Is Liver King Just The Beginning?

Not many people remember the good old days when fitness influencers just showed off their bench press and a new creatine supplement (not monohydrate at the time). Nowadays, you have to do something extreme to become popular. And that’s how the Liver King story begins.

Liver King Knew How To Get Attention

People couldn’t look away. Brian Johnson, aka Liver King, built a multi-million-dollar brand off shock value. He made his followers believe his shredded physique came from eating raw organs and living like a caveman.

On the other hand, emails shared online are proving he’s been using steroids and spending around $10K on them. Did this make him poor? Nope. His brand was still alive and pouring in money.

The formula? Be loud, be different, be extreme. Bonus points if you make it about masculinity. Of course, it won’t work for everyone.

The Cost of Going Viral

With going viral comes a lot of attention. Look at the hawk tuah girl that said one phrase and went viral. Yes, she ended up having a podcast and talking with celebrities but there always some drama that follows.

For example, she was caught in a crypto scam that showed her fans she was not capable of handling so much attention.

On the other hand, you might go crazy like Liver King and start an online beef with Joe Rogan. The majority of influencers who are in the 1% get caught in some type of drama.

Why It Won’t Stop

We live in an attention economy where outrage and absurdity outperform truth. Would you fake eating raw liver and take steroids to get hundreds of thousands of fans, a fortune, and brand deals? Most people would, but they are just scared to start because there’s no guarantee they will go viral.

Even some celebrities who fell off a bit are using these tactics to bring attention back. Any drama works for them, even a certain post about Big Sean having fake abs is something people have fun talking about. Of course, he says he doesn’t have fake abs, and nothing will come out of it.