Political analyst on the IShowSpeed “meltdown”, Latvia’s gains, and teens in Dome Square
This week may have brought more globally significant events than the brief visit of American internet star IShowSpeed to Latvia, but none sparked as much buzz as the world-famous streamer’s antics at the Freedom Monument.
Did the event’s organizers at the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) deserve criticism or praise, and what did Latvia gain from it? BNN posed these questions to political analyst and Mediju tilts co-owner, Filips Rajevskis.
“Everything was done well. Evaluating such an event comes down to very simple things: how many people watched it, what audience saw the video, and how much we spent. When it comes to international marketing, the 30,000 euros Latvia paid IShowSpeed is a pittance,” Rajevskis stated. He pointed out that previous campaigns to promote Latvia globally through video clips and media placements cost far more and were significantly less effective.
Rajevskis considers it a well-spent investment with clear returns, since IShowSpeed’s followers — many of whom searched online to find out where Latvia is — either already travel or will become future tourism clients.
“We always complain that nobody knows about Latvia.
For example, you go to the U.S., and almost no one’s heard of us. But streamer IShowSpeed — Darren Jason Watkins — visiting Latvia is just one more way to raise our profile within certain audiences. And youth are a very important target group,” he said.
When asked about widespread claims that IShowSpeed’s followers are mainly teens, Rajevskis dismissed them: “That’s completely untrue — his audience ranges from teenagers to people in their 30s.” He also emphasized that appearances by influencers like IShowSpeed usually cost hundreds of thousands of euros. The fact that the fee was split between all three Baltic states made the event even more cost-effective.
In response to BNN’s question about the controversy over IShowSpeed allegedly “desecrating” the Freedom Monument, Rajevskis replied: “First, he was on the terrace of the monument — a place anyone can access. Second, if we want symbols to be alive, it’s essential that young people recognize and respect them from childhood. If we drive all the youth away from the Freedom Monument and it stands there alone and empty, it’ll symbolize a state that is also empty and alone.”
Asked whether public officials who welcomed Watkins and gave him a Latvian national football jersey deserve criticism or consequences, Rajevskis said no — and posed a rhetorical counter-question:
“Where were all these outraged voices when football fans were urinating at the same monument?
The guy didn’t do anything outrageous — he did his trademark backflip on a terrace anyone can climb. What’s the harm?”
To BNN’s remark that IShowSpeed also barked at a small dog, Rajevskis joked: “Oh, horrors! He barked at a little dog! I recommend going to Old Riga on a Friday night and watching what drunk people get up to — this was a minor detail and part of the show. No wonder his videos are watched by over 40 million people!”
Rajevskis stressed that this is a serious business: “The saddest thing is that the critics don’t understand anything about this industry or marketing. And let’s see one of these IShowSpeed bashers manage to gather an audience like his. Our so-called opinion leaders on platform X — none of them can attract as many young people to Dome Square, let alone speak to them from a balcony.”
When BNN pointed out that in Estonia a dock collapsed under the weight of IShowSpeed’s crowd, Rajevskis quipped: “Thank God nothing collapsed here! Except — for a large part of the public — their minds did.”
Read also: “Monument dishonored, officials smile” – Latvian public outraged after IShowSpeed’s visit