YouTube celebrity Philip DeFranco is running for president of the world in 2036. That’s right folks, not just the United States, but the world.
DeFranco announced his intention to run on Wednesday through social media, the preferred method of his generation. Specifically, he did it on Facebook and YouTube, though DeFranco does have an active Tumblr too.
DeFranco’s campaign promises so far include outlawing escalators, mandating women to wear yoga pants, and granting all single men a Christina Ricci sex robot.
In place of escalators, DeFranco says he install “stairs and really awesome twirly slides.” The handicapped are expected to solicit piggy-back rides which “at first might be weird, but piggy back rides are actually really, really fun.”
(Banning escalators and installing twirly slides is DeFranco’s round-about way of fighting obesity and ensuring a high level of happiness in the population. )
DeFranco’s fans on Twitter have taken to tweeting #DeFranco2036, but sadly, the hashtag has yet to trend.
Fast forward to 5 minutes in to hear DeFranco’s campaign promises. DeFranco, incidentally, is also about to embark on a “world tour,” visiting YouTubers in Europe. Perhaps this is part of his plan for world domination.
DeFranco, who joined the video sharing site in 2006, has been dubbed the “Jon Stewart of YouTube,” and this new presidential campaign — of the world– further solidifies the comparison to the satirical newscaster on Comedy Central.
DeFranco’s main show, titled “The Philip DeFranco Show,” airs Monday through Thursday evenings and features DeFranco’s opinions and jokes on news, technology and entertainment.
Beyond jokes about news, DeFranco does a variety of shows on different channels — from “Like Totally Awesome” which reviews movies and games, to his personal “vloggity” channel. DeFranco’s main channel, sxephil, has seen more than 682 million views and currently has 1.8 million subscribers.
1.8 million people might seem like a lot, but it’s nothing if you want to win a presidential election. In 2008, President Obama won the United States president election with 65 million votes.
Another sign of his popularity? DeFranco has called on fans to email him photos with “Hi nation” written somewhere on their bodies with sharpie. He posts the choice shots on his Tumblr. Perhaps surprisingly, fans seem to comply, with interesting, sometimes sexy results (use your imagination on which body parts are used.)
Given that DeFranco is of the Y generation and has that “can do anything” attitude, is the world really ready for a YouTube president?
Or will the world even exist then?
One DeFranco Twitter follower, named Rahath Ali, doesn’t think so.
“I would vote for you but we will all be enslaved by the #vampirerobotnazi”