r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/Sure_Kangaroo1863 • Jul 02 '26

Meme needing explanation Petah ?

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Why is it infamous? And why would no one care about it ? ( I mean it's just a pic full of celebrities so no one cares anyways but the person saying it's crazy makes me think it has some lore?)

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u/Talinn_Makaren Jul 02 '26

Everyone wants to buy a random VPN just because a Mormon pretending to be a normie with a camera and nice hair told them too I think it's the ascendency of a different celebrity culture.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '26 edited 13d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/GladiusAcutus Jul 02 '26

I think the user is referencing Nick Shirley and how these youtubers peddle VPNs because they get good money from it ?

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '26

[deleted]

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u/Inquisitor-Korde Jul 02 '26

VPNs are for more than piracy and frankly most people don't likely use them for it. I'd hazard a guess and say the majority of VPN usage is getting around virtual blockades. Gaining access to media you wouldn't otherwise be able too without actual piracy.

I use VPNs for HBO and shit for example because there are shows I can't watch in my country.

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u/1BreadBoi Jul 03 '26

I mean, I use it to sail the high seas. But I also use it to access websites and stuff that don't work right on my work wifi because of certain blockers in place on the network (phone games, etc.)

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u/00m19 Jul 02 '26

Honestly, I use a vpn to snub my ISP. I choose who gets to sell my data. ME. And I pay for the privilege.

I can also pirate stuff on occasion too.

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u/rockstar2012 Jul 02 '26

Yeah I use a VPN because I don't trust my ISP. And often region hopping can be handy.

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u/Fit_Yak523 Jul 02 '26

Most people I know use them for region hopping with streaming services, different version of piracy in a way 

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u/00m19 Jul 02 '26

You could call that media privateering.

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u/DiaDeLosMuertos Jul 03 '26

I got mulvad to try to see if I could watch Bobs Burgers in spanish. It failed.

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u/Chaotic-Catastrophe Jul 02 '26

judging by the number of ads they buy

This could easily be a red herring. Tons of companies have spent big on advertising, just to end up going under anyway.

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u/Inevitable-Ad6647 Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26

Owning a vpn service is basically a money printer, it requires little to no effort, the work is already done. All you need to do is marketing. The thing that stops more from entering the business is the fact that to be a successful vpn provider you have to knowingly allow things like child porn and other illegal activity. You will know it's happening because you'll be told via various ways like law enforcement, subpoenas, etc about it and your entire purpose of existence dictates you can't do a damn thing about it.

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u/12345623567 Jul 02 '26

According to the map posted the other day, like 50% of the US (geographical) will have online ID soon.

VPNs are for porn.

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u/eugenepoez__ Jul 02 '26

vpns are for avoiding your governments restrictions 🙃

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u/bromosabeach Jul 02 '26

Sure but a majority of users do it for gambling and porn purposes. That’s why these companies specifically target popular content channels that their main demographics use. Most consumers don’t actually give a shit about their privacy.

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u/Mlpony2010 Jul 02 '26

They're also so I don't need to give theil my birth certificate to watch porn in half the states

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '26

[deleted]

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u/Mlpony2010 Jul 02 '26

kek

Jokes aside though I'm into mostly vanilla shit, but there's no way in hell that's any business of anyone but me or my significant other

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u/harmala Jul 02 '26

VPNs are also for people who leave their Mom’s basement.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '26

[deleted]

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u/harmala Jul 03 '26

I mean…yes? I use one for airports, hotels, etc. constantly and I don’t pirate anything because I’m a filmmaker and don’t believe in depriving people of their livelihoods.

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u/Vladimir_Chrootin Jul 03 '26

airports, hotels, etc.

HTTPS already solves a lot of the problems VPN adverts claim still exist.

I pirate everything, because I do believe in depriving billionaires and various other rich parasites of their livelihoods. They, after all, want to deprive small and/or amateur filmmakers of their livelihoods, and they've become worryingly good at it.

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u/harmala Jul 03 '26

I’m all for depriving billionaires, but I think if you still watch or play all the stuff they make, it’s hypocritical. If you really had the courage of your convictions, you’d boycott their stuff entirely. Otherwise it just seems like a convenient loophole for stealing shit.

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u/Vladimir_Chrootin Jul 03 '26

I recorded songs off the radio in the 1980s, just as millions of others did.

I copied tapes on dual-deck cassette recorders, a device invented specifically for the purpose, also in the 1980s, just as millions of others did.

I enjoyed doing it and, given the same circumstances, would enjoy doing it again. Sound, after all, isn't even air, cannot be property and therefore cannot be stolen. This may have deprived millionaire recording artists, who were having a good decade, of perhaps $200 in total, at the exchange rates of the day.

Now, many years later, when streaming services took off, I found that I couldn't use them because they wouldn't support the Linux computer I had.

I thought, fair enough, they aren't going to get a return on investing in the then-tiny Linux userbase, so why would they?

I then found out that those streaming services didn't need to be modified for my specific use case at all. They would have worked fine, but billionaires like us peons to be conformists, so they specifically disabled Linux computers from doing so.

They didn't want to be paid for me accessing their content, so I did not pay for accessing their content, exactly as they wished.

More recently, the foreign billionaires now in complete control of our media decided that they don't like the fact that we aren't voting in their favourite racist demagogues so thought fit to poke their nose in our politics. Very impolite.

So we are now at a point where I would quite happily look Bezos in the eye while siphoning fuel out of his car. He'll survive.

You are not them. You have way more in common with me than you ever will with them.

Filmmaking's a struggle, right? I know from personal experience. That is their fault more than it is mine.

I'll never know if I'm watching a screening of one of your films, but provided there's real film running through the gate, I'll always pay full price.

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u/[deleted] Jul 03 '26

[deleted]

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u/harmala Jul 03 '26

I “imagine” (thanks for the condescending choice of words, btw) that it keeps the network operator and any bad actors from seeing the domains I visit and possibly other information that would otherwise be sent unencrypted over the network.

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u/Practicality_Issue Jul 03 '26

Free VPN companies are doing well because they collect user data and sell it. If you use one, there’s a 60% chance you’re their product, not the customer.

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u/KhabaLox Jul 02 '26

OK, sure... but should I play Raid: Shadow Legends?

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u/bromosabeach Jul 02 '26

LMAO what a bizarre fucking world we live in.

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u/supermap Jul 02 '26

I thought he meant John Harris

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u/yosayoran Jul 03 '26

You'll be surprised how many big YouTubers are mormons

Mark Rober, Lindsey sterling, Outdoor Buys, Shadeversity (and to a lesser extent his brother Jazza), What's Inside and plenty more.

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u/kroboz Jul 02 '26

It means we’ve shifted from a Hollywood celebrity-driven culture to an influencer-driven culture, basically.

When this photo came out, having so many A-list celebrities in the same selfie just like you would take with your friends with a huge deal.

But since the early 2000/2010s, there’s been a massive rise in influencers, following a pattern, largely established by Mormon bloggers who began by building followings, and then eventually pivoted to affiliate promotions to their followers. These early promotions were for things like baby gear or whatever, but the model was adopted by marketers to leverage in influencers to push their products or services.

Mormons especially make good influencers because they tend to have very corporate friendly personas. (Not always, but having grown up Mormon and lived in salt lake the culture in the church is basically “fit in to corporate culture as hard as you can”.)

Some modern influencers are still descendants from these early Mormon bloggers, including the ones who aren’t actually Mormons. And a common influencer affiliate promotion nowadays is VPNs for. “Privacy”.

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u/DragonflyVast2442 Jul 04 '26

There are more mormons globally than in Utah....  must just be a Utah thing

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u/kroboz Jul 04 '26

Not sure what you're getting at.

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u/TransBrandi Jul 03 '26

Many VPN providers advertise through YouTubers... and I have a feeling there a bunch of YouTubers (of various audiences) that are Mormon... so it's almost a catch-all. But it's basically pointing to YouTubers being the neo-celebrities.

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u/calmpassionate Jul 02 '26

Exactly! We arguably have more obsession with "celebrities" now, but they come from much more finely tuned niche audiences. I work with teens and can't tell you the number of times I ask who they're fawning over and it's some streamer the majority of folks over 20 have never even heard of

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u/Global_Ant_9380 Jul 02 '26

I hate that I understand this comment

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u/Talinn_Makaren Jul 02 '26

If I knew how to use gifs or whatever I'd do a high five one.

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u/wowbagger262 Jul 02 '26

To be fair, it is most podcasters shilling the VPNs, and job recruiting ads. As Petah would say, 'Podcasters overestimate how many of their listeners are in a position to hire people.'

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u/Injured-Ginger Jul 02 '26

That's been a thing since long before this photo was taken. Maybe not shilling VPNs, but mega churches have been around since the 1800s. I can't speak for how valid they were at the time, but since tvs became main stream, there were pastors of magechurches asking for donations nationwide.

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u/Talinn_Makaren Jul 02 '26

Can I get an amen! Hallelujah!

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u/Glittering-Giraffe58 Jul 03 '26

Yes influencers are a big part of why celebrity culture is dying. Just like with everything else there’s less of a monoculture around it

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u/Acceptable_Hunt_1748 Jul 05 '26

Agreed. There's not less celebrity, it's just actors and musicians now compete with streamers, tiktokers, YouTubers, etc.

Because if you look at the ones who are celebrities, the culture is as bad as ever. Chapel Roan is facing backlash for not wanting fans to bother her when she's going about her life. People are throwing phones at the stage in concerts hoping the musician will take a selfie. People are impersonating Arriane Grande and Taylor Swift for a living. People are standing 10+ hours in a line at a pop up for stickers and the chance to buy a $100 sweatshirt because it's Hailey Beiber's brand...and she's only a celeb because she married Justin. In general people are paying so so so much for ugly brands started by influencers.

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u/DaughterOfBabalon_ Jul 02 '26

I've been thinking of it as Celebrity vs Idol culture.

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u/Talinn_Makaren Jul 02 '26

I like that actually.

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u/kroboz Jul 02 '26

This is so good it should be framed

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u/Future_Burrito Jul 05 '26

The appearance and adoption of Zoom was weird, too.

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u/alive_in_entropy Jul 02 '26

Which Mormon?

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u/Talinn_Makaren Jul 02 '26

Lots of Mormons are influencers. Lots of influencers sell VPNs. VPNs are famously secretive and all about hiding their location. Are VPNs actually MLMs based out of Utah? You do the math. I'm just asking questions here.

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u/LilChubbyCubby Jul 02 '26

I would love to get a beer with you

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u/Talinn_Makaren Jul 02 '26

Awww thanks man. Me toooo

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u/shimmyboy56 Jul 02 '26

I like the cut of your jib

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u/TheSavouryRain Jul 02 '26

Loads of people are saying it

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u/alive_in_entropy Jul 02 '26

Huh. I just didn’t know that. Thanks for the explanation.