The Ethics of Health-Related Philanthrotainment

Abstract: Online philanthrotainment involves charitable fundraising through venues like YouTube and Instagram. Philanthrotainment videos are presented in an entertaining way with the aim of generating views, likes, donations, and advertising revenue. The most prominent recent example of this phenomenon is the YouTube star Jimmy Donaldson, also known as MrBeast. Donaldson and others have raised millions of dollars for health-related needs worldwide including clean drinking water, food security, and housing.

While health-related philanthrotainment can create meaningful benefits, it also raises serious ethical concerns. Philanthrotainment projects may be inefficient as they are entertainment products with recipients selected according to their entertainment value. The fundraising priorities of philanthrotainment influencers can undercut more democratic processes in distributing health-related aid and there is little evidence that these projects include consultation with recipients about their needs and priorities. As an entertainment product, philanthrotainment is ill suited to addressing social injustices. Philanthrotainment may also encourage moral licensing where donors and content creators feel excused from undertaking more meaningful actions that require financial or other forms of sacrifice. Finally, participating in philanthrotainment can be degrading, requiring that recipients publicly perform their gratitude.

These ethical concerns suggest that philanthrotainment may be defensible as form of health-related fundraising in the abstract but is often problematic in practice. It could be made more palatable if its democratic promise of engaging young people in health-related giving was better realized by giving viewers and recipients a greater voice in setting giving priorities and ensuring that these gifts have sustainable, positive impacts on their communities.