YouTuber Jake Paul Holds Publicity Stunt For His Latest “Venture” Financial Freedom Movement

(Photo Credit: Rich Fury/Getty Images)

Bella Breakdown

The ever-attention seeking YouTuber, Jake Paul, is chasing the clout… again. In his latest “venture” coined the Financial Freedom Movement or FFM he wants to teach kids how to be financially independent. If you’re not sure of Jake Paul’s background in financial literacy just look at his brother and fellow YouTuber, Logan Paul, who revealed is spending money faster than he can make it with the reported annual income as of 2018 totaling to $14.5 million.

FFM was launched in partnership with GenZ Holdings Inc. which is a development group based out of Los Angeles that targets the Generation Z and Millenial audience. The subscription service is presented as a series of masterclasses from Paul himself and “multiple millionaires, expert trainers, and thought leaders.”

(Photo Credit: financialfreedommovement.com)

Only after a second of being on the website, you can already see Paul’s complete influence and is all about getting money. The front page throws out marketing phrases such as “How to live life on your terms. Achieve your dream goals, and have financial freedom.” The website claims they teach you how to “achieve financial freedom using social media and the internet.”

FFM claims that Paul will impart his wisdom on his “personal experience, rituals, and secret formula” claiming since he’s seen such success at a young age, following in his footsteps will help you “achieve your goals faster and easier than ever before.” The service also claims that you’ll get live weekly video coaching calls with Jake Paul, guest expert trainers, thought leaders, and influencers that are hand-selected by Paul.

(Photo Credit: financialfreedommovement.com)

There is a section that says who FFM is for and who it isn’t for, basically a lowkey liability disclaimer along with bashing the education system. You can see in the section describing who FFM isn’t for that they disclaim this isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme rather than education on being financially free. It then goes onto bash the education system that is being promoted to Paul’s fan base is teens of 13+ in age. They also address other parts of the page for younger applicants through the ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ section.

(Photo Credit: financialfreedommovement.com)

Does this relate to me if I’m young? Not only does this blatantly target children but they also go onto encourage their parents to pay for the subscription if they don’t have the money. One of the FAQs is “What if I don’t have the $20 to join?” and FFM suggests that kids have their parents “invest” in the subscription by sharing a pre-written letter for parents provided by FFM.

The ridiculous letter tries to convince parents that they should sign their kids up for this service as they want what’s best for their child. Then it goes onto call parents admirable for saving money to send their kids to college and goes on a tangent of how economic revolutions have changed the workforce including the advancement of artificial intelligence technology. The note ends attempting the convince the parent by saying, “You’re an amazing parent for even reading this, and giving your child this gift and opportunity.”

This whole concept of giving people financial freedom is great but this is just another cash grab to peddle Jake Paul’s content through a different platform, much like he has on YouTube. Much like his YouTube channel, the page entices the audience to share content promoting him for free through a contest to win prizes for the first 10,000 members to join including social media shoutouts from Jake Paul and “one of a kind limited edition” merch. FFM also offers the first 10,000 members to join a limited edition FFM t-shirt (only after filming a video and tagging Jake Paul and FFM), 50% off the membership, and a ticket to see Jake Paul’s 2020 Tour.

Not only is it a cash grab with free marketing for Jake Paul but there are no dates for his 2020 tour on ticket websites or social media. Last Saturday, Paul appeared for the supposed FFM launch event for a meet-and-greet then offered the people in attendance the honor of handing over their money for an FFM subscription and FFM merch. The event consisted of Jake Paul throwing dollar bills and merch off the second floor from his VIP section over the crowd of fans, consisting mostly of teenagers with some children chaperoned by their parents.

Only time will tell if Paul will see success with this new “venture” but if it’s anything like his previous “ventures,” it should be doomed for failure. Back in 2018 Jake Paul quietly launched an educational platform for influencers on the rise called Edfluence that provides pro tips being successful through social media fame. Similar to FFM the platform provides a short series of videos with tips and tricks from Jake Paul and other social influencers on Team 10 (Jake Paul’s team of influencers featured on his YouTube channel).

Edfluence subscription membership started at the base level of $7 which got you a video that is basically a broad explanation of Paul’s success through social media. After the video, the service prompted members to pay an additional $57 for full access to the rest of the platform and other videos.

People even pointed out the shady business model in which they have you pay $7 for what you think is the full subscription cost but you actually pay $7 to watch a video for Paul to tell you he can teach you for $57. Users also reported that Edfluence didn’t even advertise the $57 subscription plan and only would only advertise the $57 plan after spending the initial $7.

In case you were wondering of the success through Edfluence, you can be pleased to hear that the website is no longer active and the only remnants are the Twitter page (last post on December 2018 with a 50% off membership offer) along with a score of YouTube videos going into detail of how it is a scam.

If the Financial Freedom Movement will be anything like Edfluence, it’s sure to be a massive failure and marked as a scam.