Try Guy on Campus

YouTube celebrity speaks to students about relationship ethics

Ned Fulmer of YouTube’s the Try Guys and his wife Ariel Fulmer were invited to Santa Clara by the Markkula Center of Applied Ethics on Feb. 6 to discuss their journey as a celebrity couple.

 Six years ago, the Fulmers began creating videos together for YouTube on topics ranging from finding a house, remodeling, having a son and other topics related to their life together. 

The Try Guys also create videos for YouTube discussing off-beat scenarios and situations in order to educate audiences. 

The Try Guys have over 6.8 million subscribers, 550 million views on their YouTube and Facebook accounts and have been nominated for Show of the Year at the Streamy Awards.

“We are fans of the channel, and we heard that they were doing a talk and thought it would be interesting,” junior Henry Brusseau said. “It is nice to hear a married couple’s perspective on how to deal with relationships and make them work.”

The event was at capacity and registration closed shortly after ticket sales began. 

As a result, there was Livestream viewing available in Benson B and C. The room was packed with fans of the Try Guys and the Fulmers. 

“A relationship has to be about giving, has to be about doing things selflessly because otherwise, it is kind of impossible,” Ned said. “Suddenly we started thinking of [sacrifices] not as an exchange, but as a gift, as an act of love that you are doing selflessly for your partner, for your family, and once you start thinking of it like that, giving gifts feels awesome.”

After describing the journey of their relationship, the Fulmers answered questions from the audience, which were sent in through forms passed out to each audience member. 

Shane Hughes, Hackworth Fellow with the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, moderated the event and asked the audience’s questions. 

Questions ranged from how the Fulmers knew they were the one for each other to what advice they have for others in relationships.

Hughes asked about how YouTube has impacted the Fulmers’ relationship. 

The couple detailed how they sometimes add stressors to their relationship and film it to achieve a “good” YouTube video

“We did a video where we handcuffed ourselves to each other, we did a video where we pretended to be broken up for a week,” Ned said. “[The] kind of things that maybe you really should not do in a relationship.”

Contact Nisha Shankar at nshankar@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.