KSI explains how he used "hate" from Lunchly controversy to market his song 'Thick of It'

On the latest episode of the Impaulsive podcast with Logan Paul, KSI shared how he cleverly used online trolls to promote his newly released single Thick of It. The YouTuber-turned-boxer has been embroiled in a series of controversies over the past few months for various reasons.

One of these reasons was the recent launch of Lunchly. The pre-packaged lunch product faced significant backlash, with fellow YouTuber DanTDM's criticism of the brand going viral on social media.

On the Impaulsive episode released on October 24, 2024, KSI revealed that only his first two posts rebuking DanTDM were "genuine":

"I'd say that the only thing I would have done is probably the two tweets I did at Dan (DanTDM). I think those were genuine. Those were me like, 'F**k this guy! Don't f**king come at my business.'"

According to him, he continued the online feud to channel the trolling and draw attention to his song Thick of It, which was released a few days after the launch of Lunchly:

"But then, because I had a single coming out, I was like, 'I can just use this as a way to market my song. I can use this all this hate, all this attention and drive it to people to go into my song.'"

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KSI claims he embraced getting trolled to promote his new single

During the Impaulsive episode, KSI and Logan Paul discussed how online attention functions as a currency that must be utilized effectively to succeed. Logan praised his business partner for his adeptness at leveraging a bad situation to promote his new song.

KSI explained how he embraced online trolls and didn't mind being "hated":

"I've been doing this for so long, so. I have been loved, I have been hated, I have been whatever in-between. So I am like, 'Alright, cool. Let me just embrace this.'"

He then detailed how he channeled the online drama to generate buzz around Thick of It by pretending to be angry at the trolls:

"You know I put the song out and it was getting a ton of hate, people clowning on it. I know the song is good, but a lot of people will be jumping on the train. A lot of people are sheep, they're going to follow and do whatever they want to do. So I was like, 'Alright cool, let me just lean into this and be pissed off, angry."

The content creator would deliberately ask people not to create memes and videos about his supposed downfall in order to fuel the drama:

"Tell people, 'Guys, stop making memes.' Knowing they are going to make more memes. 'Stop making fun of me', knowing that that they are going to make fun of me more. 'Stop making videos of me, and saying my downfall is imminent or satisfying downfall this and that.'"

This trick seemingly worked, as Thick of It debuted at #84 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, making it the highest debut that week.

In related news, Kick streamer Fousey recently challenged KSI, saying he would tattoo the YouTuber's name on his body if his new song doesn't chart higher than Thick of It.