A week ago, Wood Hawker (of BeatEmUps) had shared on social media that his contract with Nintendo’s Brand Ambassador program “would not be continuing [his] membership.” In his string of tweets, he discussed the email he received and answered fan questions:
To answer some questions:
– No, it's not just me. Others received the exact same email, but not everyone. (yet?)
– No, it's not because of my last video lol
– Yes, I am becoming a full-time Fortnite Channel instead.
— Wood Hawker (@BeatemupsWood) May 29, 2020
Now, a week later, Hawker has released a 27 ½ minute video discussing the correspondence he received about his removal from the program, the comments he made online, confirmation of a new program, and more. The entire video answers some questions… while also raising more.
Essentially, this is what we know now:
There is a new Nintendo Brand Ambassador program in effect now and Hawker did not qualify for it. In an email titled “Changes to the Nintendo Brand Ambassador Program,” only the words “Nintendo is taking a different direction and” was shown. In an unspecified titled email, Hawker was also told this: “[a]dditionally, we’d like to ask you to please remove any mention of the Nintendo Brand Ambassador program from your social channel bios, email signatures, etc.”
Other quotes that Hawker shows on-screen are about why he wasn’t brought into the new program, which is a bit of a non-answer:
“Yes, there is a new program. Content creators for that program are evaluated on several criteria, including their passion for Nintendo, their social following, the quality and brand-friendliness of their content, and more. We are always ev[redacted] anything changes for your membership.”
Despite all this, Hawker is still on the list to receive downloadable game codes and is on an event list. Basically, he’s receiving some Brand Ambassador perks, yet he isn’t allowed to hold the title. Hawker does spend some time in the video speculating as to why he was dropped, but for the time being, Nintendo or Golin (the PR company that is in charge of the program) hasn’t outright stated specifically why Hawker was booted out.
No other Nintendo Brand Ambassadors have stepped forward and shared their experiences yet. It’s anyone’s guess as to whether there will be any other social media stars being asked to remove the official seal of Nintendo approval from their bios at this point!
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Written by Jennifer Burch
Illustrator, designer, writer and big Nintendo geek, you can find Jennifer with an N3DS within reach 24/7. As the oldest of three, she has survived many Mario Party, Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart sessions intact in addition to getting her brothers hooked on some really weird games. (Cubivore anyone?)
