John enjoying a delicious fast food meal

In 2011 a young man named John was encouraged by his parents to create a YouTube video. Sporting a suit several sizes too big for his boyish frame, John filmed and uploaded a review for an energy drink. Little did he know that within less than a decade he would attain a million subscribers and an international cult following.

His channel is called TheReportOfTheWeek, though his viewers refer to him as “ReviewBrah” or simply John. The channel was originally focused on discussing and reviewing energy drinks. This section was named “Energy Crisis”. He created a new section named “Running On Empty” that expands into food reviews. It was with “Running On Empty” that ReviewBrah went viral.

In December 2012, he released a review for Domino’s Pan Pizza. It soon was spread across message boards and the views exploded. ReviewBrah’s audience has been steadily rising ever since.

Over these years he has expanded the channel further with a series of lectures under the “Idle Mind” title. This evolved into “Voice of the ReportOfTheWeek”. VORW episodes have now reached triple figures. In them John gives us updates about his day and answers fan mail.

In June 2018 the channel reached over 1 million subs. So what attracts people to a young man in a suit giving his opinion on fast food and life in general? The answer is that he has such an upbeat attitude. He is very open about his struggles with mental illness. The channel’s meteoric rise has taken a toll on John’s psychological well being.

Having the eyes of the world watching him has attracted some unsavoury individuals. John is constantly bombarded with vitriol from trolls. When he was living with his parents his personal info including his home address was leaked online through 4chan.

During the early days of the VORW show he answered fan mail from a strange character called “Orca Man” who some have speculated may be a serial killer. Orca Man eventually advertised his own book on the show titled “A DIY Guide to Surgical Procedures”. After becoming a popular regular on the show Orca Man suddenly disappeared without a trace.

ReviewBrah himself has stated that these early days of VORW constituted the “Gold Age” of the channel. Since then he has appeared on national television shows such as Tosh.0. He has upgraded his equipment and adopted a more professional, confident demeanour.

Viewers love John because of his refreshing honesty and down to earth approach to YouTube. He is certainly more of an enjoyable watch than the obnoxious majority of big channels on the platform.

While other YouTubers struggle to maintain numbers John has been playing the long game. It has taken 7 years to reach 1 million subs. While the bigger names become embroiled in scandal, ReviewBrah continues to delight new viewers with his vulnerable friendliness. He is the breath of fresh air that the internet needs.