family. Its a dirty cynical little bit of marketing from such companies, "official" microsoft mouthpieces wouldn't go around asking strangers at trade shows "where are your tits?".
 
He's crude shock humor. "Where are your tits?" made me laugh. It's not nice but it's like when a comedian starts ragging on someone in the audience. Probably sucks to be that person getting roasted but nearly everyone else in the crowd gets a laugh out of it which is the entire of point of it to begin with.

KSI definitely isn't for everyone or those who abhor anything that could possibly offend anybody anywhere under any circumstance. But hey, few people are. Companies go with this guy because they want to be edgy to the audience that he has and then, say MS for example, runs super PG commercials during football games (although I think there might be a beer in them somewhere so that probably offends someone somewhere as much as KSI offends this dude) to get people that aren't going to be turned on by edgy content like that.
Personally I think it's more like recording sexually harassing female PR reps trying to do their job at a public games expo. I don't think they bought tickets for this comedy show. And "being a comedian" isn't a free pass for shitty behavior.

Your attempt at making us look bad for thinking he looks bad is bad.
 
KSI is an absolute shit. I worked with a production company earlier in the year and they ended up making a couple of videos with him because of this 4 million subscriber number. At least one of the people involved knew about the Eurogamer video, but no idea if anyone else did which is very, very disappointing.

I've taken my girlfriend to trade shows before such as Eurogamer and Gamescom and she already finds it extremely awkward when you have a tirade of men ogling booth babes - stuff like this, like Matt says, does put women off from attending the events.

Its not like us gamers have a good reputation with women to begin with. We get stereotyped all the time.

On a side note, I cant tell you how many women I've dated hear "gamer" and think "I've got to compete those games..."
 
In a video titled “KSI being awkward in Eurogamer”, YouTuber KSIOlajidebt (real name Olajide Olatunji) sexually assaults a spokesmodel before naming another “Massive Tits” and asking a series of inappropriate questions to female attendees, including the absolutely vile “What are you doing not fingering yourself?”
http://www.sticktwiddlers.com/2012/10/05/youtube-celeb-ksi-sexually-harasses-attendees-at-expo/

Yeah this guy's disgusting. It figures that EA and MS would be using him for marketing. But, their core demographic probably lines up pretty well with his audience.
 
I'm not saying it was nice and kind. He was being a dick. That's his thing. He went there and did his shtick. If someone had punched him or told him off, I would think, "fair." When he got a lifetime ban, I think, "makes sense".

I just can't get as shocked as you guys over the revelation that people aren't always nice, not everyone is PC, and that some will make a joke at others expense.

But people who do act like sexist dicks shouldn't be employed by family companies to endorse their products.
 
Not sure where the defamation comes from when he is just reporting facts about his work and the past, Lees isn't making up anything.

It comes off as him speaking for people who he thinks SHOULD be offended by the other guys humor. I listened to the entire 8 minutes. It's like all those people writing letters to Viacom for having Miley Cyrus/*Insert Rapper* at some popular event because they're popular.

In addition, of course his fanbase is starkly different/more mature than KSI's. That's fine. Setting fanbases against each other is weird though. It's like back when Nintendo was deriding Grand Theft Auto and its fans because it didn't want "Murder Simulators" to become the face of gaming instead of wholesome images like Mario.

And I'm not defending KSI. Just saying while the video highlights asshole behavior, it doesn't seem fairly balanced and neither does it seem as genuine as it should be.
 
Meanwhile Howard Stern is a judge on a family friendly primetime NBC series and Martin Lawrence stars in family movies and had a series on Fox.

I'm not saying dude is nice and that what he says is ok, but I also don't get the outrage over shock humor. It's not some new concept this guy invented and this is the first time anyone is experiencing it. It's been around forever. Howard Stern literally made his career off of "show me your tits" stuff way more extreme than this.

And what is this family friendly crap? Family friendly companies like Microsoft that built their game division on the backs of characters who shoot people in the face? EA who's biggest titles are about murdering people for fun? These companies make extreme content and some less extreme. Sometimes the advertise with extreme personalities that match the crudeness of some of the games and sometimes they advertise with more PC personalities that match the PC nature of some of their games. I don't get why this is so shocking.
 
Not sure where the defamation comes from when he is just reporting facts about his work and the past, Lees isn't making up anything.



Dear god man, no.

Its got nothing to do with the humor (or lack thereof) or whether you enjoy it, as Lees clearly stated its the use of someone whose fame is based on a brand of humor which is far from family friendly being used as a spokesperson for a company which caters to the whole family. Its a dirty cynical little bit of marketing from such companies, "official" microsoft mouthpieces wouldn't go around asking strangers at trade shows "where are your tits?".

what is this nonsense Im sure you've made far worse kinds of jokes around your family. God its like you guys are all claiming to be nuns for god's sake. Its clearly a joke and KSI himself god release forms from those people in hes videos anyway. I know this because one of my friends is also a famous youtuber who is close with KSI and they do alot of vids together. Their audience is teenage boys (which are part of the family). Microsoft arent appealing yo be a family console like Wii, they are trying to be the console for literally everyone. As in everyone can find something they enjoy in the the xbox ecosystem not that everything is for everyone.
 
It comes off as him speaking for people who he thinks SHOULD be offended by the other guys humor. I listened to the entire 8 minutes. It's like all those people writing letters to Viacom for having Miley Cyrus/*Insert Rapper* at some popular event because they're popular.

Not following you here matey, to my mind "defamation" is deliberately making up something in order to negatively impact another. Claiming that KSI had done something which was untrue would be defaming him, opining on his poor choice as a spokesperson for the MS brand isn't defamation.

Though I do hail from the North east of england, so I'd say english isn't my first language ;)
 
Whoa whoa! I should add for context that the "should probably be killed" bit was in reference to people who treat restaurant staff badly because they think that's part of the service they're paying for.

But yeah, I should probably also clarify that it was a joke. I don't actually think those people should be killed. Well, not whole-heartedly, anyway.

Glad the video is appreciated though - I find it worrying how many media outlets are more interested in 'leveraging the reach' of YouTubers to help promote their brands than they are in actually calling them out on their often abhorrent behavior. I expect the wave of KSI fans to crush me to death on Twitter within a couple of hours. Internet: It's been nice knowing you.

I find it bizarre you call out humor that is bad taste to many people and then joke about people being jerks to service staff deserving death. See any Issues with that? What if you were hired to do PR like this guy? Should you be banned from family venues because you joke about killing people?

I certainly don't think this KSI guy is someone I'd want to hang around with or use to promote my content, but the market speaks. Either this alone is enough of an issue that you refuse to patronize the companies that use him or you don't, ad you admit that one spokesperson's behavior doesn't really matter that much.
 
Not following you here matey, to my mind "defamation" is deliberately making up something in order to negatively impact another. Claiming that KSI had done something which was untrue would be defaming him, opining on his poor choice as a spokesperson for the MS brand isn't defamation.

Though I do hail from the North east of england, so I'd say english isn't my first language ;)

Oh grammar God, sorry I used the wrong word. My whole entire point is completely ruled null and void on this topic in this message board.

Maybe I meant to use Villify.
 
I just find all disingenuous when it's coming from Matt Lees.

Making jokes about a tragic death of someone seems to be acceptable where the person has no reply or recourse.

That's fine somehow?

I also think it's strange that Lees thinks it's some sort of expose of a person who is so widely "known" on youtube, as if he's discovered something 4 million people and KSI's sponsors haven't.

Bit baffled to say the least.
 
^ Meanwhile Howard Stern is a judge on a family friendly primetime NBC series and Martin Lawrence stars in family movies and had a series on Fox.

I'm not saying dude is nice and that what he says is ok, but I also don't get the outrage over shock humor. It's not some new concept this guy invented and this is the first time anyone is experiencing it. It's been around forever. Howard Stern literally made his career off of "show me your tits" stuff way more extreme than this.

And what is this family friendly crap? Family friendly companies like Microsoft that built their game division on the backs of characters who shoot people in the face? EA who's biggest titles are about murdering people for fun? These companies make extreme content and some less extreme. Sometimes the advertise with extreme personalities that match the crudeness of some of the games and sometimes they advertise with more PC personalities that match the PC nature of some of their games. I don't get why this is so shocking.


I think you're getting hung up on the shock aspect, I'm not shocked, people like him are 10 a penny in any local pub.
 
For French people it's kinda like getting Dieudonné doing the promotion of the latest iphone....
That's pretty much a sure way to kill your brand.
Seriously this guy is a grade A douche.
And he was at the launch event in London?
I guess people at MSFT think it's ok to sexually harass booth babes...
 
He's crude shock humor. "Where are your tits?" made me laugh. It's not nice but it's like when a comedian starts ragging on someone in the audience. Probably sucks to be that person getting roasted but nearly everyone else in the crowd gets a laugh out of it which is the entire of point of it to begin with.

KSI definitely isn't for everyone or those who abhor anything that could possibly offend anybody anywhere under any circumstance. But hey, few people are. Companies go with this guy because they want to be edgy to the audience that he has and then, say MS for example, runs super PG commercials during football games (although I think there might be a beer in them somewhere so that probably offends someone somewhere as much as KSI offends this dude) to get people that aren't going to be turned on by edgy content like that.


Sexual harassment isn't "edgy" fucking humour. I'm all for 'edgy humour' so long as there is the slightest glimmer of wit driving it. The drivel that comes out of this gobshites mouth doesn't come close to anything a normal person could consider humour.

"What do you do when you're not fingering yourself?"

Jesus Christ. It's like something that a nine year old that's been raised by really shitty parents might come out with.
 
Top Bottom