We caught up with JP Sears from the video series “Ultra Spiritual” as he recently got into some hot water with the local Tico’s about a video posted late June 2017. JP is a YouTube Vlogger, as well as life coach and writer, however, he is most known for his comedic antics and video’s that use satire and parody to poke fun at New Age topics.
In the parody video he made “Welcome to Costa Rica”, he had adopted an infomercial feel, set by a fast past and quick dialogue, and was attempting to show the often times humorous mindset of foreigners coming to the country.
Within 36 hours of the video being posted, he realized that this was not like any other video he had published and he was receiving serious negative feedback, as well as an increased number of upset viewers overall that were contacting him. When JP realized that Costa Ricans were deeply hurt about the contents of the video, rather than laugh at the content, they felt criticized and were hurt by the contents of the video, that is when he decided to pull the video, and now he has deleted it from his own account.
The parody involving living in Costa Rica was aimed at Expats, however, the type of humor did not go over well with Costa Ricans, as JP learned Tico’s are very proud of their Nationality and their country. Overall, this is a great lesson in cultural differences, what made JP’s popularity in the States, the use of satire and parody is not going to be a successful tactic in Latin America. At the very least, JP did realize that he had erred and sought to rectify his actions in a very public way. Once the satire video was pulled, he did issue an apology video, quickly realizing the impact of what he had done. In addition, here is what he had to say about the incident.
Needless to say, JP will not be doing any videos about Costa Rica, he will be sticking to subjects he knows well, already his next video has been released and Millennials are the brunt of the joke this time.
Apologizing LIVE from Costa Rica!
Written & Interview by Nikki Whelan. Nikki Whelan is a six-year veteran expat and writer for Costa Pacifica LIVING, a Travel & Lifestyle magazine, that helps travelers and expats alike in understanding lifestyle and cultural differences that you may experience in Costa Rica.
Video by Maricela Garcia