At the start of the pandemic, I was out of a job and looking for anything that was related to the marketing field. I considered myself lucky to find a local dealership in need of a Marketing Associate. Oh, how wrong I was.
The job description was the normal nondescript marketing responsibilities, update site and be in charge of social media. After two interviews they said they wanted to see an example of the type of social media posting I would do, so I shot a video explaining how to set up Bluetooth in a car, posted it on my YouTube page, and sent them the link. They loved it, and hired me.
While I worked there, I was the sole person in charge of social media. From scheduling posts and taking photos, to shooting and editing videos; I loved it. I was always busy, what with there being only two people in the marketing department. I had a hand in just about everything the company did. While I was hoping to get more mentorship, I was happy to pick up things as I went.
Now this car dealership didn't have the best reputation. Employees were gone in six months and the owner constantly yelled at everyone, but I figured that since I was in marketing I'd be fine as long as I kept my head down. But just in case, I had my resume updated and a demo reel of my work redone on my YouTube channel. This consisted of clips from various personal projects and employment work, all with attributions to where the clips were from. I also posted this video to my personal website, which I used as a portfolio of my work.
After about a year, and petitioning my boss for a yearly review, we sat down and discussed how to improve the company. He liked my social videos, but wanted someone who was consistent and had more energy. Instead of our sales people who kept quitting. He said he wanted me in front of the camera instead of behind it. I didn't mind- I'm not a camera-shy person, and I did think having a consistent face would be better.
Fast forward just shy of another year to the beginning of June. I'm doing my work like normal when I receive an email from HR saying she wants to meet me with my boss in the conference room at noon. I had no idea what I did, but I knew I was getting fired. From all the other employees who I had known at the dealership, it didn't take much for the owner or VP to decide they didn't want you around anymore. Thank you at-will employment!
So I go up the conference room, and as I sit down with my boss and HR, she says to me, “Don't worry you're not in trouble.” Okay that's good. “We just need you to delete your YouTube channel.” And not so good.
After hearing this, I was dumbfounded. What did my channel have to do with anything related to the company? Well apparently, when the company's name was searched along with my name, my personal channel came up as well in the search results. And, “Being the face of the company,” I couldn't be associated with anything other than the dealerships brands. This was all news to me.
Now, most people at the dealership (except for the salesmen) flat out do not understand how technology and the internet works. I can't tell you how many times I had to explain to these people what a hashtag is. So I bet you can understand how difficult a conversation it was to explain to them that when you search someone's name in a search bar, of course everything related to them is going to pop up.
I tried to provide solutions. Let's take my name off the videos for the dealership. What if we remove the videos I was involved in and go back to using the salesmen for social content. The voice actress we use for commercials does other work too but she's not associated with the brands. But each solution I provided, they came back with a harder “No” followed by an insistent demand to delete my channel as soon as possible.
It wasn't the content of my channel, which had no swearing or political affiliation, it wasn't even the fact that I used a few clips of the social content in my demo reel. It was simply because they thought that I shouldn't have my own channel while I did work for them. It was just an association that they didn't want with the brands that they carried.
After offering different solutions and receiving their refusals, I gave in a bit. I told them I would delete my channel but I would want compensation for it. While my channel didn't (and still doesn't) generate revenue for me, it could in the future. It also acts as my online resume, showing off my work to others. So I told HR and the VP, when we sat down for a second meeting, that deleting my channel would be choosing them over other opportunities for the foreseeable future. That's when the tone changed from a request to an ultimatum; terminate the channel or we are terminating your job. No additional pay, no compensation, 48 hours to comply. All of this being discussed the same day as my two year anniversary with the company.
I had hoped that they wouldn't fire me over this, or at least work with me on a solution, but I figured the writing was on the wall at this point. YouTube offers an option to hide your channel, but you lose all comments on your videos. I had some skits, but also helpful tips for players stuck in Elden Ring. I decided that this was my sign to get out while I could, so I refused to delete my channel, and they let me go. Fortunately, I had already interviewed for a company that my buddy worked at, and they hired me before those 48 hours were up. I was glad to be out of that toxic work environment. I joked to my friends that I wasn't surprised I got fired, I was surprised I lasted two years! The dealership sent me my last check in the mail, and skipped out on paying my renewed vacation days. Whatever. I just hoped to put this on my resume as work experience and be done with them, but they had other plans.
A month went by, and last week I received an email from an attorney with the dealership’s name at the top. The lawyer wrote that all photography and video production that I did while with the company was the dealership’s copyrighted works, and that I needed to delete all of the photos and videos that I made off of my personal social media (Twitter, Instagram, YouTube) and my portfolio website. AS WELL AS sign the letter and send it back, saying that I recognize that all of those works are the dealership’s property and that I will delete all of them from my possession.
So I did. I removed all the photos I posted to my personal accounts, off of my website, and even edited my demo reel to exclude the clips from the dealership. I'm still getting started with my new job, and I'm intimidated by the dealership. But god damn if I'm not pissed at this whole situation. My YouTube channel, as small as it is, is a timeline of my improvement, and I genuinely enjoy some of my videos on there. I thought by creating a channel with no swearing or controversial topics that I would be fine to post videos and work in marketing. But not to this dealership. I just wanted a portfolio of my work to show how I've changed over time. But not if I don't cater to their misunderstanding of how a YouTube search works. I can't even bring myself to post a negative review on Glassdoor because I'm worried about what else they may try to claim against me. So I'm settling for anonymously posting here as a way to vent. Thank you for listening. I'm not signing that letter, and my channel is my own. Resist as you can.
TLDR: Dealership hires me into the marketing team by having me make a video on YouTube. Tells me to be in front of the camera after a year with the company. Then, after 2 years tells me to delete my YouTube channel because it comes up in searches with my name. No middle ground. Threatens, then fires me. Then a month later sends a cease and desist for having a demo reel with clips of my work, and photos I took at the company on my personal social media.