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OPINION
Celebrity and influencer philanthropy: Debating MrBeast and
China
Elaine Jeffreys
1
| Jian Xu
2
1
Independent Researcher, Sydney, NSW,
Australia
2
School of Communication and Creative Arts,
Faculty of Arts and Education, Deakin
University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Correspondence
Jian Xu, School of Communication and
Creative Arts, Faculty of Arts and Education,
Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia.
Email: j.xu@deakin.edu.au
Abstract
This article examines the philanthropy/marketing interface with reference to celeb-
rity philanthropy, focusing on the American YouTube star, MrBeast, and the Chinese
government regulation of celebrities and social media influencers. Celebrity nowa-
days can refer to film and music stars with international broadcast media visibility
and to people who create their own fame through social media and appeals to niche
markets/audiences (social media influencers). While the United States of America has
historically used tax incentives to encourage elite philanthropy as a matter of individ-
ual choice, the Chinese government is regulating the cultural industries to promote
and direct celebrity and influencer philanthropy towards government-endorsed
development goals. Comparing debates about MrBeast philanthropy with the opera-
tion of philanthropy in China highlights different ideas about celebrity/influencer phi-
lanthropy and the role it can play in supporting public welfare.
KEYWORDS
celebrity, China, influencer, philanthropy, social media
1|INTRODUCTION
This article examines the philanthropy/marketing interface with refer-
ence to celebrity philanthropy, focusing first on the American You-
Tube star, MrBeast (2023), and then on the government regulation of
celebrities and social media influencers in China. New technologies
are transforming the ways in which celebrity is created, traded and
understood; celebrity today can refer to film and music stars with
international broadcast media visibility and to people who create their
own fame through social media and appeals to niche markets/
audiences (social media influencers). The People's Republic of China
(PRC) has the largest number of social media users in the world with
around 1 billion users, and the United States of America (USA) has the
third largest with 327 million users (Statistica, 2023). While the USA
has historically used tax incentives to encourage elite philanthropy as
a matter of individual choice, the Chinese government is regulating
the cultural industries to promote and direct celebrity and influencer
philanthropy towards government-endorsed national development
goals, such as poverty alleviation. Comparing debates about MrBeast
philanthropy with the operation of philanthropy in China thus
highlights different ideas about celebrity/influencer philanthropy and
the role it can play in supporting public welfare.
2|ASSESSING BEAST PHILANTHROPY
Rhodri Davies' analysis of Beast Philanthropy highlights new ‘tech-
niques, thinking and best practice’on the philanthropy/marketing
interface, and the question of how to build ‘networks that help create,
communicate and deliver value to philanthropic beneficiaries’(Journal
of Philanthropy and Marketing, 2023).
Beast Philanthropy is a controversial style of philanthropy pio-
neered by YouTube content creator James Stephen Donaldson (born
1998), better known as internet celebrity MrBeast (2023). Donald-
son's MrBeast is famous for featuring in costly challenge-style videos
focused on performing difficult and odd stunts; purchasing and con-
suming excessive numbers of unusual goods; and gifting large sums of
money to relatives, contest winners, random strangers and charities.
With a net worth of USD 100 million as of 2023, Donaldson
topped Forbes Magazine list of rich YouTubers in 2022 and is ranked
Received: 11 April 2024 Accepted: 12 April 2024
DOI: 10.1002/nvsm.1860
J Philanthr Mark. 2024;29:e1860. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/nvsm © 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1of4
https://doi.org/10.1002/nvsm.1860
among the world's top 40 highest-earning celebrities (Miller & Hogg,
2023, p. 998). Successful YouTubers make money through channel
subscriptions, brand sponsorships, affiliate sales and Google's
AdSense advertising algorithm. AdSense pays YouTube content crea-
tors in Google's partner program when advertisements are shown on
their videos (3–5 USD per 1000 video views) (Miller & Hogg 2023,
p. 1003).
Donaldson's fame and fortune thus stems from his large audience
or fan base. His MrBeast channel has over 240 million subscribers and
Beast Philanthropy has over 23 million. A MrBeast extreme-Olympics
video titled ‘Every Country on Earth Fights For $250,000!’obtained
100 million views in 1 week. Further capitalising on his fanbase,
Donaldson has launched a MrBeast Burger ghost kitchen brand, choc-
olate bars (‘Feastables’), and action toys (Adams, 2024).
Founded in 2020, Beast Philanthropy is a non-profit organisation
that aims to ‘change the world’by leveraging ‘the power of social
media platforms’and raising funds ‘to alleviate hunger, homelessness,
and unemployment’(www.beastphilanthropy.org). Realising this mis-
sion has involved creating networks of commercial companies, non-
profits, community and religious organisations, and YouTube content
creators, to build and operate mobile food pantries in underserved
communities in the USA, and to provide potable water in developing
African communities, among other projects. Beast Philanthropy is
funded by the revenue generated through the YouTube Beast Philan-
thropy channel, and by donations from other social media entrepre-
neurs; that is, from revenue generated by the marketing strategies
linked to new entertainment media and technologies, and internet
celebrities and audiences.
Davies' analysis of Beast Philanthropy consequently rehearses
debates about celebrity-marketed philanthropy, which arguably epito-
mises the best and worst of western democracy and advanced capital-
ism (marked by minimal government intervention) in action (Jeffreys &
Allatson, 2015, p. 5). Supporters argue that leveraging entertainment
and fame helps to popularise civic and philanthropic values by provid-
ing media coverage of social issues, attracting new audiences, demys-
tifying campaign issues, raising public awareness, and attracting new
sponsors and donors (especially young donors). Critics insist that
celebrity-marketed philanthropy hinders positive social change
because it is (1) driven by self-interested branding and profit-making
strategies (not altruism); (2) turns complicated social problems into
sensational media spectacles; (3) privileges exploitative markets and
‘whiteness’by letting (western) celebrities and businesses allocate
resources and ‘speak for’philanthropic beneficiaries in disadvantaged
communities and developing countries; (4) wrongly suggests that
wealthy individuals rather than governments are best positioned to
‘save the world’; and (5) creates passive (not active) citizens who
equate ‘doing good’with buying online goods that have a donation
component, or merely watching and sharing MrBeast videos. As
Davies' overview suggests, celebrity philanthropy debates are tangled
in bigger debates about the ideal role of governments, elites and indi-
viduals in providing humanitarian assistance, and hence the motives,
substance, ethics and funding of celebrity philanthropists and
celebrity-fronted philanthropy are contested.
The polarised ‘love it/hate it’parameters of this debate can be
broadened by looking at the different politics of celebrity/influencer
philanthropy in China—a developing or nearly developed country in
the Global South. In the PRC, a recent history of perceived failed radi-
cal socialism, where egalitarian welfare policies failed to overcome
extreme poverty, has been followed by successful market-based eco-
nomic reforms, which have greatly improved overall wealth while gen-
erating income inequality (Jeffreys, 2016). This history has ensured
that organised philanthropy is both a new phenomenon in the PRC
(the country's first Charity Law only came into effect in 2016), and a
practice that is presented in government policy and public discourse
as the social duty of economic elites, rather than an individual choice.
The problem posed for government is thus how to ensure that celebri-
ties and influencers advertise, fund and conduct philanthropy in opti-
mal ways, which includes attracting youth audiences.
3|CELEBRITY/INFLUENCER
PHILANTHROPY IN CHINA
Government policy promotes and regulates celebrity/influencer phi-
lanthropy in China, creating a philanthropy/marketing interface with
different dynamics to those outlined by Davies. Critics of (western)
celebrity philanthropy identify a tripartite relationship between influ-
encers, advertisers and viewer-donors that glosses over the need for
government involvement in large-scale, humanitarian-development
projects, and promotes brands rather than developing a philanthropic
citizenship. In China, however, celebrity/influencer philanthropy turns
on a quadripartite relationship between government, industry, influen-
cers and viewer-donors.
Unlike in western societies, China's cultural industries are
expected to make a profit while advancing socialist culture via prod-
ucts that promote government-endorsed national values and policy
goals, support the PRC's revolutionary history, counter negative
(western) cultural influences, and communicate a positive interna-
tional image of China. Celebrities as the public face of China's cultural
industries are also expected to be good social role models, which
includes offering visible (not anonymous) support for poverty allevia-
tion and other public welfare programs (Jeffreys & Xu, 2023).
Regulatory frameworks provide a clear economic incentive for
cultural industries to protect their business by vetting personnel in
line with government directives, and for public-facing personnel to
present positive public personas and be philanthropic (Jeffreys &
Xu, 2023). The Film Industry Promotion Law of the PRC, effective
2017, encourages actors, directors and other personnel to comply
with Chinese law and establish a positive social image. The 2021 draft
Radio and Television Law urges industry professionals to display a
positive social image and bans content that belittles the Communist
Party and Chinese culture, as well as content that promotes misinfor-
mation, crime, violence, obscenity and illegality. It also bans products
by media producers/performers who have broken relevant laws, a
stipulation which is enforced by fines, product boycotts and suspen-
sions of business licenses. Similar controls govern internet content,
2of4 JEFFREYS and XU
influencer behaviour and internet philanthropy, and the platforms and
e-commerce systems that provide the digital infrastructure for online
marketing, fundraising and donations (Xu et al., 2022; Xu & Yu, 2022).
Industry associations and publics support aspects of these regula-
tory frameworks by also expecting celebrities to pursue ‘professional
excellence and moral integrity’(deyi shuangxin), that is, by being
famous and social (philanthropic) role models. The China Association
of Performing Arts, a non-profit organisation, has issued Management
Measures which recap government stipulations, adding that non-
compliant members and their products will be boycotted and urging
performers to join in public welfare activities (Jeffreys & Xu, 2023).
Fans and anti-fans often castigate celebrities on social media for fail-
ing to be good role models, perceived as evident in a lack of charity
endorsements and public donations, or failure to donate to national
disasters (Jeffreys & Xu, 2023b.
The demand that celebrities ‘give back’extends to the growing
number of social media influencers associated with China's booming
livestreaming e-commerce platforms. In 2020, the PRC's premier
thinktank, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, released a ‘Social
Responsibility Report of Top Internet Celebrities/Influencers’in China
(Sina, 2020). The Report ranks celebrity influencers according to their
promotion of ‘good’products, philanthropy and conduct. Wei Ya
(dubbed ‘Queen of livestreaming’, with 90 million followers on Tao-
bao, China's most popular e-commerce platform) and Li Jiaqi (the Lip-
stick King, with 69 million followers) were praised for supporting
government poverty alleviation efforts by helping to sell goods for
poor agricultural producers, creating a ‘win-win’result for govern-
ment, internet platforms and influencers, and promoting civic-
philanthropic values. A few influencers were ‘named and shamed’for
failing to meet the ranking criteria. Even the top Chinese Youtuber, Li
Ziqi (over 18 million subscribers), has supported Chinese government
welfare projects: Li produces YouTube videos presenting idyllic por-
trayals of Chinese rural life to both Chinese- and English-speaking
audiences (Li, 2023).
China's budding influencer philanthropy is not just a digital exten-
sion of showbiz celebrity philanthropy: it is driven by government
efforts to use the internet to help achieve the political goal of ‘com-
mon prosperity’(improving social and economic security), with online
donations, primarily from young people, quadrupling between 2017
and 2021 (from over 5 billion RMB per year to 100 billion)
(Xinhua, 2022). E-commerce giants such as Alibaba and Tencent also
run dedicated foundations and fundraising/volunteering platforms
and have invested billions in common prosperity projects, with influ-
encers promoting associated projects and personal brands to diverse
but predominantly youth audiences (Kharpal, 2021). Kuaishou, a lead-
ing short-video and livestreaming platform, collaborated with the
government-organised China Disabled Person's Federation and part-
nering non-profits for International Day of People with Disability in
2022. Five influencers, with around 50 million followers in total,
donated and produced videos kickstarting projects to help young peo-
ple living with autism, including learning how to become digital entre-
preneurs, Their activities were widely publicised on Kuaishou and
state-run media (Sina, 2023).
Government promotion and regulation of influencer philanthropy
also aims to control ‘fake philanthropy’or the practice of exploiting
public goodwill for personal gain. In 2016, six Kuaishou influencers
livestreamed themselves seemingly donating money and goods to
poor people living in a rural area of Sichuan province. They gained
multiple followers and virtual gifts which could be converted to real
money until they were exposed for expropriating funds. Their initial
popularity also spawned copycat fake philanthropists until China Cen-
tral Television broadcast an exposé and some of the original influen-
cers were convicted and imprisoned for fraud, based on the newly
implemented Charity Law (CCTV, 2017).
Digital platforms have since tightened industry controls over phi-
lanthropy content and charitable solicitation in keeping with govern-
ment directives. Douyin, a leading short-video platform, issued
updated regulations in 2023 to stop deceptive and embellished phi-
lanthropy content, especially content that depicts fictional narratives
and staged poverty scenarios for financial gain (Xinhua, 2023). Douyin
also provides detailed instructions on how to certify philanthropy
accounts and undertake public fundraising activities, as per legal
requirements. Videos and accounts that are found to violate content
and legal requirements are blocked or removed. Such controls offer
an example of industry self-censorship aiming to prevent potential
government scrutiny, while also enhancing public trust in the platform
and philanthropy more generally. These controls limit in theory the
harm to the philanthropic sector that Davies associates with potential
MrBeast imitators or, more precisely, the sensational leveraging of dis-
advantage to simultaneously advertise personal-corporate brands and
humanitarian causes.
Government and industry regulations prevent the straightforward
expansion of Beast Philanthropy in China. The MrBeast brand entered
the Chinese market in January 2024, with Donaldson launching the
first of many proposed Chinese social media sites on Bilibi and attract-
ing over 2 million followers in one week via random cash giveaways.
While circumventing restrictions on public access to YouTube in
China, the Bilibi site simply streams subtitled MrBeast videos that
meet China's platform content and legal requirements. As the videos
contain no local content, they may have only novelty value for China-
based audiences. Beast Philanthropy is unlikely to establish a local
presence because international celebrity philanthropists and non-
profit organisations are prevented by law from establishing a legal
presence in China, unless they meet complicated procedures relating
to the establishment of a foreign foundation, and they are not permit-
ted to raise funds or receive donations in China. Beast Philanthropy
can only operate in China by funding and advertising Chinese
government-endorsed national development goals in endorsed ways.
4|CONCLUDING REMARKS
China-based versions of Beast Philanthropy are unlikely because Chi-
nese law restricts the establishment of international non-profit organi-
sations in China, and government and industry regulations prevent
potential domestic MrBeast imitators from monetizing poverty and
JEFFREYS and XU 3of4
philanthropy content that is not government-endorsed. Instead, China
offers a counterexample of emerging government frameworks
designed to ensure that celebrities and social media influencers view
philanthropic engagement as a social obligation but perform and prac-
tice philanthropy within prescribed parameters, promoting a virtuous
cycle in theory between elite philanthropy and public philanthropy
involving young generations as donors. What remains to be seen is
whether government intervention will help to develop celebrity/
influencer philanthropy and promote public philanthropy with positive
outcomes for philanthropic beneficiaries, or whether it will stifle
growth and innovation in the country's expanding non-profit sector.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
None.
ORCID
Elaine Jeffreys https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8269-7080
Jian Xu https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2798-0996
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How to cite this article: Jeffreys, E., & Xu, J. (2024). Celebrity
and influencer philanthropy: Debating MrBeast and China.
Journal of Philanthropy and Marketing,29(2), e1860. https://
doi.org/10.1002/nvsm.1860
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