Social Media Star Jerome Jarre Is Redirecting Millions of Marketing Dollars to Help Humanity—and It’s Working. Well, Jerome is making unprecedented strides to change that, and it all started when he turned down a million dollar contract with a candy company. © Francisco Reyes / Shutter Republic Today, Jerome is a humanitarian and visionary using the power of his audience to, perhaps literally, bring light to the darkest corners of the world. We spent a couple days with Jerome in New York City to learn more about his vision for the future and his plans to use social media to better humanity. That’s the what I see most wrong with the world right now, and changing that would change every other problem we have a species. I believe the one thing that could immediately change the world is if the youth was in control. Look around you, out of everyone in power—the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, the religious leaders, the politicians—none of them are a part of my generation or younger. There are more and more people from our generation deciding that they’re not going to follow the format of getting a diploma and then getting a job they hate, where they basically waste their lives realizing someone else’s dream. I remember him saying, “If you take that contract, the next time you create something from your heart or stand up for something you believe in, people will wonder, ‘oh, which candy company is he doing this for this time?’ They will be missing the point and your voice will have no impact.” For a month or so, everyone around me was telling me how I made the biggest mistake of my life. I don’t want to have to choose between generating money and doing good.
Jerome Jarre believes that if your online life is better than your real life, then you need to get off the internet. It was a lesson he learned as a teenager who struggled socially, despite his status as one of the top users on the viral, early-2000s French blogging site, Skyblog. Yet you would never suspect this if you follow him today. He’s courageous, outgoing, and inspiring, but most of all, he’s on a mission to change the world—and not just the digital one.
Jerome got his start on social media with Vine comedy, after he dropped out of college at 19 and traveled to China where he met his mentor, Chris Carmichael. It was he who educated Jerome on the foundations of entrepreneurship, and the duo went on to work together on two startup businesses: one that manufactured lanyards for trade show badges, and an app that connected trade show attendees, in order to tap into the full potential of networking. But this was only the beginning of Jerome’s quest to improve life with technology. In the past year, he’s launched NGO missions that bring sustainable, solar-powered light to impoverished communities, sent a Love Army into the streets after the July 2016 terrorist attacks in France, and brought 100 children from one of Brazil’s oldest favelas to the Olympics. And the best part? With the help of his audience, he’s funded this by reaching deep into the pockets of large-scale corporations.
But before you can fully understand his mission, it’s important to understand the social media business model. For influencers, revenue is generated by working with brands that offer advertising dollars to promote their products. Companies often suggest that these campaigns are executed subtly, so the audience doesn’t catch on that it’s advertisement. This poses a moral challenge, as many influencers have built their followings off honesty and transparency. But everyone needs to make a living, right? Well, Jerome is making unprecedented strides to change that, and it all started when he turned down a million dollar contract with a candy company.
Today, Jerome is a humanitarian and visionary using the power of his audience to, perhaps literally, bring light to the darkest corners of the world. He’s disrupting the influencer model, and driving corporations to spend advertising budgets on causes that directly help those in need. After all, Jerome will never let his online life outweigh reality, and with over 16 million followers, that’s no easy standard to top.
We spent a couple days with Jerome in New York City to learn more about his vision for the future and his plans to use social media to better humanity.
What’s up Jerome? I thought we’d walk toward Washington Square Park and discuss your plans to change the world. But before we get into that, I’m wondering what you believe is most wrong with the world today? What are the biggest challenges we face as humans?
Discrimination, disempowerment, and brainwashing the youth of the world. That’s the what I see most wrong with the world right now, and changing that would change every other problem we have a species. As a kid, I remember feeling like I didn’t have the opportunity to change the world, because society is designed to make kids feel this way. Kids are put in this category of less than an adult—less smart and less experienced. It feels like just because you’re a kid, you’re not supposed to participate in making the world a better place. I promised myself that I’d remember that feeling because I didn’t want to do it to my own kids one day. I don’t have kids yet, but I translate this to the people who follow me, who could be my kids or brothers and sisters. To me, the youth is where the solutions and answers are—they’re the purest humans on earth and have been the least affected by negativity in the media, fear, propaganda, and disappointments in life. That’s what makes them so special. I believe the one thing that could immediately change the world is if the youth was in control.
What do you mean by control, exactly? Is this coming from a political, social,…
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