Unbox Therapy
Unbox Therapy | |||||||||||||
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | Lewis George Hilsenteger[1] May 5, 1984 Toronto, Canada [1] | ||||||||||||
| Nationality | Canadian | ||||||||||||
| Education | Toronto School of Art[1] | ||||||||||||
| Occupation | Filmmaker, tech reviewer, producer, comedian | ||||||||||||
| Website | unboxtherapy | ||||||||||||
| YouTube information | |||||||||||||
| Channels | UnboxTherapy | ||||||||||||
| Years active | 2010–present | ||||||||||||
| Subscribers | 10.9 million [2] | ||||||||||||
| Total views | 2 billion[2] | ||||||||||||
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| Updated May 24, 2018 | |||||||||||||
Lewis George Hilsenteger (born May 5, 1984), also known by his online alias, Unbox Therapy, is a Canadian YouTube personality. His channel has over 10 million subscribers, making it the most subscribed technology channel on YouTube.[3][4]
Personal Life
Lewis currently lives in Toronto, Canada. He is married and has one son. Lewis also has an older brother.[1]
Early Life
Lewis grew up in Toronto, Canada with his older brother. He briefly attended the Toronto School of Art for photography & video editing. Eventually Lewis began working at a computer repair shop called iUpgrade, where he eventually rose to the role of “president.” Lewis maintained the shop until March 2011, when he decided to work full time on his YouTube channel.[1][5]
Career
Beginnings
Lewis started Unbox Therapy while he was working in a small computer repair shop that solely sold upgrades for Apple computers. He realized that the questions his customers were asking him could be answered really well in videos. Lewis saw a business opportunity and founded Unbox Therapy.[1][6]
Originally all of the gadgets shown were paid for out of Lewis’s own pocket. Lewis often bought items for his own amusement, so his initial plan was just to film his reaction and give his honest opinion about his everyday buys.[1]
Internet Celebrity
In November 2016, the Unbox Therapy channel uploaded a video depicting himself sitting on top of hundreds of iPhone cases in the back of a pickup truck. Lewis claiming he was going to giveaway 1000 iPhones. However, controversy emerged when it was revealed that he had only given away 9.[7] This led to several media outlets & fellow YouTubers to reveal the contest to be a scam. Lewis quickly deleted all videos surrounding the incident.[8][9]
Unbox Therapy As A Brand
To kick off 2017 Unbox Therapy teamed with Mercedes Benz to run a contest via a YouTube video uploaded to his channel. This contest required viewers to guess the amount of plastic ballpit spears within a vehicle. This video was later edited into various lengths and reproduced as an official Mercedes Benz commercial which appeared on various platforms outside of YouTube. The commercial continued to run in the form of internet banner ads throughout the entire 2017 calendar year.[10][11]
On February 28th Unbox Therapy received a custom Coco Cola cooler, and branded bottles that displayed his likeness. Initially the origin of the package was claimed to be unknown. However, this unboxing turned out to be a publicity stunt by Coca Cola. Whether or not Lewis was in on the stunt has not been verified.[12] Late that Spring, Lewis was nominated for a Shorty Award, in the STEM category, but lost to Bill Nye.[13]
YouTube Channel
Partnerships
Although Lewis does not publicly list the companies he has worked with however there have been several high profile partnerships which have resulted in commercials, or curated giveaways featuring Lewis & the Unbox Therapy channel. These include Ford, Mercedes, Oreo, and Forbes Magazine.[14]
Kick Starters
The Unbox Therapy channel has been used by many technology companies to promote their kickstarters. Many of these kickstarters feature unlisted YouTube videos that are only available by accessing the KickStarter homepage. Usually these videos depict Lewis unboxing and reviewing the product. However, some will have Lewis introduce the company, its history, and its goals.[15][16][17][18]
Other Ventures
Branded Products
In summer 2013, Lew teamed with the subscription box delivery company Quarterly to create a curated gift box that users can order. This box comes with several tech products that are approved by Lew, once every quarter, so 4 times a year. The box has since been discontinued.[1][19]
Music
Lewis maintains a sponsored Spotify and Soundcloud channels. Lewis also maintains a Twitch channel dedicated to his music.[20][21]
Controversy
Bendgate
This event gained national attention from various news outlets.[1][22][23][24] Some had questioned Lewis’s video as being fake, since at about the 1:38 mark of the video, the iPhone's clock reads "2:26" and then it reads "1:58" 40 seconds later. However, Hilsenteger blamed the apparent time-travel incident on its production, specifically the mix of angles the video uses. To prove the video’s legitimacy, Lewis uploaded a 3 minute long, uncut version of the video.[25]
The media attention surrounding the controversy forced Apple to take action and strengthen the metal lining of the case for future production, while providing replacements to those afflicted by the original’s poor design. [26][27][28]
iPhone Giveaway
On October 28th 2015 Lewis uploaded a video to his Unbox Therapy channel claiming that he was going to give away hundreds of iPhones. However, by February 5th 2016 only 9 iPhones had been shipped to winners.[7]
Several fans picked up on the apparent scam, and posted the possible deception on various internet communities. Other YouTubers began making videos declaring Lewis’s giveaway a scam. These accusations led to Lewis quickly deleting all related content to the giveaway.[7][8][9]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 "10 Things You Don't Know About Unbox Therapy". techbotinc.com. 2016-08-20.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Unbox Therapy Social Book Profile". socialbook.io.
- ↑ "Top 100 Most Subscribed Tech YouTube Channels". vistatsx.com.
- ↑ "Top 10 Most Popular Tech YouTube Channels". engadget.com.
- ↑ "Lewis Hilsentenger LinkedIn Profile". linkedin.com.
- ↑ "Toronto Unboxing Pioneer A YouTube Celebrity". thestar.com.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Unbox Therapy's Fake "HUGE iPhone Giveaway". imgur.com.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Unbox Therapy Exposed". neogaf.com.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Meet The Anonymous Watchdog Who Broke The CSGO Betting Scandal". kotaku.com.
- ↑ "Hype Video Fills A Mercedes Benz With Balls". motoworldhype.com.
- ↑ "Unbox Therapy Wants You To Guess How Many Balls Are In His Mercedes". autoeveolution.com. 2017-01-31.
- ↑ "From One Fan To Another, The Story Behind Unbox Therapy's Coca Cola Cooler". coca-cola.uk.
- ↑ "9th Annual Shorty Awards". shortyawards.com.
- ↑ "Unbox Therapy Forbes Profile". forbes.com.
- ↑ "Fantom Wallet - The Quick Access Slim Wallet". kickstarter.com.
- ↑ "World's Top Tech YouTuber - Unbox Therapy reviews Square Off". kickstarter.com.
- ↑ "Meet Lou: The REAL Electric Skateboard. She's a sure thing". kickstarter.com.
- ↑ "Kickstarter Makes iPhone Case With Android Operating System". teenvogue.com.
- ↑ "Now on Quarterly: Unbox Therapy". quarterly.com.
- ↑ "Unbox Therapy on Spotify". spotify.com.
- ↑ "Unbox Therapy on Soundcloud". soundcloud.com.
- ↑ "Apple iPhone Bend". cnn.com. 2014-09-24.
- ↑ "BendGate Unbent Apple And Viral iPhone 6 Plus Bender Are Both Right". forbes.com.
- ↑ "Apple Does Not Say Sorry Over Bendgate". forbes.com.
- ↑ "Lewis Hilsenteger Responds To Allegations That Unbox Therapy iPhone 6 Plus BendGate Video May Be Fake". techtimes.com. October 2014.
- ↑ "Guy Who Bent iPhone 6 With Bare Hands Says Problem Has Been Fixed In iPhone 6". venturebeat.com. 2015-08-10.
- ↑ "Apple Isn't Ignoring Bendgate, Will Replace Affected Devices". cultofmac.com. 2014-09-25.
- ↑ "Apple Has Fixed The Bending iPhone Issue". businessinsider.com.
External links
This article "Unbox Therapy" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Unbox Therapy. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
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