Yes, Established Titles Is A Scam*
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- Опубліковано 20 чер 2024
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Didn't you do a video with them before?
They claim you own the land in the adverts THIS IS FRAUD!
also in the non UK adverts they say "YOU LEGALLY BECOME A LORD"
You can call yourself anything you want! Its not illegal!
Signed Danial Quayles The HIGH KING, EMPEROR, PHARAOH, KUBLAI, SHAH, KOHMEINI, KING OF THE ANDALS, THE RYOYNAR AND THE FIRST MEN, Immortal ruler OF SCOTLAND, THE WORLD , THIS UNIVERSE AND ALL OF THE MULTIVERSE and owner of the "peasant lords of scotland" FOR ETERNITY!
That's a nice 10 million dollar studio you have there.
I'm of the mind the land is held in trust , much as you described, only under loose contract to record your name , honorarily title you laird or lady and not develop the land . Selling legal name changing is just wording that needs to be changed , a mistake that can be remedied without nuking the whole operation that is presumably to actually protect Scottish lands as forests .
No.
They contacted me 4 times (I just double checked) about a sponsorship. And I asked if I can tell my subscribers that this is just for fun, not a real title and they said NO. So yeah, they are a scam.
Honestly, THIS is what distinguishes them from a scam and just a "gag gift" type of company. If they wanna be taken seriously, then that's what they'll get.
why woudl they tell u its not real lol thats a lie ujust told they are a scam but wh ywoudl they tell u they are
what?@@justaguywithapowerpole
What did you gather as to the actual locations, of the scammers behind it?
Ummmm... I'm sure NO product would want you to describe a product like that... your 'paymaster' can tell you to say or do anything (legal). Yeah, it's not a scam... you're just an uneducated UA-camr.
the fact that an attorney is not worried about using the word scam anywhere in the vicinity of a company is very telling.
Not just an attorney, specifically a civil defence attorney. THAT'S telling
@@TheHorrorDevotee how does that work across countries?
SLANDERR !!😂😂😂
That was my first thought 😅
Eh not really. People get away with everything these days.
I'm so glad you pointed out that these are basically land NFTs, because that's exactly what they are. It's like the "buy a star" companies back in the 90s and early 00s, none of which still exist.
At least the star ones were kind of common sense. Like you can’t visit it, and obviously nobody else knows it’s “your” star. But it’s a cute and romantic gift. But this is just a scam.
They actually still do exist. Some friends of mine “bought a star” around a year ago
Damn what am I going to do with all the collected stars?
THANK YOU! As soon as I saw this stuff the first thing that popped into my head was those star certificates.
What are you talking about lol. The stars are still there.
Funny Story. My co-worker had an established titles purchased for her for her birthday. She had already planned a big trip to Ireland with her best friend, so they decided to use GPS to go find her "plot of land". When she got there all she found was a big garbage can. There was a pub nearby so they thought perhaps the GPS was wrong and thats where the established titles was based out of. So they went in and they asked about the GPS coordinates. The first thing the bartender said was "Bought you a plot o'land, did ya?". Her heart sank as she said yes. He said that they get people just like her in there every so often with the same GPS coordinates looking for their 1 foot plot of land. He doesn't know why they chose his coordinates, but they did, and there's nothing there and he's not affiliated in any way with them. She asked if she's at least a lady, and he said no lol. So she asked for a beer and he said that he could give her.
Well that's awkward. (For her. Funny for the rest.) Their competitor Highland Titles - who I haven't bought from yet but I'm considering it - openly invites visitors. They are a nature reserve and will not only direct you they sometimes have guided tours. Obviously you're still not legally a Lord or Lady, but if you're doing it for a laugh they're doing about as responsibly as you could hope.
@@notme222so the thing I don't understand is: If you're doing it for a laugh why does that have to be a purchase? Why does a company have to be involved at all? If everyone knows it's not true and it's just for fun why not just print out a piece of paper that says "you are a.." and then fill in whatever you want? You could even frame it. People mention the conversation effort, but if you donated everything you'd spend on one of these companies directly to conversation it would help a lot more than a dollar.
@@notme222 lmao oops. Conservation
Wait a second, a trip to Ireland? I thought Established Titles is playing around with Scottish 'land' ?
@@notme222 That's interesting to know. Are they doing this "You can call yourself XY" shpeel or do they stress the nature reserve aspect?
As a Sottish person, I rolled my eyes at their ad the very first time I saw it. Not only is it an obvious scam, it's not even a new scam. I first heard of someone selling this stuff, via magazine ad, back in the 80s.
Had the same response. Become a Laird? Aye, ‘cause it’s that simple. Lol
And that lot are on the road to abolishment soon too…
Tbh I am not even skottish and I knew of this thing before they started advertising but i always knew of it as a stupid scam and joke thing.. was confused when so many youtubers started advertising it.
It's the same as selling pieces of land on the moon. Good luck getting anyone on Earth to recognize that ownership...
The first time I saw a vid with sponsorship from these charlatans it made me cringe, as someone of Scottish birth it made me cringe even more. Thank you for the debunk.
I vaguely remember the same kind of pitch in the 90s/early 2000s internet...
When companies have to explain why they are not a scam, they usually are a scam.
Unless they slap down the legal code where its written. Then its ok.
Bragging about Trustpilot is usually an indication. Using Trustpilot at all is a red flag.
Maybe by the strict definition of a scam, but really you didn't lose anything. Instead of been loophole lord that has no power, you are a novelty lord that has no power...
I didn't buy into it because like most people, i have other shit im saving for. I just can't imagine anybody buying in with any legitimate intentions in mind.
@@MrSnakekaplan So this company is selling something that isn't what it first appears to be and the customers are the shady ones for buying it? Er, okay...
This comment as well as the memes teaches me so much.
Thank you.
They consistently say "if you buy this, you can refer to yourself as a Lord or Lady." I can refer to myself as whatever I want in most cases.
I refer to you as @plannein
I know how people can call you lord.
Other people call me lord, but,
I only inherited from my dad.
You may need to buy land and have people live there.
By taking money from people living on your land*,
you become a landlord.
Haha
*Ofc do it with necessary permits
in the USA there is legaly no distinction between a baron and anyone els... all royal and noble titles are banned in the USA.
My thoughts as well. I can legally change my first name to "Lady" and my middle name to "Kim". If I use the first-middle name thing like Billy-Joe or Ann-Marie and people interpret my first name as a title, well, what can I do? 😂
Heck, I don't even have to do it legally, just have a nickname. Simple, free, done.
In the age of variable pronouns, why buy land when you can legally change your pronouns to lord or lady.
When I was a kid, I saw stories about people paying to "buy" stars and land on the moon or Mars. It was such an obvious scam that even back then I realized it was silly. Then these ads started popping up and I was like "here we go again"
I think there I heard once that a Spanish woman "Bought the Sun" and was going to court to claim it 😂
But yes, that is just too silly to believe, really surprising people actually bought stars and Mars land.
Yeah. As a kid I always thought. Okay, well I can just point at a star and say "that one's mine" and it has the exact same effect.
@@genio2509 So let's just assume the judge was very drunk or whatever and confirmed her claim to the sun (and also nobody contests that verdict) - what the hell was she gonna do with it? Sell it to the next person to have a senseless claim to it as if the sun was some dumb NFT-pic? Or was she going to start building real estate on the sun? Just what do you do with an enormous, unreachable, burning ball in your possession? xD
@@Balotovi idk, maybe build a house in there?
Or another good idea is, like two years ago there was this meme here in Mexico about the president wanting to put a tax on solar energy. So maybe she can charge money for using the Sun, so just seeing it's light 😂
@@Balotovi I just searched for some news and apparently she went to court to indeed CHARGE for using it, like it can't get more stupid than that 🤣
Edit: You should probably research because I found things like a notary signing a paper saying she owned the Sun and people charging her for sun burns and skin cancer since she owned the Sun that cause those 😂
"They're basically making Land NFTs". He has a point.
Yeah as soon as he got into the digital certificate that thought jumped to mind. Glad I wasn't alone.
I almost died laughing at that notion.
Makes sense though. If parts of business can be bought and sold why not land. It isn't rent you would own your plot. But you would be on a larger plot owned by a private owner.
Which would be fine if that was what it was advertised as, but it isn't!!!
Is there a wild gambling market with Established Titles certificates? That seems almost…misleading Legal Eagle!
The legal loophole is that you can title yourself practically anything you want. Whether anyone else is going to agree to call you that is another question entirely.
True, they only said you can refer to yourself as X. You can indeed refer to oneself as anything! Whether or not there will be legal recognition of that identity or anything inherent that follows with that identity is another thing altogether. [Off topic: this is why many trans people go through the efforts of legally changing their official sex on paper. You can call yourself a man or woman all you want, but you have a legal identity of one or the other assigned at birth which retains itself unless you successfully go through the process of changing.]
Well they have to
Actually, you might run into trouble if you do that in Europe, as some countries do have laws regulating noble and knighthood titles
hmmm, that sounds like preferred pronouns
@@iafozzac Academic titles too. Here in the Netherlands it's illegal to call yourself Dr. or PhD if you're not actually one.
The crazy thing is that they may have never bought any plot of land in Scotland for Established Titles as they don't need to show any proof of it and they seem to never run out of plots to sell.
Right??? Scotland has such a small amount of land, this would have been an incredibly finite 'product' if it was legit
They're selling 1x1 feet Scotland has enough land for that 😂😂@@damien678
@@damien678 A 1 sq foot plot is tiny. 1 acre which gives 43560 sq feet in some remote part of the highland would cost very little.
They said they have 200 acres. That’s more than 8.7 million sq ft. Sounds like a lot but there’s a lot of people out there that came across this pitch and fell for it. Weather or not it’s right or wrong. The owners of established titles are the ones that have to hold it within their conscience of what they’re doing
@@TellURide447 This may just be because I'm Scottish but I'm struggling to see how this can actually scam anyone. What they're buying is bs that only a vain moron would get but they do still get the meaningless bit of paper they pay for. And even if they're dumb enough to think owning any land in Scotland makes you a lord then there are 2 million plus lords including me just from Scottish people who own a house. So it wouldn't be of any significance.
If you want to support reforestation in Scotland, consider supporting Trees for life.
My former highschool has worked with them since 2010 and we always had groups of students go there during the school year for 2 weeks to help them out.
Was quite nice.
Mossy Earth is the one I support. They are helping reforest Scotland and many other places. They are also doing many other projects like reintroducing animal species and restoring rarer ecosystems. They have a channel on UA-cam so you can see everything they do.
@@snekysneks ok.
Don't think that's why anyone is buying this stuff
The problem that Establish titles has is that the disclaimers ONLY CAME OUT AFTER the video trashing them came out. The way back machine was used to check if the disclaimers were there before, they were not. That's the problem, they were only trying to cover their tracks
Welp, the wayback machine once again saves the day!
Hurray for the Way Back When machine, I'll have to donate them 10 bucks this year for their work. (Sorry, I know it's not much! Neither is my income.)
Just them pulling the rug from under thus "but look, disclaimer!!!!" stunt is worth it.
Yep. I bought it 2 years ago. Read terms and conditions, website, and all fine print I could find. They even directly said I could legally have my driver license name changed to include Lord.
There wasn't anything saying or even hinting that I couldn't whilst they directly said I could.
Result: I couldn't. Couldn't get refund either.
Meanwhile, I've been reporting their ads as fraud on Google and Facebook since day one.
@@reddragon7762 So you believe that you can actually buy a title? That's on you.
As a friend who runs an occult shop once told me, "Whenever you hear about something 'ancient' or 'forgotten' in advertising, it's crap. People like me have been using it to sell glass spheres and cheap pewter necklaces for centuries as crystal balls and talismans to tourists and rebellious teenagers. We keep the real stuff in the back."
Charlatans
Spoiler alert: there is no "Real stuff"
@@gamecokben no duh, kinda missed the gag Captain
I'm pretty sure I heard this too. I miss him.
Ancient I can see as possible but if it's forgotten how does anyone know about it?
I've run into at least one person who took it very seriously. She got legit offended I didn't recognize her as an actual lady lol
one of my old middle school teachers i ran into didn’t take it seriously but he was so proud of his and his wife’s adjoining plots or whatever 😭😭 i did not have the heart to tell him i knew it was a scam even though i learned of it months ago
@@Cat-sf1mi If he didn't take it seriously then it's not a scam. Esp if they have neighboring plots.
Please tell me you offed them. Anybody taking this seriously, cannot be allowed to reproduce.
@@npip99 he didn’t make us call him a lord or anything but he didn’t get the title that was advertised for him which is why it’s a scam
@@Cat-sf1miMy old middle school teacher did too haha
I completely agree with your description of it as NFTs.
My ex fiancé was a “Lord”- he had bought the title through a scheme such as you describe and then used the title to give him credibility for organised crime purposes for which he was on parole from a 10 year jail sentence. He was predictably dubbed Lord Fraud by one newspaper. I literally had no idea about the “Lordship” or the criminal background as I met him through a dating site.
Wtf
💀💀💀
crime lord ☠️☠️
Some part of this isn’t true. Just can’t figure out what.
Are you Lady Gullible ?
This is literally the same scam the "Buy a Star" people pulled. They would send a certificate with a listed dedicated star, but it isn't recognized on any registry other than the company's. And since they are essentially selling nothing but a piece of paper and frame, they could pour all their money into advertisements.
People are dumb. They will derive life meaning and self-worth through their purchases.
We all do it. We're programmed to.
He does mention it in the video...
Yes, I've sold the Brooklyn Bridge at least 100 times, now. (not really)
i mean is that a scam? who actually believes they own a star haha
@@chuckfilming i was brought this as a kid who was into spacey stuff. it was a nice gift and atleast came with a bunch of cool booklets of info and a map where you could plot out where your non existent star was. i doubt id ever come accross someone with the same gift and the same star assigned to them so its atleast a fun gift idea.
with the established titles id be really pissed off because the only thing you get is a fake certificate and it means nothing. atleast in my delusion as a kid i could dream about going to the equator and finding my star. if i went to scotland to find my foot of land to discover its a lake or other unusable piece of land id be pissed
At least with the pet rock I purchased in the 70's, you got the actual rock, the packaging that doubles as it's nest and the extremely hilarious hand book for care of said rock.
You also technically own a former piece of land represented in that rock
@@MrCh0o I guess that makes me a Rock Lord then.
@@josephconnelly7939
Stoned lord
Original Pet Rocks are available on eBay for buy it now price of $50. Make sure you get the handbook and cardboard box; that’s where the value is.
I would rock that pet infront of everyone
22:05 - "I don't think anyone is earnestly purchasing Established Titles thinking they now own land are literally a lord." And yet, this is the exact impression I got from all of the UA-cam plugs ET paid for.
RIGHT? The ones I was most upset with were the ones that talked about putting lord or lady on checks, passports, credit cards, that sort of thing. They were either stupid or scummy and either way was very disappointing.
That's the exact thing they were claiming. That was literally the entire point of their product. Owning land in Scotland and becoming a lord in Scotland.
Yeah to anyone unfamiliar with how nobility works it can look legit
Absolutely. All the comments about "you're an idiot if you believed the advertising" are mildly infuriating; we've had voting rights of all things legally tied to land ownership, an empty title is highly plausible.
Easily could have been a law passed in 1493 by a bunch of people in power who wanted to be called lords and then as the nobility stopped being relevant, the law also stopped being relevant.
Yeah, i got duped by this.
Learned my lesson.
I'm such a cynical and sceptical person that when I read "You may choose to title yourself as lord/laird/lady", I just immediately knew it was a scam. If something I'm buying or signing doesn't explicitly say what I am providing the company and what they are providing to me in definite terms, then that is a hugeeeeee red flag.
One might assume that any of the three become valid depending on your gender or spelling preference. Seems reasonably definite to me.
@@daledullnig1778 You misunderstood. The problematic bit is the part that says "You 'may choose'(...)".
@@areyouwelldoyouhavebrainda2023
To be fair I’m sure real lords can also choose whether or not they want to be referred to as lords, I doubt they’re forced to call themselves one.
@@teathesilkwing7616 I agree with that, but the problem is in the language of the contract imo. Imagine if we signed a contract that says "you give me a thousand dollars after which you may choose to title yourself as owner of my house". It doesn't say you're the owner of my house, and it doesn't give you any exclusive legal right that you didn't have before. You can call yourself the owner of my house at any moment of your choosing, and it's completely free too! If you do wish to give me money for that, I would still be grateful 😂
As a Scot, every time a UA-camr launches into an Established Titles sponsorship ad, my eye starts to twitch uncontrollably.
You really shouldn't -I think most people know this for what it is but sadly most people will never get the chance to go anywhere near Scotland. It's all we have for our love of Braveheart, the bagpipes and the kilts.
Yeah it's so blindingly obviously a scam
Well consider this, atleast people LIKE Scottland enough to want to be a lord of it, that something you can thumb in the nose of the English.
@@michaelmurdock4607 That's not really all that unreasonable that your decended from so family that had lands and seals and all that stuff. Remember not everyone inherits the wealth or keeps it if they do. Prior to contraception and modern medicine the elites of society consistently had more children then peasants, every few generation the peasant class had been completly replaced by disinherited and failed nobility.
By reading your comment I got a cough attack that almost caused my death.
"Implications are not necessarily false advertising"
And this is why so many scams are legal in the US.
What blows my mind the most, is how common it is to talk down on competitors. In some cases pretty harsh and damaging. Also when it comes down to political ads.
In many countries that's legally an absolute no-no.
Thank goodness.
@@p_mouse8676in many countries political ads themselves are barely legal and come with some extremely harsh requirements, spending allowances, and clear notification of who paid for them and who they support, oh and attack ads are just basically forbidden.
Ye
@@p_mouse8676 People honestly don't realize how much of a hellscape America from a law standpoint. Political attack ads alone shouldn't be legal.
Another dimension to consider is that if Established Titles really were selling titles of nobility, they would have been committing an crime under the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925. You can actually go to prison for it! When Toby Blair was Prime Minister, he was questioned by the police when it was alleged that he had been selling peerages, although he wasn't charged in the end.
That odd thing about this is that most of the people capable of actually selling you a title (as opposed to taking your money and then not coming up with the goods) are too influential to be prosecuted: prime ministers, party chairmen, etc. The history of people becoming very rich and somehow acquiring a title without a background of good works or political activity strongly suggests that money does change hands. It's just unclear who gets the money, and how much. Only Lloyd George had a scale of fees that we know about. Currently a Russian oligarch wishing to become a Lord would have to cough up at least a million pounds.
The most flagrant historic example must be the Grosvenor family, who own formerly agricultural land in Mayfair. They ascended the levels of the peerage over several centuries and the current Duke of Westminster may be the richest man in England. Many brewers became barons in the 19th century: they formed the "beerage." Fortunes made from slaves in the West Indies or the India-China opium trade bought landed estates, parliamentary seats ("pocket boroughs") and titles of nobility.
@@faithlesshound5621 It costs £3m in party donations to become a Lord, allegedly.
If you have to put disclaimers on lemon dish soap telling people not to drink it, then we shouldn’t assume everyone knew this was fake. I’ve seen all the ads, and this was never marketed as a gag gift. The CEO is still trying to walk the line by saying she’s selling a title really but not really.
They’re just trying to keep that delicious soap for themselves. I’ve drank for bittls an feel fine. It all a big conspdjiwjwnrnsm
@@teathesilkwing7616 thank you for your comment. I’m still giggling 😆 😂
@@livesouthernable *muffled groan of agony*
This is perfectly put.
The most hilarious part of ET, that I didn't see in any video, was that you could not purchase the item if you are in *Scotland*.
😂😂😂
That screams scam by itself. (You can't buy this if you most likely know its a scam.)
wow i didnt know that either lmao
So you can't ask or make attempts to go see your "land"... 🤫
From the tv show "boondocks"
"It's 'A Pimped Named Slickback', you say the whole thing"
The tonal whiplash of LegalEagle being all professional and using legal terms, and then referring to himself as “your boy” is something lol
It’s like if Guzma went into law school instead of a gang.
who better to report on these very serious allegations than YA BOI LEGALEAGLE.
It's my favorite part of LegalEagle. It shows that lawyers are still just people too. Makes them feel more approachable.
Caught that too. Honestly threw me off guard XD.
I like it...😐👍
I have never once heard Established Titles sold as a novelty or gag gift.
Those words were added to their promos only after all the revelations of their scam arose. Those words were not initially in their ads.
They’re running lots of ads on Facebook currently (October 2023) & nowhere do they say it’s a novelty or gag gift!
This is especially funny because developing in Scotland (maybe the UK writ large, idk) is VERY DIFFICULT. The gov makes getting planning permission hard as hell. So the contract not to develop on the land is literally just. "Give me $50 and I won't go through zoning hell." lol
everytime I saw this ad on youtubers videos; I always thought to myself, "you can't even visit the land, they can literally just re-sell the same plot to multiple people and no one would know or care."
They advertised last year that you could visit the land if you were in Scotland. It was on the FAQ page. The claim was you could have a picnic there but that you'd want to buy a larger piece of land, or it might get cramped. Apparently that was just a straight up lie.
Edited - Turns out I purchased from Highland Titles, not Established Titles...easy to see how I'd be confused though all things considered.
And wouldn’t their whole premise mean every single landowning Scotsman is a lord or lady?
@@Theproclaimed Yes. I was thinking that too. There is lots of Lords and Ladys
Exactly
And don't most land owners have taxes to pay? The concept of "you pay once and never again!" for land baffles me.
Signed,
An American
My family is aggressively proud of their Scottish Heritage, and are also easily duped by anything on the internet. My gullible father was heavily duped by a predecessor of this company, and actually gave up thousands of dollars to them, all while thinking he was "rebuilding our family legacy." These scams can actually hurt people pretty bad.
Lmao the hubris!!!
When I bought mine, I was under the assumption of building something. After learning a nitty gritty as far as laws and titles. I thought better of it luckily. Was almost in a similar predicament as your father.
It's mildly amusing that your dad things his heritage is of a lord. I'm assuming you're in America, Canada, New Zealand or Australia? If so your heritage is likely extreme poverty. That's why so many Scott's left. It's why large parts of my own family (coming from a coal mining family in Edinburgh) now live in New Zealand. The only reason my own grandma didn't leave was because her father got sick and she decided to stay to look after him.
It's not the scams that hurt people in my opinion. It's having your identity so strongly tied to the place where your mother pushed you out of her vagina. As if the spec of dust where you were born is somehow part of your merits.
@@Albinojackrussel do you mean to say wealthy lords didn't just pack up their entire lives and move to the American frontier? That's wild, man.
I always thought the "name a star" thing would somehow get registered into an official star registry or something, not just a private nobody list. I also assumed that the advertising for Established Titles did exactly what it said on the tin. I'm so gullible...
hi! you’re definitely not gullible! just give me all your personal info and i will prove that to ya! (totally!) (definitely not a scam!)
That's how they get you. I don't think it's something to really be ashamed of because these companies use tricks that are known to work. They make it look like this fun thing so you don't think too hard about what they're saying.
No, you're simply acknowledging what they actually claimed.
@@E12345E how can I trust you? do you even have a pen?
@@MrCmon113 yeah thats what being gullible is. Falling for obvious lies
a scam asking a lawyer to promote them is hilarious
"So you have chosen death."
I always just considered things like this a novelty item instead of something that could be legally upheld. Like the "buy a star" and "buy property on the moon" ones too. They're just a "I don't like you enough to buy you something useful for your birthday" type of gifts.
Well yes and no. Some people are actually aware of this is not actually giving you titles as you assumed, but you'd be surprised how gulliable/stupid/naive most people are to actually believe they are a lord/lady after a mere purchase of 30 bucks.
A lot of people think this gives them the title, mostly because how the marketing is done, most UA-camrs I watch said explicitly that you officially become a Lord/Lady and when they state the Scottish costume of naming assigning the title as long as you own land, it contributes to that.
And let’s be honest, how many people read terms and conditions?
Welcome to capitalism - most of it is a scam ;)
Novelty item and legally upheld are not mutually exclusive. It's obviously a gimmick and a reasonable person wouldn't except to be able to rule, but if you pay 80 dollars to "become a lord" and they say "LOL u can call urself a lord now thanks for the money", it seems just scummy
@@solinjrgensen2540 That's their entire business model though ...
It is endlessly entertaining to me that their main legal defense about their product boils down to "it's just a prank, bro".
That tracks
On a similar level to Fox News defending themselves for lying by saying they were technically for entertainment not news...
They say their briefs for advertisers are clear in that they are just a novelty gift. It's on the creators who advertise. People have the wrong idea because of multiple ill-informed advertisements.
@@zackarybaker9159 and the same creators advertising it are claiming that they were never told it was a gag gift which I kinda believe since I watch a few youtubers with good reputations that promoted it
Like the pepsi commercial.
As an English student of law - the UK legal system slander was an ouchie 🤣🤣
I instantly knew Established Titles was a scam when I heard that a tree would be planted on your "plot of land". That is simply because trees need empty space around them to actually grow. If two people got a plot of land directly next to each other the trees would struggle to grow.
That, as well as the fact that Scotland has a very little amount of space in it, so if it were real it'd be quite the finite product to sell. And they were aggressively advertising.
And what legaleagle says, if anyone that owns land is a 'lord' or 'lady' that would actually be kinda ridiculous in modern times. So many people would be that in Scotland which would probably be a well-known thing if it was true but it's not
@@damien678 200 acres is not much land-- well under one square mile
I feel bad for people who bought this for a loved one for Christmas thinking how cool it was going to be to explain to them what they got, and now there are dozens of videos explaining how they got scammed.
Meh, don't feel bad. We all at some point have to learn how blatantly other will lie and scheme, and if you haven't learned by a certain point then you can't be helped
Really should've learned after the "name/buy a star" thing lol
@@FirstNameLastName-il8ev I bought a star and named it LV262831.
These primates have another interesting scam, wherein, they have starving children pull compressed pieces of carbon out of the ground and sell them for thousands or millions of their currency... On a carbon-rich planet...
I'd buy one for laughs if it's couple of tenners.. who cares.. people buy pet rocks and other useless trinkets too.. fools and their money don't have everlasting love affair.. =P
A French UA-camr bought a title from a different website, months ago. He didn't detected the fraud (tho he emitted doubt over the legitimacy of the process) but more importantly, his certificate gave the location of the tree he planted.
While the website advertized a "Blackwood" land/forest in Scotland, the tree was planted... in Pakistan.
That's probably the part where they're "dedicating" the land in Scotland to you whatever that means, and the tree is being planted separately by another company. Which I guess was in Pakistan.
Trees were probably being planted in Pakistan there anyway as part of a routine cycle.
Well, at least he knows sort of for sure that a tree was planted somewhere, I guess
Id' be hillarious if that tree planted in Pakistan is actually palm to use for palm oil or another for-profit crop
You know that "plant a tree" is slang for anal sex in Pakistan, right? And "Black wood" is slang for...well, you can probably guess. I hope that French UA-camr knows what he was really paying for.
Many years ago, British Airways had a dropdown which listed titles in alphabetical order. The top one, "Air Vice-Marshal" was selected in the form by default. Could have saved myself a few minutes if I didn't have to scroll all the way down to M---, if I'd known I could just have left it set to Air Vice-Marshal. I think Archbishop was the second option.
Was there ever King or Queen or something on there?
It does break down the more you think about it.
As it would mean that literally everyone who owns a house in Scotland, is considered a lord. As when they bought their house, they also bought the land it's attached to.
Which would mean that an extremely large part of the population would be Lords/Ladies
What baffles me is why a scam company (or at the very least a dubious one) would approach a lawyer for a sponsorship...
If the lawyer says yes then it makes it seem all the more legitimate.
If anything to me it demonstrates to me they have confidence that their gag novelty product isn't a scam. Which frankly is fair. Best anyone can tell people got exactly what they were guaranteed when they purchased. Whether they got what they THOUGHT they were buying is another topic - but caveat emptor! (Learn to read, people.)
It's the same as when nord vpn approached mutahar and he accepted, he's a channel who talks a lot about internet security so having him promote their scummy business is all the better for them.
@@thechugg4372 So what Nord's VPN deal then? What makes them a scummy business?
@@Gwyrddu in general its prices are rather outrageous, multiple cases have shown NVPN accesing rather unnecesary info and other such stuff
I am so happy that you brought up the fact that they use "environmental conservation" as a defense when it is clear that only a small fraction of their income actually goes to it. I feel like both defenders and critics have been really bad at mentioning it, when in my eyes it is the most important point. It seems better to just give the money directly to charity and skip having trees cut down for a bogus piece of paper.
I'm really hoping a more environment focused channel comes out with a video on this (and I assume, green washing), as those still defending it use that as a defense, when considering the net effect including that possible the tree planting is being used to offset/tax deduct for their other brands... it's probably not overall good for environment?
The videos keep getting wrong amount for the 2million trees, it's 25 average cents a tree as that's the amount for the charity that number is from, so even less going... :/ Someone else looked into the land claim/records and only found 55.7 acres.
It's worse, the areas they plant trees are grasslands where endangered birds like Grouse live, it also doesn't help that a lot of these charities plant Spruce which causes acidity in the soil which leech into nearby water sources killing any aquatic life in them also.
You'd do more good paying game keepers to go on a deer or grouse shoot, because they humanely kill a sick one and the money goes into preserving their habitat and health.
But mooooom i want the bogus piece of paper!!! 😭
We should also talk about the charities themselves and how all these "Mass plant a tree/carbon offset charities" also have big issues; Researchers from various environmental scientific journals have found that not only are there no proven benefits of these mass tree planting groups, they actually carry significant negatives and often worsen the environment. 90% of saplings planted die due to poor care and improper conditions and due to how they are not local trees and thus unsuited to the environments they are being put in, the lands these mass plantings take place on are often stolen from native and indigenous peoples as well as nomadic groups and rural poor minorities and these plots are used to criminalize them, many times actual adult forests have been CLEARED so farmers can plant these saplings for credit with the charity or their government thus defeating the purpose, and its really just a long part of the over emphasis of forests over every other ecosystem that is actively causing important marshes and plains and other ecosystems being destroyed to plant more soon to be dead saplings. These plant a tree carbon offset "charities" prey on people's desire to do good, help the environment, without actually having TO DO ANYTHING OR MAKE ANY CHANGES which would actually help the environment; It's why big pollution companies and the companies most responsible for mass deforestation love them and talk about how much money they give to offsets.
31:05 sort of covers the point
It's a shame/embarrassing how many content creators let themselves get roped to that. Ads will get pulled down and forgotten, but their content will circulate in the UA-cam algorithm forever. Though it's refreshing to know that they are just as fallible human as anyone.
There were a couple of creatos I ended up not watching anymore after this (granted, my interest was probably already waning and ET was just the last straw). I saw a TV commercial once and knew it was a scam, it was clear these people didn't do any real research before taking it. The ones who would pride themselves on how thorough they were hit the hardest. Fallability is one thing, this case was just...bad.
This is why I skip most ads on creator channels
Money
Thankfully Sponsorblock exists
Idk, i mean unless your content is aimed at kids i dont see how different it is from tv ads, and you see scams/musleading ads all the time on tv. I cant find it in me to be mad at a youtuber for getting their rent money. Especially bcuz its kind of obvious
“Is established titles a scam?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s figure out if it’s a scam.”
Thesis Statement, followed by working out and presenting the logic in justifying that answer. That's a very good video right there.
"Let's discuss how it's a scam." FTFY
State an argument/claim, present evidence supporting that claim, conclude with a summary. Literally Persuasive Writing 101.
Definition of hearing words but not understanding the meaning or context
I mean, it's better to give arguments supporting that statement other than "It just is"
Their whole "call yourself a Lord or Lady" deal is basically using the "Can I go to the bathroom? - I dunno, CAN you?" logic.
_You will not become a Lord or Lady if you pay us +$50, but you CAN call yourself one. Also here's a paper in a frame that says you CAN call yourself a lord or lady. We don't know if others will agree, but between you and me- since you pay us. Sure kiddo, you're a lord or lady. :)_
Basically, you are paying for a paper in a frame. That's it. You don't own any land, you don't own any official titles, you only own that paper in a frame. They forwarded your $1 to the group that does plant trees, but the rest of your money is in their pockets now.
Well you can visit the plot of land if you buy a large enough plot
@@aaronlee2810 land that you don't l own?
@@aaronlee2810 yeah, technically you can visit the tiny plot of land you don't own.
While it's probably better to just donate to a charity directly if that is your goal, I don't think it's that big of a deal for some other company or whatever to profit from such a system if it means those charities receive money they never would've otherwise.
The whole lord thing is dubious at best, and no one should be tricked, but beyond that, meh. I wouldn't buy such a thing myself.
They could also donate more money for sure, but I don't run their checkbook and have no idea how any of that money is invested.
people know that, it's about the forest conservation and the planting of the trees, the certificate is just as good as "the greatest dad in the world" mug.
Did you just call me a...cardiatric surgeon?! Lawyers just be making words up again
FIGHT!
So you're telling me you're not *actually* a cardiatric surgeon like Devin says? And here I was, believing this lawyer when he told me that you were at the cutting edge of heart-reduction surgery - resecting 80% of the unnecessary heart muscle so prone to ischemic attacks, and simply fusing the perfectly adequate left atrium and right ventricle to cut down on the meaningless cardiac activity of the pulmonic circuit. Never mind the "blood dumping syndrome", that's only a side effect you have to worry about when you have the procedure done by a cardiatric surgeon less prestigious than the Greatly Titled Scottish Lord Rohin. But alas, this too is a lie.
@@ktakashismith So glad that I had a bariatric surgeon carry out my gastric sleeve surgery earlier this year, and not a cardiatric surgeon.
Don't have a heart attack man
@@ktakashismith underrated comment right there. Lmao
35:41 bro became coffeezilla and adopted his voice cadence and hand movements... crazyyyyyyyyy
He literally pulled the best coffeezilla impression and no one is even talking about it.
so true
That part legit looks like coffeezilla deepfake as him (this is a compliment), it’s surreal to watch. Also thank you for posting this I’ve been looking for this
I was scrolling and shocked nobody else said this lmao
I know right? It was brilliant.
I didn't notice until this watch through, and honestly its so well done!
The fact that a lawyer outright says "It is a SCAM" says a lot 😂
What exactly would the scam be?
You actually thought you'd be able to fly to Scotland and start throwing your weight around because you spent $50 on a square foot of land? Were you planning on building a castle on that square foot?? A Lord or Lady is LITERALLY what we call a Landlord or Landlady here in the US.
But I bet you a guy can buy some fake cha-chas and become a Lady. Or a woman can buy a fake hoo-ha and become a guy. That's all legit, right?
🤣
@@espressogirl68able it's not fake just because it isnt natural, sintetic is the right word, a fake substantial land is a land where you can't lordify, if I rent a house the lord i talk to is the landlord because he's the lord of that substancial land, but his mom call him "son". You aren't called a Lord by someone who isn't your tenant lmao.
@@espressogirl68able ah yes, trans rights, very important in relation to Scottish land ownership laws.
@@borger298 I can't escape the anti trans crybabies! Wherever I go, they follow! PLEASE HELP ME!!!
@Cheryl Fischer being intentionally dense, really? What are you accomplishing rn?
I have one of these titles from a different company, Scottish Laird. They list publicly that it's a decorative title, not an actual peerage, the money goes towards restoring a historic castle, and you're entitled to a tour of the property if you ever go out there.
See that I could get behind. 😏
i do not see this… just that it is a novelty thing
@@HTx78 I mean it offers a pretty upfront idea of what it is and the function of what your doing. You are helping restore a castle by buying this and there's just a fun gimmick that goes it that doesn't mean anything. It's more like marketing for the real purpose and what you pay for.
Also it offers a pretty good deal if you are going to Scotland or in Scotland because just buying guarantees a tour of a historic site. Which would be quite valuable for a tourist.
That seems way better.
Honestly, if I was guaranteed allowance to tour a castle if I visited upon purchasing, I'd be more willing to purchase. That would especially be the case if I had a visit to Scotland planned.
The whole scheme of Established Titles sounds like the whole idea of "naming a star" when its almost impossible to do so as well. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
"A fun gift for a good laugh," is not a piece of paper costing me 100$.
Established titles is basically doing the same thing my mom did when I was 5 and she gave a nasa certificate that said i was the most beautiful person in the planet lmao
Sounds like you have a good mom :)
I was thinking the same, why would you buy that Lord/Lady certificate $50 or framed certificate $100 (or whatever the prizes is) when you can easily make one basically free or buy frames less than $10?
Btw, do you still have your nasa certificate? I'm curious😊
@@marjuska9833 yeah... I'm sure it's... somewhere in my house lmao
😄
I think your mom might have been scammed by NASA. No offense.
I am now questioning that Crown I got for my birthday at Burger King.
I always love the “no reasonable person would actually believe what we’re saying to be true” defense.
If it's good enough for Tucker Carlson, it must be good enough for this!
Blaming the victim is an all time classic.
Pepsi, where’s my jet?
It is a legitimate defense against idiots so I think it’s alright.
@@freddogrosso9835 I mean it is an actual defence in actual cases. Just look at the case with the guy who sued Pepsi for a fighter jet in the 90s.
I honestly NEVER thought for a second that Established Titles' whole "lordship title thing" was serious. I always assumed it was a joke gift and that everyone else knew that you can't become a lord just from that and the whole thing was dumb on the face of it, so it should just be treated as such. Like when there used to be loads of those "buy a star and have it named after someone!" companies too. I was really confused when people started acting like they were being conned or something and i was like "wait, you actually took it seriously this whole time??". Maybe it's just because i'm scottish, i studied law here, and i was also friends with our local Laird until he passed (his daughter owns half of Scotland and is the 3rd largest landowner after the MoD and the Church). The whole idea was so insanely silly to me that i was flabbergasted anyone actually believed any of it xD
Edit: LOL i just got to the part you bring up the star thing too... yep. Exactly the same deal. Just a gag gift that is supposed to be seen as such and not taken at all seriously imo.
Being Scottish and educated in law isn’t necessary, it’s obvious to any reasonably intelligent adult that this can’t possibly work, and honestly I think this is their best defense. Obviously they’re *implying* to rubes that they can literally become a noble, but they always have the “no reasonable person would actually believe this” defense
At this point, just go 100% meme. I friend of mine gifted me a title for Christmas as a baroness in the principate of Sealand. And I am a male. Lol.
This sort of scam has long been known as a joke in the UK, it's just a novelty gift over here. I can absolutely see it tricking Americans who have zero idea of how the aristocracy in the UK works, though, since they're used to being able to buy almost anything. Why wouldn't you be able to buy a lordship?
damn i thought youtubers were just promoting novelty gifts, i didn't realize people actually believed they'd be lords 💀
It comes from an American point of view of understanding nobility to be "silly figureheads" anyway.
Like, the logic goes that lords and lady's dont actually do anything, and have no actual power or rights, they just hang around and call themselves nobles.
I've never looked into any of these companies because it's an obvious waste of money, but at zero examination it seemed reasonable it was "legit" in that your name would be put in some legitimate legal record that you were a lord not because in bought land but because *the peerage was effectively worthless, and the state would sell anyone the title as a novelty*
No one thought they were buying real power. They did think they were buying "legitimate" peerage which they understood to mean belonging to an archaic group which had lost enough prestige that anyone with $50 could join as a novelty.
Even the $8 a month recurring payment- that has nothing to do with your original novelty purchase, and is at least 83% profit. They could even give half the money to tree planting. That's absurd.
In the same statement, they warned that people should NOT go to the bank and try to get a loan using their new title, but then said you could title yourself and go to the bank and get a credit card (and a plane ticket) with your title in front of your legal name. Even the company couldn’t give a clear explanation without contradictions and corrections lol
Customizing your credit card is very different from establishing a line of credit.
Why would you even think of using this title to get a loan? Did you think having an "established title" would impact your credit or something?
You can put any name on a credit card, that is nowhere near the same thing as getting a line of credit in a made up name.
Because you can put whatever you want on your credit card. It’s your card. You can put Dr on your card if you want with no proof. It’s just personalization. Securing a loan would be falsely identifying yourself. I could put poopy pants on my CC if I wanted to
Literally one of the daily wire people said you could put "Lord" on your PASSPORT. I like the Daily Wire, but man they messed up on this one
The problem here is those statements on the site were recently added AFTER the video came out exposing them. Before that, there was no mention of it being a novelty and not legally binding. You can see this in the "way back machine" website.
reply to boost this comment
Was going to comment this too. A lot was indeed added after they were called out, which is very very shady.
Let's bump this up. This is a scam just like when someone says something and people get mad and as defense that person says 'I was kidding'. It's just a coward scammer who got caught and now keeps repeating "I never meant it like that".
That's ludicrous
Exactly!
If Established Titles confuses youtubers into saying what they’re implying then Established Titles must be in the wrong.
To be honest, I'm the saltiest to learn about how cheap it actually is to plant trees. I figured they aren't just throwing an acorn in the woods and calling it a day, so I assumed it would cost at least a few dollars. I knew going in I would have no real title claim, and that although I could drive up to the coordinates they give me and take pictures next to some dirt, it didn't belong to me in any meaningful sense. Both me and my husband still proudly hang the stupid certificate and call each other 'your lordship' from time to time. But ultimately, I wouldn't have bought it if it wasn't supporting a creator and planting some trees so... yeah.
Also little heartbeat skip when you pulled your tie out, where's the PG-13 warning?
Great video as always! As a Scottish lawyer, one thing to note is that the 1979 Act has since been mostly repealed by the Land Registration etc. (Scotland) Act 2012. Don't worry though, Section 22 of the 2012 Act still bans "souvenir plots" in the same way as the 1979 Act. Also, a quick look at the Land Register of Scotland confirms Established Title's land as not being the beautiful Highland paradise it implies, but a patch of boggy roadside ground around 20 miles from the English border. False Advertising for sure!
Same with the Anne of Green Gables one not to long ago, it was just some side plots.
Ahahah that’s what I assumed it was, I just thought it was some moterway verges
That said, re the bog, so maybe one buys the foot of bog, and the trees are reforesting some other lands. It's not stated where the trees are planted.
Came to the comments to say exactly this!
Git it up them. Mair money than sense.
One of their competitors, Scottish Laird, is quite a bit more honest about their purpose. There's a historic building (Dunan's Castle, a small residence that was built up into a mock castle in the 1860s) that was destroyed by fire in 2001 and they're rebuilding and restoring it. Buying a "Lairdship" (which they state up front is only a decorative title) also gets you a guided tour of the building and grounds, and you can camp and fish there if you decide to actually fly out.
You can camp there even if you haven't bought anything. It's legal to in Scotland anyway
@@xolotlnephthys The other catch seems to be is that people donating feel they're getting a tour but most won't actually come there... so it's more of an invitation coupon. I'd pick an actual fund to donate instead... like Come Back Alive. Their Black Box project guarantees explosions on russian strategic airfields, saving a world from nuclear war by, well, helping Ukrainian army destroy russia. Best investment ever!
@@xolotlnephthys This would depend on how close to the building you want to camp.
The 'Right to Roam' in Scotland excludes camping on the 'curtilage' around buildings. This generally means the immediate area necessary for use and enjoyment of the building itself, so roughly where a moderate private garden might be. The grounds on a house like this are probably big enough that this isn't an issue, but it's worth bearing in mind.
(Otherwise the Right to Roam is a very generous law which I think other countries should copy! They have it in Sweden as well.)
@@thomasdillon6001 problem is, in Sweden most places are actually private property and the spots that are free to camp are packed full of campers starting 3pm. It sounds good on paper, but in reality a good free camping spot is really hard to come by
I honestly thought that the "buying of the land" wasn't ACTUALLY owning the land but like, because they talked about trees and the environment and stuff, that it meant that I was paying for someone to plant trees on that foot of land or whatever, and the certificate was more of a souvenir, like, I don't know much about international law, but both my parents are lawyers so when my dad heard one of the UA-camrs I watch sponsor established titles thought there must be a misunderstanding somewhere cause it didn't make sense
@35:00 Waitaminute... Coffeezilla let you record in his million dollar studio?!
The biggest problem is they made the claim that you “legally” become a Lord. Also, all of those disclaimers came AFTER they got exposed. The “fun novelty product” part especially was explicitly added in the last week
Yup. I saw a few UA-camrs make the legal claim, including that it could be used on government documents.
Exactly!
@@BigJay039I did too
I guess they mislead people somewhat. But did anything really think this was anything other than a gag gift? That seemed pretty clear through the advertising to me.
it is a bigger problem if such a "Lord" comes to a country that is a monarchy
Claiming a title you don't actually have is playing with own life, if the locals get offended and think you're humiliating them because you called yourself Lord
the consequences can be very painful for such a "false lord"
I remember once as a kid my dad telling me about a novelty plot a land on the Jack Daniel's distillery property he had. And he explained he didn't really own the land and that it was all just for fun, so I knew from the start what the Established Titles thing was. As I recall the Jack Daniel's one got him a calendar and a funny newsletter about the happenings on his plot that year such as a tree falling on it or a family of raccoons moving in near by.
So technically it was something, and therefore is a better use of money than Established Titles.
That actually sounds like a fun one
I feel like people are really being dumb here. Did you really think you could buy a title for $50 bucks? Sensibly, it doesn't sound likely.
I've actually looked at the purchase before a few years ago for a friend who would have thought it was a hoot. The fine print on the actual purchase is pretty clear that this is essentially a donation to support the tree planting charity they are pulling the land information from. Unless they've changed everything when you go to make the purchase, it's pretty clear what you are actually getting during the transaction. No one would think they have a legitimate title when the document saying you are a Laird or Lady says you aren't actually.
Your memories are accurate.
My dad was also a Jack Daniels 'Squire'. It's not hereditary, I checked.
@@daemonspudguy With Jack Daniel's he got a calendar and a funny newsletter. With Established Titles there's a tree planted and a funny certificate. Sure, you can have a preference, but you can't say that one is objectively better than the other.
I assumed it was obvious it’s just a novelty gift. The “I wanted to get you something that wasn’t just more stuff, but was more than a card” gift. It sucks that they’re lying though.
That last segment transformation to Coffeezilla was EPIC! Hahaha! I loved it!
I'm a Scottish Advocate and, apart from wincing when you referred to the English legal system in the context of Scots law (they're very separate, very distinct and it's almost certain to rile any Scots lawyer), this was a genuinely excellent video. The issue of souvenir plots comes around several times a year, and especially around Christmas. The companies themselves are generally much more careful in how they word things than those they get to sponsor them. The only way to officially become a Lord or a Lady is by Letters Patent from His Majesty The King (and even then, it's more complex than that because of the various ranks of peerage that exist). Laird is still widely used in Scotland, but does only apply to those who own large and historic Scottish estates. My own personal view is that these companies taint whatever good work that they do with these gimmicks.
Pretty sure since so many customers are Americans any lawsuits would be done under American law, and ET itself was from what I can tell established in hong kong so who knows how that will go, but Scottish law may not even be involved other than who's legally a laird
Assuming they're doing any good with a portion of their proceeds, can't say being misleading about the lordship makes them sound dedicated to conservation efforts.
at least he didn't call you Scotch ))
@@aff77141 Scots and English law student here, it’s ultimately a private international law issue. I think claims could be brought in American courts with jurisdiction to do so but they may apply Scots law (lex loci rei sitae) relating to the transfer of corporeal immoveable property (land) and the incorporeal hereditaments (titles) accruing from them.
Fun stuff. I had a girlfriend buy me a "Coat of Arms", not knowing that if you produced one as a commoner after 1400AD you would be executed. What I have is something with two pigs on a blue field. Both of my fathers brothers were cops, pigs in blue is a talking point.
Thank you! As a person from Scotland, I wish people would pay more attention to many fantastic conservation charities we have instead of giving their money to companies that sell fake titles. They do very little actual good apart from keeping the land undeveloped. People wishing to help with conservation should give to charities involved with habitat preservation and restoration.
Nah they are all scams
They plant trees on the land you buy apprently
You’re getting at the single fact that made me most angry in the entire video but no one has talked about. ET only even owned 200 ACRES of land to potentially preserve, which is such a painfully small amount of land to “preserve” makes me genuinely angry. That’s how math works tho, you sell land a square foot at a time you can fit damn near an infinite amount in 200 acres. Why were they even selling in square feet in the first place, Scotland uses metric
@@melody3741 not really
@@monhi64 its because they are selling it to Americans
I bought one of these for my dad as a silly little gift since he loves trees and already has a reagle sounding name (x y the third) so even though it was most def a scam, it made my dad smile
adding on that I only kept the monthly subscription for about three months.
I like the idea. They used to advertised that you change your first name to Lord or Lady. But in Australia, some states won't let you do that. Alas.
I saw a lot of those sponsorships, and I had no idea it cost that much. I assumed it was basically just a piece of paper you would print out after donating a few bucks to a conservation charity
Ha! Similarly, I thought it was MORE of a scam than it is, I assumed when I saw it that they owned zero land in Scotland, kept 100% of your money, and never used (or payed forward) any money to plant trees.
What it actually is:
- take money off people who can afford it for a luxury item that they feel happy to own and will probably never realize they don't actually own. 130 dollars per person adding up to millions without anyone not being able to afford food / shelter / clothes / medicine because of it
- redistribute this money into your own pocket and some youtubers
- plant a few trees, not as many as you could or should, but certainly some.
- make it very clear in the small print what you are actually doing
This is actually awesome
we never should have blown the lid off this
Yeah, after seeing those prices, there's no way that anyone with the preconceived notion that this is a silly "gag gift" would ever buy this
exactly, similar to 4ocean (though they are more legitimate than this), the price of "printing " a piece of paper and frame cost nearly $100, it's almost silly.
I was pondering getting this as a gag gift for a friend who likes to travel to Scotland. It was obvious to me that this was a novelty gift, but the same way you might gift someone an animal partnership at a local zoo or some other creative form of donation receipt, I thought that these lordship certificates were a fun idea if the money actually went to nature conservation. I decided against it after seeing the prices listed and realizing the intransparencies concerning charitable benefit vs. corporate profits. I personally don't mind the tongue-in-cheek attitute towards titles. What makes this unethical in my book is the (seemingly) false pretence of charitable intentions.
This kind of scam pops up every now and then under a different guise. From "Lordships" in other countries to "buying" stars and having them named after you or a loved one
Are you saying I don't actually own a plot of moonland?
i would like a supernova please :)
Yeah when I found out my neice got given a star named for her 21st I was sure it was a scam. Such a token gift, and bad idea for someone planning to be an astrophysicist. She knew it was a scam straight away.
@@Skittenmeow Haha that's like how all Scottish people can immediately tell Established Titles is a scam
@@Skittenmeow My mother got me this, and the document had the location of the star and what do you know... There's no star where the coordinates indicate.
as someone who lives in the UK i've always found these companies super weird, inherited titles/granted titles are super weird and the idea of buying one/becoming a peer of the realm through is just... bonkers
The funniest part about all of this is that people actually looked into this. Once I saw these ads I thought it was consensual between both parties that one of those parties was okay with flushing their money down a toilet.
People need to understand that not every youtuber sponsoring a product is anymore immune to scams than themselves, in either believing the lies or the temptation of greed. As always, everyone should exercise a healthy dose of skepticism, when viewing any sponsorship, or anything for that matter.
Yeah, but it certainly erodes trust in these "influencers" that they will promote something without doing a 5 minute Google search
@@cymond true
@@cymond Because a 5 min google search will definitely be able to tell you you are being scammed? Especially when everyone is already doing these kind of sponsorships and there are false info everywhere?
if you are taking 5 figures for your sponsorship, i'm sorry but you have no right to claim you didn't know as an excuse
I know it’s off topic but your English is dope
A couple months ago my dad was talking about he got a gift that he received a 1 foot of land in Scotland and is now a lord. So I can tell you in fact that what was advertised and conveyed. He even had a trip to Scotland planned and wanted to visit "his foot of land". After watching all of this I don't have the heart to tell him it was all false. I hope they do get sued.
just tell your dad. save him a trip to scotland. or like, have him take a vacation there or whatever
I don't know. If he showed up at Established Titles land, would they take him to his one square foot and let him stand on it and ... I don't know what he'd do after that. He presumably doesn't think he's going to build a castle on one square foot.
+
Uh tell him before he wastes his money on a flight lol that’s cruel of you to keep it from him. “Protecting” someone from their own emotions that you can’t even predict in the first place is manipulative as hell. He’s an adult who deserves to know he got ripped off.
@@private755 I second this. Tell your dad dude, he doesn't deserve to get ripped off like that.
I find it interesting that most people who try to expose this scam skirt around the laws regarding use of such titles in many jurisdictions. Under both English and Scottish law you cannot just change your name to that of a title nor can you assume the title without significant legal problems.
So as a real scottish heratige person, if I were to get officially recognized as a lord, then I'm going to start a competitor that adopts people so they can inherit my titles, which seems to me a more authentic approach to convey title that is legit. But for this honor I wouild charge an annual fee to keep the paperwork safe and available for legal purposes.
Intriguing…probably illegal somehow, but still a good idea
@@ellotheregovna401 If it's illegal then it is a racket as old as feudalism.
And amazingly would be more moral than Established Titles.
scottish heritage person 💀💀
@@mlg_dog420aka they are American
When a company I've never heard of suddenly advertisers on almost every video I watch, I'm immediately suspicious.
It pretty much seems to be a rule across the board, if its a YT sponsorship, it's a borderline scam. Just look a the overpriced tat that appears in YT sponsorships, Manscaped, $30 of commodity hair clippers for $200. Nord VPN, the most untrusted VPN in IT security circles, with multiple data leaks and breaches. Raid shadow legends, micro transaction hell P2W. Vessi , massively overpriced footwear. Honey, massive data slurp that invades every action you carry out in your browser. Glasswire, repackaged open-source software (and often functions that already exist in your OS anyway).
Now I'm getting curious about how legit that Japanese knife company is
@@GrouRocks shadiversity did a great video on kamikoto knives (Search kamikoto knives scam on youtube). He found that the knives they make are made of cheap steel and are equivalent to supermarket giveaway knife despite being sold for hundreds of dollars.
@@GrouRocks it's marketing company from Hong Kong reselling 10$ cheap chinese knives for 200$ (1000$ on permanent 80% sale)
Suddenly curious about NordVPN, since i actually used it in the past.
Another thing to keep in mind is that they are probably planting seeds, not actual saplings. Saplings costs varey, but generally are around $15-$50. They certainly don't cost $1. Seeds however DO, and often don't take root. I have 1000's of tree seeds fall from my tree each season, and only maybe 4-5 take root each year.
So he actually used the wrong number, the 2million number trees planted is from trees for the future who's average is 25 cents a tree, they have a breakdown of costs on their website and they're counting seeds, labour, and planting iirc.. this is an extremely good point thou, lot of people's trees are likely not growing to trees.
I purchased one for $partner amusement via Battleship New Jersey's insert (great channel) and was thinking this can't be real, but I would be super pissed to discover they AREN'T actually planting trees. That itself would seem to be deceptive. If it turns out they aren't planting trees, I'll be demanding my money back and I guess the law will catch them up eventually.
@@rabidbigdog they are giving full refunds, I don't think even have to give certificate back so could refund and donate directly to the organizations to plant so many more trees
Even their Scottish land protection thing is sus, from what some people have found it was already protected land and only 55.7 acres
To be honesy i would have dozens of trees but u mow over all the saplings whenever I do yard work. I should let some trees grow next year along the fence line though.
Trees that are only an inch or two tall can be purchased in bulk at prices under a dollar each. These are more than just seeds -- call them seedlings -- but their survivability is not assured.
"We planted trees so we can scam people" is a pretty funny thing to say
6:09 this makes me want a video on ownership of purchased mp3/ downloaded video games/ Funimation digital copy code from DVDs now Funimation is merging with Crunchyroll and disappearing.
This would be a HOMERUN of a topic right now, and it's super relevant with new video game ownership debates and also Funimation merger
Imagine in the middle of the video he goes “anyways this video is sponsored by established titles”
That would be awesome!
There was a group in my town that had people buying a brick toward construction of a new school in the town. People were paying $80 for a brick in the new schools construction and your name would be memorialized on the wall in the new school. Turns out they put a printed chart on the wall with like eight hundred and some odd people printed in tiny 10 point font 😂.
Which font?
Lol
To be quite honest if you donate to a school just because you have been told that you will get to see your name written somewhere, you're not a very good person to begin with
@@looksirdroids9134Watch Sheldon's Fun With Fonts
@@TheFrenchmanCooks Yes, my bad, I was a bit too harsh in my last comment but what I meant was that the main reason you should be donating (to anything) is because you belive in the project you are funding and not because of some kind of "promised glory"
It was a nice gift for my brother’s 60th birthday, as our ancestors are from Scotland. Honestly, he knows that it’s just a novelty and isn’t headed to Scotland to claim his land, but he has a nice certificate in memory of turning 60.
Consider getting him a book on Scottish Gaelic next to learn some words in the language
"Our ancestors are from Scotland" Oh lord, you're one of those. You're American, your brother is American, your great-grand-parents are American. "Scot" is not a genetic classification.
From what you’ve described it sounds a lot like they might be essentially operating a land bank. This has been found to fall within the remit of the FCA as a collective investment and I don’t know if they have the necessary permissions or note, but if not it’s very likely they’re breaking the law.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding you but I'm not sure it'd really fall under that either. Under a scam land banking scheme, the marks are sold a plot of land under fraudulent claims of future worth or without appropriate control of the plots etc. etc., but (as far as I understand it) they do, in fact, own the plots.
In these scams, they simply are not selling land. That's the rub of the whole change in the law on souvenir plots that they misrepresent and I don't think is explained super well here: they legally cannot be registered with the land registry, and as such, no sale has taken place. Despite the claims/implications of these companies, this doesn't mean the sales fall under contract law *instead* of having to go through the land registry, it just means no transfer of ownership can take place and no land has actually been sold.
[note: I'm not a lawyer, but I know a lecturer at a Scottish university who specialises in Scottish Land Law who has been blocked on twitter by most of these companies for pointing out that their interpretations are wrong. I have yet to see any Scots Law experts in the relevant fields agreeing with the claims of these companies]
Got a certificate from Highland Titles a few years ago. They're pretty straightforward about them selling you titles: "We cannot sell you a title. We are simply acknowledging your right to use the title of Laird, Lord or Lady of Glencoe, which is trademarked by Highland Titles." So you effectively only buy the right to use a trademarked phrase that just so happens to contain the word 'lord'.
Anyway, I bought the certificate as a gimmick and added some upsells to my cart too, just for the fun of it.
same. i "purchased" the little plot of land which i know i don't actually own, but I'm happy. Highland Titles are far better and more honest than "Established Titles".
@@TheGrumpy01 I'm so confused. What is the fun in paying some corporation to call yourself something that has no actual legitimacy (beyond trademark)? You could just call yourself something else that isn't trademarked. Neither makes you a lord, so why is the one that enriches some C-Suite stranger the fun one?
@@LodinxHijinxPickleball its a good conversation starter, plus, it looks good if you hang it on your wall, makes you feel like your worth something.
@@TheOneEyedMac You're gunna make me cry.
You also planted trees to help clean the air. Thank you for that.
Basically they used the “it's just a prank bro” defence to being called out on a very obvious scam. Kinda proves that you can sell absolutely nothing with enough advertising.
there is a product on amazon called nothing
I think that they were surprised that anyone is stupid enough to actually think that buying a couple square inches of land makes you a Lord or Lady in real life. You can name a star after yourself, you can buy land on the moon...this is the same, good natured, jokish type thing as those two. I guess they haven't encountered the average American DemocRAT, who is dumber than a box of rocks, and who has been following this grifter through all the 'This time Donald Drumpf is really, really, really goin' to jail...cuz I'm uh liar, err, lawyer' content which enabled him to amass a sizable subscribership from the Dumb-o-cRATs who hate peace and prosperity bc they are idiots.
Well... do they plant trees as they claim tho? If so It may as well just be a "carbon offset". I can forgive the sketchy tactics if they're planting trees.
@@dmitritelvanni4068 Even the idea of planting a tree to improve the environment is a scam most of the time, because they plant a single type of tree that limits biodiversity and isn't actually beneficial to the environment like a diverse natural forest. There's some studies that show these mono-crop forests actually make carbon emission worse and may further degrade the land they're on. They look nice on postcards but very little actually lives in these environments because there's not enough variety in the resources available. For this same reason they're very vulnerable to disease or any kind of environmental disruption and wont survive for long term like a real forest does.
You're better off getting into Permaculture if you care about environmental sustainability, not paying someone half way around the world to pretend to do something beneficial.
@@TheMistyBlueLounge that's a fair criticism. But overall It is the best move forward I promise you. It could be done better for certain, but trees, not windmills... that's what will save the planet. In fact I'd argue it's the only option... that and nuclear energy...
Man turned into Coffeezilla at the end 😂
I'm reminded of Billy Mitchel's claim to be "Gamer of the Century" when I saw this.
And he's probably in some legal trouble over that too when you look into the entire thing between him and Twin Galaxies. He might even get others like Namco involved due to this.
I was pretty outraged when some of my favourite UA-camrs started shilling this scam. Scotland has some pretty hotly contested land ownership issues and some company selling off the land for profit is pretty offensive. After inspecting the website myself as well I found no evidence of the conservation efforts being made. Are indigenous species being planted? How are they being managed? The partner company didn't have any information on this and I couldn't even find their activity in Scotland. The whole thing stinks.
And yes, the irony of my last name is not lost on me. Haha.
I really dislike these 'tree planting' companies anyways. As you say, usually they plant non indigenous trees as they buy trees or seeds rather than collect it nearby.
Furthermore often this is on land where trees have just been cut down.
If you really want to do something for forests. All you have to do is buy the land and then let nature do the work for you.
@@faramund9865 What's wrong with planting trees where trees were just cut down?
@@historyandhorseplaying7374 Well if land is used for wood, it is normal to plant trees after cutting an area down. So it is basically selling business as usual as regrowing forests...
It is as if you'd be claiming to gift your hair to charity while actually just having your hair cut and "gift" the cutoffs (which are not useable ;) ).
@@historyandhorseplaying7374 there is no problem with doing that.
The problem is with collecting donations to do that or advertising it as a honorable thing.
Generally whoever profited from cutting down the trees should plant new trees.
They should pay for it. Not private people who were lured in by "saving the earth" promises.
I knew it was scame once a YTber mentioned how "easy" you could just become a Lady/Lord. I know this basically from my family. In a nutshell, my family has some rumors about having an ancestor that is the bastard of a small European dukedome. No bigshot, some really local family.
As a kid, I got really fascinated with that idea, because -let's be real. We all know the stories of "suddenly a princess?" where one day it's revealed your life is much more special than you knew.
Anyway. My Ma quickly shot me down. In the way that -even if I had evidence - the bureaucracy would be tedious and hellish. And in the end the biggest thing I potentially would have, would be a posh title that only looks good on certain applications.
Favourite part of this whole 'official title with land' gimmick is that according to Established Titles' "legal loophole" claim, all Scottish homeowners are "official" Lords and Ladies.
Well, considering that to many Americans, Scotland is a fantasy land with woods and fairies and freedom fighters but no actual living people....
@@israellai Nah, Scotland is populated by Critical Drinker clones who spend their days guzzling enough booze to fill the Pacific.
@@Alondro77mostly buckfast or whatever they got for goon bags there
In Italy, all you have to do to earn the academic title "Dotore" is to wear a suit in the coffee shop. Laird sounds cooler, but having coffee in Italy has its own charm.
had the same thought and then made a google search as to how many scots do own their homes. According to google it was 62% of scotish households living in property they own. So, I'm not sure whether owning a flat in a multi-family home counts towards this supposed loophole, but if it does, the majority of scots would be Lords or Ladies, and if it doesn't, and if it doesn't it would still very definetly be a double digit percentage of the population. Also, just imagine how obnoxious dealing with landlords would be if just about every landlord could demand being referred to as Lord or Lady.
The Estabished Titles scam reminds me of when you could buy a plot on the moon or could name a star - for a fee, of course :-)
It's hardly a novelty when you get nothing in return. Unless you view the certificate as a really expensive printing service...
Glad to see you addressing the whole "people who fell for this are idiots and the problem," mindset. Its so frustrating to see it come up every time a major scam is discussed. Cuz it basically shifts blame away from the actual bad actors, in favor of victim-blaming. And usually for the sake of inflating the persons own ego.
I never bought it, but I was considering it... I have never in my life heard the term 'gag gift'... I did not even know that people buy fake gifts on purpose. Thus I was very gullible when I saw some of my favorite UA-camrs advertise this as a nice gift for your friends.
@@heathencaerus4046 Yeah, I too was considering it. I like to spend my money on weird and silly stuff, and when I saw someone advertising it I went like "oh, this is so funny, I'll probably get it someday", the thought of it being a gag gift never even crossed my mind lol
True. Especially for the part of "inflating the persons own ego", I can't recall reading a single comment where the person say that is the buyer fault without also stating "I would never do that" in some way. The most common being "It was so obvious" argument.
Not much to add but support for this comment. The internet gets so high and mighty about spotting scams and it’s victim blaming, sadly diverting where the true focus/disgust/judgement should be from the scammers to the consumers. It’s messed up.
The only id**ts are the people that knew it was a 'gag gift' and still bought it. They went "Yeah, I'll spend $50 on a pdf file that is literally worthless. Totally worth it!"
Their website was edited to say it’s “a fun gift, meant for a good laugh” after Scott made his videos calling them out 😂
Should've been the tagline from the start.
I love the internet for call outs.. it keeps them honest.
Ah yes, I usually pay 160$ for a gag gift, doesnt everyone?
That was already there a year ago. Check the way back machine.
Now it says "funniest gift of 2022" eith emojis
As a general rule, if it's too good to be true, it usually is and this definitely applies. Especially when you consider that the whole point of nobility is to exclude the rabble.