MegaLag

Jonathon "Jono", known online as MegaLag, is a creative producer from New Zealand. He is best known for conducting investigations and social experiments, mostly utilising the Apple , as well as discussing technology-orientated topics such as Electric Vehicles and operating system software. The channel found its initial success through sending AirTags to North Korea via DHL and the surrounding controversies around the various shipments.
==Pre-Youtube==
===Early Life & Work===
Jono was born & grew up in New Zealand. In 2016, he moved to Düsseldorf, Germany to travel across Europe. A year later he became a Motion Designer at , having previously worked as a Nanny. His role included pitching television commercial ideas to the company, some of which were made and used as advertising material.https://youtu.be/Z6KApdA86zY?t=75
Not much else is known about Jono’s personal life as he usually doesn’t discuss it. 
===COVID-19===
Jono was laid off by Trivago in 2020 where he worked as a freelancer for some time, before finding another job at a South Korean media firm. Due to how that company operated, he felt he had to quit. Afterwards, he fell into a state of depression feeling absolutely burdenless and miserable, coping with constant ‘anxiety’.https://youtu.be/Z6KApdA86zY?t=158
However, to combat this, Jono started his YouTube channel as an attempt to give him something to work towards and to get his ‘creative juices flowing’.https://www.youtube.com/post/Ugxv4wSbRBJ3KvW6Dsp4AaABCQ
==Starting Out==
===Initial Social Experiments===
Jono uploaded his first video, ‘Leaving My Valuables in Public to be Stolen (AirTag Experiment)’ on 5th May, 2021. This included him ‘losing’ an old wallet, his bicycle and fake car keys. The wallet was returned to Jono via other means and his bicycle wasn’t stolen, yet. However, the car keys made it to a city approximately 200 miles away when they were initially losthttps://youtu.be/CrE_LOc2-8Q?t=276, stolen and remaining stolen as of December 21, 2022.
Jono later followed up his first video, with ‘Apple's AirTag Saved My Bike (Real Theft)’, after waiting 11 days for his bicycle to be stolen. After figuring out where the bicycle was located utilising the AirTag, he found it abandoned.https://youtu.be/e3zMWWG9W14?t=503
===Sending AirTags Around the World===
On June 2, 2021, Jono uploaded his first viral video - ‘I sent an AirTag to North Korea, Tim Cook and Elon Musk!’. As the title explicitly states, he tried sending AirTags to Apple Park in Silicon Valley, SpaceX located in California and the German Embassy in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.https://youtu.be/C72_8IGhR8Q
This video received a huge reception instantly, propelling Jono to over 50,000 subscribers before his next video. Viewers would understand the statuses of the next AirTags through Jono’s most popular video to date, ‘DHL "Lost" My AirTag Parcel (but I knew where it was)’.
In the aforementioned video, Jono mentioned that the AirTag he sent to Elon Musk was presumed to have been recycled in a facilityhttps://youtu.be/W8SER24F0U8?t=658 and the AirTag that went to Silicon Valley was sent back to him, with a letter from the Office of the CEO.https://youtu.be/W8SER24F0U8?t=691
===Issues with Sending Packages to North Korea===
Jono’s first AirTag managed to get to Beijing, China.https://youtu.be/W8SER24F0U8?t=507 This is the normal shipping route for all packages into North Korea as they are moved across the border from China. However, nothing has happened since then. This is because North Korea shut down its borders due to COVID-19.https://youtu.be/W8SER24F0U8?t=596 DHL and other postal company’s websites did not reflect this therefore they thought that shipping to North Korea was normal. 
In response to nothing happening with Jono’s package, he sent another one designated for the North Korean Film Commission.https://youtu.be/C72_8IGhR8Q?t=604 However, that package was missent to South Korea for a seemingly unknown reason at the time. It was discovered that the package went to South Korea due to AirTag being pinged mid-air.https://youtu.be/W8SER24F0U8?t=187 Packages are unable to be transported over the border between North and South Korea. It was eventually returned to Jono, after going to Beijing, China and being marked as undeliverable.https://youtu.be/EpiSzfMVPmg?t=187
Finally, he sent a third AirTag to North Korea, specifically the German Embassy again. This is because he wanted to investigate what DHL would do if it was re-sent. Unfortunately, the same chain of events as AirTag 2 happened.https://youtu.be/EpiSzfMVPmg?t=441
==DHL & Postal Logistics Investigations==
===Discovering Potential Fraud===
When Jono was sending out his first package, he noticed it was stuck in Frankfurt Airport for a seemingly long time. After conferring with DHL, Jono was recommended to open an investigation to see where the parcel was located.https://youtu.be/C72_8IGhR8Q?t=581 The ‘intensive investigation’ was completed to no avail, with DHL claiming they had lost Jono’s tracked package. However, he could see exactly where the package was which raised some suspicion.https://youtu.be/W8SER24F0U8?t=83
Jono’s initial theory about the refund forms was that it is a ‘cost efficiency test’ due to other companies calculating it was cheaper to refund goods rather than re-sell them.https://youtu.be/W8SER24F0U8?t=448 This was reaffirmed when, a day after Jono sent the form, the AirTag was flown to Beijing, China after sitting in the DHL IPZ logistics facility for 46 days.
After submitting multiple investigations with automated, untruthful responses Jono concluded, in ‘AirTag Exposes DHL Fraud (no joke)’ that there was fraudulent activity.https://youtu.be/EpiSzfMVPmg?t=540 This would not be the end of the series, however.
===Contact with DHL===
When Jono was attempting to send packages to North Korea, all DHL customer support representatives but one assured Jono that shipping to the country was normal. The DHL service in North Korea confirmed with him that shipping to North Korea was shut off.https://youtu.be/EpiSzfMVPmg?t=245
In December, 2021 it seemed DHL had discovered Jono’s content, with the DPRK’s shipping status being updated on their website. Afterwards, the Official DHL Twitter Account started following Jono, accompanied with an email from DHL’s escalations team. Jono emailed back DHL with interview questions to understand what happened to his North Korea packages.https://youtu.be/tLqjlTKiR9o?t=132
Along with DHL answering all of Jono’s questions, they invited him for a tour of their Frankfurt IPZ facility, where his packages were stuck. DHL allowed him to bring camera equipment, so it was the main premise of ‘AirTag Exposes Dodgy Postal Industry (DHL Responds)’.https://youtu.be/tLqjlTKiR9o?t=599
===Understanding why Manual Sorting is Still Used===
When Jono arrived at the sorting stations in the aforementioned tour, he discovered why two of his three packages were missent to South Korea. This is because all country sorting is done manually by humans. Some people along the way misinterpreted North Korea as South Korea therefore packages were sent to the wrong place. Jono was taken aback by this fact, expecting them to be sorted automatically.https://youtu.be/tLqjlTKiR9o?t=806
Jono asked the tour guides at DHL why they still use manual sorting over automatic sorting. The reason he got for this was that they ‘had calculated it would not be worth the investment’. This perplexed Jono and he felt he had to do some further work to find out why.https://youtu.be/tLqjlTKiR9o?t=1058
After watching videos published by and , he discovered that more postal companies still, to some degree, use manual sorting to find the destination country. He contacted both companies to inquire into whether the systems depicted in their videos were up to date, both of which declined to answer.https://youtu.be/tLqjlTKiR9o?t=1445
To further test Royal Mail, Jono spent €3000 on a plane ticket to London to send AirTags to North Korea using them, as well as attending the International Parcel-Post Convention to talk to companies that manufacture automated sorting systems which were attending the convention.https://youtu.be/tLqjlTKiR9o?t=1768
===Failure to get Interviews===
Jono wanted to have interviews with the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and exhibitors at the Parcel-Post Convention on Day 2. However, his microphone broke so he managed to arrange a Zoom meeting with the UPU.https://youtu.be/tLqjlTKiR9o?t=2093 
After talking to two different contacts, the UPU practically ghosted Jono. In addition, he was emailing the International Post Corporation (IPC) about a Zoom interview. They also ghosted Jono, leaving him with no response.
==Other Content & Personal Life==
===Attempts at getting a German Residence Permit===
Jono had difficulties getting a German Residence Permit throughout 2021. He previously had a work permit, as he had a stable job in the country, but he was laid off due to COVID-19. Discussed in his video, ‘From Jobless to 100k Subscribers + My YouTube Earnings’, the Ausländerbehörde (German Immigration Office) rejected his request to obtain a long stay Freiberufler (Freelancer) visa. He tried to prove that he was financially stable by showing them proof of sponsorships, however they still rejected him. https://twitter.com/MegaLagOfficial/status/1606479780693827585
Due to the number of delays, it has caused his YouTube earnings - which he revealed as being over $20,000 as of September 2021 - to not be claimed. This is because the German government saw him as financially unstable as a freelancer.https://youtu.be/Z6KApdA86zY?t=580
Jono has now somewhat become a digital nomad, going between Seoul, South Korea and his home in New Zealand.
===Other Content===
As well as AirTags, Jono has made a variety of content. This includes discussing and exploring Electric Vehicles, which he thoroughly enjoys, as well as diving into whether Windows 11 is ‘lacklustre on purpose’. He has also made a park office utilising Starlink and Jackery equipment.
==References==
Category:Tech YouTubers
Category:New Zealand YouTubers
Category:Users who joined in 2020