As a promo for its 49th season, CBS aired a “36-Hour Survivor Influencer Experience” on the show’s YouTube. Was it a good choice?
Airing for 25 years and on its 49th season, Survivor is no stranger to having themed seasons. “Blood vs. Water,” “Heroes vs. Villains,” and “Millennials vs. Gen X” are just a few examples of the “social experiments” that this reality TV survival show has run in previous years. While themes are something host Jeff Probst says is a thing of Survivor past, it seems they made an exception by giving 8 influencers a taste of Survivor.
In a forty-five-minute YouTube video, eight influencers essentially followed the same formula as the start of any season. While they didn’t compete in a competition straight off the boat, they had to build a shelter on a new island and get to know the tribe. The players experienced a heavy storm throughout the night before receiving tree mail, competing in an immunity challenge, and deciding who to vote off at tribal council with a blindside idol play.
The game technically had no real stakes besides pride. Only one player was voted off at the end of the episode, and no one was crowned the coveted title of “sole survivor” like in a normal season.
Who all played?
Here’s the cast of “Survivor Influencer Experience” and the kinds of content they make:
- Alyssa Amoroso: Fashion, lifestyle, and travel influencer and marketer
- Davis Burleson: Content creator known for his street interview series “What’s Poppin’? With Davis!” and host for Sirius XM
- Hannah Kosh: Host of “The Daily Dirty” popcast as part of the Unwell Network, founded by “Call Her Daddy” host Alex Cooper
- Karl Jacobs: Video game YouTuber and member of the MrBeast team
- Monét X Change: Winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season four, The Traitors season 4 cast member, comedian, and content creator
- Phaith Montoya: Fashion and lifestyle influencer
- Sean “Klitz” Klitzner: Executive producer and showrunner of Beast Games, YouTuber, and comedian
- Tommy Scibelli: Barstool Sports content creator and host of their Survivor podcast, “Snuffing Torches“
Another difference to note right off the bat is that Survivor cast members are typically all strangers. Since this cast is pulled from the influencer world, some of the players already knew each other. Klitzner and Jacobs knew each other from the MrBeast space. Amoroso had previously worked with Scibelli at Barstool and had already established a friendly relationship with Kosh.
This could definitely be considered an advantage, as having pre-established relationships makes it easier to form alliances.
Positive fan response
Comments on the YouTube video are overwhelmingly positive. It seems the marketing strategy paid off, drawing in fans of the influencers to watch the episode and get excited for Survivor.
A lot of the comments mention which player they were already fans of, and who drew them to watch the episode. Many players also won new viewers, even after just forty-five minutes of watching them.
A Survivor content creator, “Tegwyth,” expressed surprise at how much she enjoyed the mini episode, given her expectations were “below the ground.”
While some of the more die-hard Survivor fans on the show’s Reddit showed more skepticism, many of them were surprised at how much they enjoyed the special. A common sentiment was enjoying the episode so much that it could have been expanded into its own season. Other negative fan comments were that they felt it was “boring” or “anticlimactic” without voting for a singular winner.
Positive experience for players
All of the influencer players came into the experience having already been big fans of the show. To experience it themselves was a surreal opportunity.
Players like Scibelli and Klitzner had actually previously applied to be on Survivor as real cast members. Klitnzer even got to the final audition rounds for season 41, but never made it on, he told Parade.
During the tribal council, Montoya was very transparent about how freeing it was not to have to worry about what people online were saying to her. She described being an influencer as a job that is “always on” and how you can’t clock out like a 9-to-5.
“It’s the type of show that strips you of everything and brings you back to humanity. I think in this day and age with social media, we lack that. As influencers, we lack that, probably more than anybody,” she told TheWrap. “We always have the cameras on us. We always are caring about engagement. This is all about who you are, how you outplay, outwit, outlast.”
Montoya also shared her experience on social media. She describes feeling stronger overall from the experience and how proud she is that she didn’t give up.
Some drawbacks
One of the core values of Survivor is that it champions ordinary people from all walks of life. Almost every episode, Probst gives his pitch to people at home about why they should apply to Survivor. There is a big emphasis on the idea that anyone could win Survivor if they have what it takes.
The thing with having a cast of influencers is that they aren’t necessarily ordinary people.
The typical player intros at the start of a season depict everyday people describing their lives as firefighters, service workers, teachers, and every other role under the sun. They also normally discuss their motivations for winning. This often discusses the difference the $1 million prize would make to their lives.
The influencer’s intros describing doing social media full-time wouldn’t exactly hit as relatable for a majority of viewers. Additionally, while there wasn’t even a cash prize to win, the players wouldn’t have needed the money if there had been one.
The game format
Similar to the critics on Reddit, I also feel that the mini episode’s setup leaves the viewer feeling unfinished.
Instead of following the normal episode format of a typical Survivor episode, they could have adjusted the gameplay to fit the shorter timeframe. Watching the players scramble to make alliances left me feeling a little confused. They hadn’t immediately explained how far they would play, so finding out it was just voting out one person, honestly, was a little anticlimactic.
A faster gameplay with mini challenges and more rounds of voting would have made it feel more competitive. It is a lot more exciting seeing the players battle it out to be the sole winner than just trying not to be the first and only loser.
Another key component of Survivor is that the game can change at any moment. Someone can be at the bottom of the tribe for weeks before switching their social strategy, challenge performance, or just being lucky. With only one challenge and one vote, there was no room for players to change their power positions.
The right choice for Survivor?
Overall, the episode’s main purpose of drawing new fans was completed, but at the risk of isolating more traditional fans of Survivor. Though it might be a losing battle for CBS, as for the past 10 or so seasons, some fans have been frustrated about the loss of the old-school Survivor gameplay.
If CBS doesn’t intend to restore Survivor to its older style of 39 days and fewer advantages, it might be worthwhile to try to attract a new audience. It’s always interesting to see a new form of promotion besides a typical teaser. It seems many fans would find interest in viewing new and different content from Survivor.
