YouTube won't send me my play button!
Recently I got a YouTube channel called "Don't Subscribe"
(exploding) to 1 million subscribers.
This was a really exciting moment for me.
I'd been working to get this channel
to a million for the past 12 months.
It was a collaboration
with the biggest YouTuber on the platform, MrBeast,
but the unique thing about "Don't Subscribe"
is that it doesn't have any videos.
So in order to get "Don't Subscribe" a million subscribers,
I had to promote it as much as possible on this channel,
JackSucksAtLife.
But anyway, once the channel reached a million subscribers,
I messaged MrBeast to ask him
if he could get one of his contacts at YouTube
to send us each a gold play button,
because if you don't know,
both me and MrBeast are pretty into our play buttons.
Not that I'm counting or anything,
but I do have slightly more play buttons than MrBeast.
But, you know, it's not a big deal or anything.
It's not a competition, guys.
But anyway, Jimmy messages his contact at YouTube
and that's when disaster struck.
The worst case scenario (mournful music)
came true.
Our suspicions were correct.
Because the channel has no videos,
it is ineligible for a play button.
But of course, I'm "JackSucksAtLife".
When I'm told I can't get a play button,
I get a play button anyway, okay?
Case in point, turdboi420.
So I decided this time,
if YouTube won't send me a play button,
I will make my own custom play button
using a real play button I've already got.
And then because it's custom, I could do whatever I want.
Now, you might also remember that the final challenge
in this "Don't Subscribe" series
was to get my Tesla Model 3 wrapped bright pink.
And when the wrap was done, the people that wrapped the car
gave me the rest of the pink wrap,
basically 'cause they knew that no one else in the world
will ever want to wrap their car this colour
so they don't need to keep hold of this. (giggles)
So I'm gonna incorporate that pink wrap
into my custom play button
because that way I'll immortalise the pink Tesla forever.
So step one was to work out which of my many play buttons
was gonna get customised,
and of course that was a very easy decision.
I chose the awkward middle child silver play button.
So this is a 2017 silver play button
that I purchased recently.
The reason I chose this play button
is because if you look closely,
you can see it's not in particularly good condition
as it currently is,
and I have a bunch of other silver play buttons already
that are very similar to this.
So the first thing I did was head into Photoshop
to redesign the background for the play button,
'cause I of course needed this play button
to say "Don't Subscribe",
"Congratulations on surpassing 1 million subscribers."
So this was a very simple design.
It was very easy to do.
I added in the YouTube logo and the MrBeast logo
in the same style as the original 2017 play button,
and then I just ordered it off a printing website.
And when it came I unboxed it
and it looked absolutely horrendous.
It was really, really pixelated and incredibly ugly.
But don't worry because I then ordered it
from a different printing website,
and this time the design came out
a lot better and was really nice quality.
So then it was time to actually start taking apart
the existing play button, which I was very nervous about
because this was an authentic piece of history.
This was about four to five years old.
Step one was very simple.
I just needed to unscrew the hook
that holds the play button onto the wall.
You can see there's a lot of dust and hair
on this play button.
It's not in particular good condition at all.
Next thing I needed to do was remove the felt
that was covering the whole back of the play button,
so I began by lifting up the little clips,
and then after that I just needed to very carefully
work my knife under it
because the whole thing is basically just glued to the back.
So this took quite a while.
I had to be careful not to rip it,
but once I'd got three quarters of the way up,
a couple of little bolts were revealed.
Now, these two bolts
are what keep the silver play button in place.
Also, don't panic.
I know currently this is a silver play button.
I will turn it into a gold play button.
Stay tuned.
So I got the rest of the felt removed
and then all I needed to do was unscrew those clips
and that disattached the play button on the other side.
So at this point, I was able
to pull the cardboard backing out,
and it was absolutely incredible
to see the disattached silver play button.
I absolutely loved holding this thing.
And then when I picked up the frame,
a lot of wood fell out of it and I was very confused,
but we can go back to that later.
So I decided I'd whack me gloves on
and I'd give the silver play button a much needed polish
'cause it had not had human contact
for about four or five years.
I think this is real silver, by the way.
It definitely feels like silver when you give it a tap.
Of course, while I had the silver play button,
I took this rare opportunity
to create my first authentic YouTube play button necklace.
(Jack laughs)
Don't I look absolutely epic?
Yes, yes I do.
But now enough playing around
because it was time to attach
the replacement backing to the original.
So once I made sure it was the correct size,
I then just needed to cut it out
so that it was actually the correct size.
Once I was done,
I just whacked the silver play button in front of it.
just to make sure that everything looked about right.
And then using the original, I just needed to mark
where I needed to make the two holes
for the play button to be fitted.
And then using my knife and some scissors,
I actually made a couple of holes.
So then I began adding grip tape to the original
to stick the replacement over the top.
Now, I realise in retrospect
that this was probably a mistake,
and I perhaps should have just used something
as straightforward as a glue stick,
because when I went ahead
and actually tried to stick the replacement on top,
it immediately (mournful music)
got stuck too early in the wrong place
and then I couldn't unstick it and I ended up
ruining the whole thing and it got completely creased,
and yeah, it was game over.
But fortunately, (triumphant music)
I'd ordered more than one.
So I cut the new one out.
I cut some holes again, and then much more carefully,
I attached it on top.
It didn't stick perfectly.
It was a little bit bumpy because of the tape underneath.
That's why I probably should have used a glue stick,
but it was still good enough.
So at that point, just to check how things were looking,
I decided I would reinstall the silver play button.
And it looked great.
I was really happy with how it looked so far,
even if my face doesn't suggest that I was happy. (laughs)
So then the exciting bit, because it was time
to make my silver play button a gold play button.
So I head outside with my gold spray.
I gave it the little shake thing that you do.
I sprayed some on the back first just to test it.
That's what it said to do on the instructions.
I don't quite know what I was meant to be looking for,
but it didn't, you know, explode or anything.
So then I gave it one last little polish
and then I sprayed the gold spray all over it,
which was very cool and quite satisfying to do.
While that was drying,
it was time for the trickiest section, the frame.
Remember my pink Tesla wrap that I was telling you about?
That's right.
I wanted to turn the black frame Tesla pink.
Now, I'd never wrapped anything before.
I just kind of winged it and hoped for the best.
My filming is not particularly good during this section
because I was really concentrating,
but after about half an hour,
it actually looked pretty solid.
About 45 minutes passed
so I went ahead and checked to see
how my gold play button was doing outside.
It had dried.
It looked very, very nice,
but you see on the right there was a couple of bits
where I'd missed the spray,
so I decided I'd just give it a second coat
and try and get any uneven bits.
While I wait for the second coat,
it was time to clean up the glass
because obviously the glass had been exposed
to the elements for the last four or five years
so it was very grubby.
There was a few scratches on there,
which obviously I can't do anything about,
but we cleaned up the dust,
which made a massive difference.
After that, I had lunch.
I had last night's pasta bake.
It was delicious.
And at this point we are very close
to finishing the "Don't Subscribe" gold play button,
but I want to quickly remind you
to subscribe if you have not already.
Please, why are we not on 1.8 million subscribers yet?
We've been stuck at 1.7 for bloody ages.
So yes, if you enjoy these videos,
please check if you're subscribed.
Thank you very much.
After my lunch and self promo,
the gold play button had dried
and I took it out into the sun
so I could show you what it looked like
'cause oh, it looks very, very nice.
I'm actually really pleased with it.
The spray coated very, very evenly in the end,
and look at it glimmering in the sun, oh.
And then all I needed to do now
was put the whole thing together.
So of course we started with our freshly polished glass.
It was a little trickier to squeeze in
since it was slightly smaller space
now that the pink wrap and the cello tape
and everything had been added.
I gave it a little polish
with my 10 million subscriber diamond play button cloth,
and then I added in those four pieces of wood,
which you'll remember, they fell out
when I opened this thing up for the first time.
And it was time to get my brand spanking
new gold play button and screw it to the back panel.
This became slightly more complicated when I realised
that I'd lost one of the screws.
I do not quite know how that happened,
but about 10 minutes later I found it, don't worry.
So I screwed both panels together.
Then I just needed to shove it in with the frame.
And then in order to hide my messy wrapping abilities,
I reattached the black felt onto the back.
This took a little while, but eventually we did it.
I used a bit of grip tape
just to keep the whole thing in place.
And then finally going full circle,
I just needed to reattach the little panel thing
that helps you clip it on the wall.
And just like that,
my first custom play button was complete.
Do you wanna see it?
Yes, you do.
Look at this thing.
Doesn't it look cool?
I think it looks legit.
It looks like this could have been sent from YouTube,
and, I mean, it originally was.
This is an authentic silver play button
for a now deleted channel that reached 100,000 subscribers.
But we have now goldified it,
and it says "Don't Subscribe" on it, and it's pink. (laughs)
But yeah, I'm really pleased with this.
And I think it kind of,
it immortalises the challenge, doesn't it?
And even once my car is no longer pink,
I'll still have this pink frame
to remember this fun challenge and this point in my life.
Of course this is smaller than a real gold play button,
but you know what?
I don't care.
I could do with the play buttons being a bit smaller,
if I'm honest, because I've ran out of room on my wall.
So let me go ahead and attach, oh,
I'm in swimming trunks cause it's really warm today.
The "Don't Subscribe" pink play button
shall hang proudly right there.
Beautiful.
Look at that. (laughs)
Well, there we go.
We finally finished this series, but hold on a second.
Is that the door?
Edit to Becky, add a doorbell sound effect.
(doorbell rings)
See, do you hear that?
It's the door.
Who could it be?
I guess I'll go check, guys.
Wait right there.
Stop.
Stay there.
Whoa. Hey everyone, I'm back.
You'll not believe who was at the front door.
It was a gentleman who said he had a parcel from YouTube.
(Jack laughs)
Okay, just in case you fell for my amazing acting abilities,
what I'm about to show you actually happened
about two weeks ago, but yes, YouTube did send me something.
They didn't send me a play button,
but for the first time ever,
they sent me something, which is very exciting.
And I can see from the box that it was edible.
So let's cut to the very first time YouTube
ever sent me something.
This is very exciting 'cause this is the first thing
that YouTube has ever sent me for free,
like, just because they're like being nice and stuff.
So this is a big deal, whatever's in here.
Becky, look at that, cupcakes.
- [Becky] Ooh.
- Fragile.
Perishable goods to be delivered today!
Alright, here we go.
Let's crack into it.
This side, this side, terribly exciting.
Oh, oh, oh.
(Jack laughs)
Right. Okay.
Look at that, Becky, we've got a ribbon.
We've got a ribbon.
It's white and red.
It's the YouTube colours.
I'm sure that's 100% deliberate.
Here we go.
You ready for this?
Oh.
(Jack laughs)
- [Becky] Oh...
Aww, that's so cute!
- Aww. "Hey, Jack.
'Don't Subscribe' may not be eligible for a play button,
but we wanted to acknowledge
the record breaking community moment
with a little treat for you.
Keep pushing the envelope.
Your friends at YouTube."
Now, that's going in the YouTube folder, yes.
That is very, very exciting.
And then- - Oh, they look so cute.
- We've got all these little cupcakes
with "Don't Subscribe" and "1 million" written on them.
Oh God, that's incredible.
Look at that.
That's very epic.
Unreal.
All right. That's amazing.
Thank you very much, YouTube, for sending this and-
- [Becky] Go on, have a bite.
- Okay. - A big bite.
- Okay. - All in one.
- All right, well.
All in one?
- [Becky] All in one.
- All in one?
- [Becky] Yes.
- It's not happening.
(Becky and Jack laugh)
- [Becky] Yay...!
(Becky laughs)
- Thank you very much, YouTube,
and specifically thanks to Jazza,
who's the person at YouTube that got this setup.
Appreciate it.
So yes, we got YouTube cupcakes.
Isn't that sweet?
Obviously someone at YouTube felt bad
that they weren't able to send the gold play button,
but I understand.
The channel had no videos.
If that's the rule, then that's the rule.
So it was really nice that YouTube
sent me something because, you know,
they didn't have to send me anything.
Now, of course, it would just make a bit of a mess
if I was to try and smash a cupcake onto me YouTube wall,
but I really want to immobilise these cupcakes in some way,
so I've frozen one of them, (laughs)
because that way we get to keep him forever. (laughs)
Oh, it's stuck.
Yep, that's really on there.
But I promise he's in there.
It's a "Don't Subscribe" frozen cupcake. (laughs)
And with that, we come to the end of this video
and the end of the "Don't Subscribe" series,
potentially, unless there's something else I can think of
to milk this one more time.
But I think that is it.
So thank you very much for your support
over the last 12 months with this series.
It's been absolutely amazing. (laughs)
We end it with a pink play button and a frozen cupcake.
Oh yeah, and $100,000 dollars.
Yes, thank you very much for watching.
Subscribe, because I do upload
more or less weekly on this channel.
Loads of other stuff planned.
Thank you for watching and I'll see you all later.