The Wild West of RV Content: Hidden Agendas, Lawsuits & Big Money

RV LIFESTYLE PODCAST - MONDAY NEWS EDITION June 8,m 2026

Good morning, RV Nation, and welcome to the Monday News Edition of the RV Lifestyle Podcast. I'm Mike Wendland, and I am glad you are here to kick off the week with us.

Before we get into today's stories, a quick word: if you are not already getting our free daily newsletter, you are missing some of the best RV content we put out. Every single day we send tips, trip ideas, gear picks, and community stories right to your inbox. Sign up free at RVLifestyle.com/newsletter. That is RVLifestyle.com/newsletter. Okay - let's get into it.

Full disclosure before I get into this one. Jennifer and I have used Battle Born Batteries in our rigs for over a decade. We think they are an outstanding product. At one point several years back, Battle Born was a sponsor of this show. They are not now. I have no financial relationship with them today. I tell you that because this story is partly about exactly that kind of transparency - and what happens when it is missing.

Here is what happened. Dragonfly Energy, the Nevada-based company that makes Battle Born Batteries, filed a trade libel lawsuit this week against a YouTube creator named Will Prowse. Prowse runs a channel called "DIY Solar Power With Will Prowse" - 1.12 million subscribers - where he reviews solar equipment, batteries, and off-grid power systems. Over the past five months he published nine videos tearing into Battle Born's lithium iron phosphate batteries, focusing on what he called a dangerous terminal design flaw. His argument: the internal positive terminal can create excessive heat under certain fault conditions, and the battery is unsafe.

Dragonfly fires back that Prowse removed structural components, tested already-damaged batteries, and ran them outside their intended specs. They say the behavior he flagged is actually an intentional safety feature - not a defect. They contend his videos were a misleading portrayal, not a legitimate technical review.

But here is where it gets really interesting. The lawsuit does not just allege false claims about the battery. It also alleges that Prowse received more than $200,000 in affiliate commissions, advertising fees, and other compensation tied to Battle Born products over several years - and then publicly denied having any financial relationship with the company at all. According to Dragonfly, the critical videos were published after that financial relationship had ended - and they included affiliate links to competing battery brands.

In other words: allegedly paid handsomely by the company for years, then turned around and torched them publicly while denying the prior relationship even existed - and collecting affiliate money pointing viewers toward the competition.

Prowse, for his part, has publicly described his model as charging a flat fee for unbiased reviews. No ongoing marketing relationships, he has said. The court will sort out who is telling the truth.

But the broader question this case raises - about who is accountable when online content causes real-world harm - that question is not going away.

We will keep following this one.

STORY 2: CONSUMER ADVOCATE OR CONFLICT OF INTEREST? THE WINGMAN HAS SOME EXPLAINING TO DO

And that question brings us directly to our next story. Because what we just talked about with Battle Born Batteries? Same pattern. Different players.

You probably know Josh Winters - Josh the RV Nerd - out of Bish's RV. Solid guy. Deep industry knowledge. Straight shooter. One of the more credible voices in this space for years. I don't think I’ve ever met him. But I’ve seen his stuff. He’s done good work.

A few weeks ago a YouTube channel called Wingman Wisdom run by a guy named Alan Warren posted a video with a headline designed to stop you cold: "Tell Me This Isn't True." It went after Bish's RV and their well-known "no fees" promise, using a purchase agreement as supposed evidence of hidden charges. Alarming hashtags. Breathless outrage framing. The kind of headline the Wingman has made something of a specialty lately - "WHICH RV DEALERS ARE LYING TO YOU," "WARNING THIS IS PAINFUL TO WATCH," "CAMPING WORLD NIGHTMARE WILL BREAK YOUR HEART." You get the idea.

But underneath all that outrage framing was a conflict of interest that should have stopped this video cold before a single frame was filmed.

Now I also do not know the Wingman. His background was TV. I think he did a bunch of hunting and fishing TV shows back in the day. And he once owned a campground. From what I can see, his Wingman YouTube Channel seems to be totally focused on what he calls consumer advocacy, or exposing shady dealings and quality issues.

But in this current controversy involving Josh and Bish’s RV, the purchase agreement the whole story was premised upon was handed to the Wingman from Kevin Frazer of Cheyenne Camping Center. A direct competitor to Bish's. And Cheyenne Camping Center is not just some random source who wandered in off the street. Frazer has been the Wingman's on-air partner and go-to industry voice for years. And Cheyenne Camping Center is formally listed as a Wingman-approved dealer on his own "RV Dealers I Trust" endorsement network - right there on his own website.

So his own endorsed business buddy handed him documents designed to damage that partner's direct competitor. He turned it into a viral attack video. And his audience - the people he positions himself as protecting - was never clearly told any of that.

In any newsroom I ever worked in, that is not a story. That is a conflict of interest that kills the story before it ever gets written. You call the subject for comment. You disclose your source's relationship to the story. You ask yourself who benefits from this being published. Those are not optional steps. They are the difference between journalism and a hit piece with better production values.

The response from Bish's was immediate and direct. Josh called the claims borderline slanderous and challenged the Wingman to a face-to-face on-camera conversation. And the boss at Bish's went further - he personally invited the Wingman to fly out, sit down, and go through the books himself. Everything open. Nothing hidden. Come see for yourself.

The Wingman has not taken him up on it.

Think about that. If you genuinely believed you had uncovered wrongdoing at a family business - and the CEO invited you personally to come inspect everything - you get on the plane. Unless the goal was never really the truth.

No courts involved yet. But I have a feeling some lawyers are paying very close attention.

STORY 3: MIKES TAKE ON THE WILD WEST OF RV CONTENT - AND WHY IT MATTERS TO YOU

I want to step back from the specific stories we have covered today and talk to you directly. Because the BattleBorn lawsuit and the Bish's situation are not isolated incidents. They are symptoms of a much bigger problem - one that affects every single person who uses online content to make decisions about RVing.

Let's start with some numbers that stopped me cold when I read them.

A 2024 study by the European Commission analyzed social media posts from influencers across multiple platforms. What they found: 97 percent of influencers posted commercial content. Only 20 percent of them consistently disclosed it as advertising. Read that again. Nearly every influencer was pushing paid content. And only one in five was telling you about it.

Now let's talk about what that content costs. Because this is a business. A very lucrative one.

Will Prowse - the YouTuber at the center of the Battle Born lawsuit - publicly posted his own fee schedule on his forum last September. His words, not mine. He charges $12,000 for a basic product review video. Twenty thousand dollars for a more complex battery system review. Those are his stated rates for what he calls honest and unbiased reviews. And Dragonfly Energy alleges he collected over $200,000 from Battle Born through commissions, advertising fees and other compensation over several years - while later publicly denying any financial relationship with the company.

That is not a small operation. That is a business built on the trust of an audience.

And Prowse is not alone in these kinds of numbers. Industry data shows that creators at his level - over a million subscribers - routinely command between $25,000 and $100,000 per sponsored video. In 2025 alone, sponsored YouTube videos surged 54 percent year over year. The influencer marketing industry now generates over $24 billion annually. Twenty-four billion dollars.

That is an enormous amount of money flowing between brands and content creators. And most of the people watching those videos have no idea it is there.

The legal world is starting to catch up. In April 2025 a $50 million class action was filed against clothing retailer Revolve, alleging it paid influencers to promote products without disclosing the sponsorships. A separate suit against Shein seeks over $500 million for the same thing - sponsorships hidden behind dense hashtag stacks. The FTC has been sending warning letters and escalating enforcement. Civil penalties can now reach over $53,000 per violation. Per post. And both the creator and the brand can be held liable.

But here is the thing. Most RV content creators are not thinking about any of that. They are thinking about views, clicks, affiliate commissions, and keeping their partners happy.

I spent 40 years in journalism, for newspapers, television stations, and a major network. When I was covering wars, kings, presidents, and consumer affairs, I did not just sit down at a keyboard or walk in front of a camera and say whatever I wanted. I had editors. Producers. News directors. Copy editors who went over every word before it was printed or aired. A chain of accountability that existed for one reason: to make sure what reached you was accurate, fair, and free of undisclosed conflicts.

That system was not perfect. Nothing is. But it was real. And it meant that if I had a financial relationship with someone I was covering - or if my source had a financial stake in the story I was telling - someone in that chain would catch it and stop it before you ever saw it.

On YouTube, in most cases, that chain does not exist. It is one person, a camera, and a financial incentive structure their audience cannot see.

Now - I want to be fair here. Plenty of content creators in this space are honest, careful, and genuinely trying to serve their audiences. I believe that. This show has been built on that principle for 15 years. When BattleBorn sponsored this podcast years ago, I told you. When they stopped, I told you that too. Every financial relationship I have with any brand gets disclosed. Always. That is not optional. That is the basic compact between a content creator and the people who trust them.

And by the way, I have no sponsors for this News Edition of the RV Podcast. By choice. I don’t want there to be any appearance of undue influence when I am reporting news here. The only sponsor here is me. You may hear us promote our own books or apps or online RVCommunity.com - which also does not accept any form of advertising… but there are no sponsors, no advertisers here. On our other platforms like the Saturday YouTube videos or the Wednesday Stories from the Road edition of this Podcast, we’ll always tell you when something is sponsored. Always.

But the system does not require that of anyone. And the two stories we just covered today show exactly what can happen when it does not.

So here is what I am asking you to do. The next time you watch an RV YouTube video where someone recommends a product - or attacks a competitor - ask yourself three questions. What is the financial relationship here? Who benefits from me believing this? And is that disclosed anywhere?

Because in 2026, those questions matter more than ever.

STORY 4: THE DAY THE CEO AND THE BOARD CHAIR BOTH WALKED OUT THE DOOR - AND NOBODY IS TALKING

Now let's shift gears from content ethics to some serious corporate intrigue - because the RV industry had a major shakeup at the very top this week.

Jason Lippert - the CEO of LCI Industries, the company whose Lippert Components brand touches virtually every RV you have ever stepped inside - announced his retirement on June 4th. Effective immediately. After 23 years as CEO and 32 years with the company his family built.

Now, the official statement was gracious and warm, the way these things always are. But the timing? That deserves a closer look.

Here is what we know. Just one month before the retirement announcement, LCI Industries had been in serious merger talks with Patrick Industries, one of its biggest competitors in the RV components space. In April, LCI confirmed it was in discussions with Patrick Industries regarding a possible merger of equals - two giants combining into one massive supplier operation.

And then on May 4th those talks collapsed. The two companies terminated discussions, saying they were unable to reach mutually agreeable terms. Patrick Industries noted in its own statement that the two sides had actually reached consensus on who would lead the combined company and on key strategic elements - but could not get there on certain other terms.

So the deal was close. Close enough that they had already agreed on who would run the thing. And then it fell apart.

Less than five weeks later, Jason Lippert is out.

But here is the detail that really raises eyebrows. On the exact same day Lippert stepped down, the board chair, Tracy Graham, also resigned - after ten years leading the LCI board. Same day. CEO and board chairman. Both gone simultaneously, just weeks after a massive merger collapse.

The official SEC filings say neither departure resulted from any disagreement with the company. That is standard legal language. It does not tell you much.

What it does tell you is this: something significant shifted in that boardroom. You do not lose your CEO and your board chair on the same afternoon by accident. The industry is buzzing, and honestly, so am I.

To put Lippert's run in perspective: under his leadership LCI Industries grew from $125 million in annual revenue to over $4 billion a year. He was inducted into the RV and MH Hall of Fame just last year in 2025. And his departure marks the first time in 70 years that a Lippert family member is not running the company they built.

The board has appointed independent director Johnny Sirpilla as interim CEO while it conducts a full search for permanent leadership.

And Lippert is not alone in this kind of sudden exit. Back in February, Tiffin Motorhomes lost its president out of nowhere. Leigh Tiffin - grandson of founder Bob Tiffin - resigned as President of Tiffin Motorhomes, now owned by the mega-corporation Thor Industries, effective immediately. The official word was that he was pursuing a personal opportunity. When a founding family member walks away from the brand that bears his name, that is not a routine career move. The industry read between the lines on that one too.

Two iconic RV brands. Two sudden leadership exits. A whole lot of corporate intrigue in the RV C-suites lately.

STORY 5: $159 BILLION. THAT IS YOUR LIFESTYLE - AND IT IS AN AMERICAN POWERHOUSE

Okay. Let's end on some good news this week. Really good news, actually. Because after all the content creator controversies and corporate intrigue we have covered today, I want to remind you of something important: this lifestyle we love? It is a massive force in the American economy. And the numbers just got bigger.

The RV Industry Association released its brand new "RVs Move America" economic impact study this week. And the headline number is $159 billion. That is the total annual economic output of the RV industry in the United States. One hundred and fifty-nine billion dollars.

Let that sink in for a second.

When Jennifer and I roll out of our driveway this coming weekend to attend our RCCommunity.com rally in Hocking Hills, Ohio, we are not just going camping. We are participating in an economic engine that supports 643,000 American jobs. That pays out $46.4 billion in wages every year. That generates $19.6 billion in federal, state, and local tax revenue. Every single state. Every congressional district in the country.

And here is what I find especially interesting about how that $159 billion breaks down. It is not just manufacturing. RV manufacturers and suppliers account for $70 billion. But RV campgrounds and travel spending generate $50 billion. And RV sales and service account for another $38 billion. More than half of that total economic impact happens after the RV rolls off the lot. It is us - the RVers - driving, camping, eating, fueling up, spending money in small towns and state parks and roadside diners all across America. We are a big part of this.

Now for context: back in 2022 the same study put the number at $140 billion. So in four years, even as manufacturing shipment growth has leveled off from those crazy post-pandemic peaks, the overall economic footprint of this industry grew by nearly $20 billion. The industry is deeper and wider than ever.

And there are now 8.1 million RV-owning households in this country. Eight million one hundred thousand families with an RV in the driveway or the campsite. That is a community. A real, substantial, coast-to-coast community of people who have chosen this lifestyle - and who are making a real difference in local economies everywhere they go.

I have said it before and I will keep saying it. This is not a niche hobby. This is a mainstream American way of life. And $159 billion worth of economic activity says the rest of the country is figuring that out too.

That is going to do it for this Monday News Edition of the RV Lifestyle Podcast. Big week in the RV world - corporate shakeups, content creator controversies, a landmark lawsuit, and some genuinely encouraging news about just how big and important this lifestyle has become to the American economy. Sources for all our stories are found in the shownotes at RVPodcast.com

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Jennifer and I will be back with Wednesday with our Stories from the Road. Until then - Happy Trails.

SHOW NOTES LINKS:

Story 1 - Battle Born / Dragonfly Energy lawsuit:

Dragonfly Energy lawsuit announcement: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/06/02/3305031/0/en/will-prowse-sued-by-dragonfly-energy-over-alleged-false-and-misleading-claims-about-battle-born-batteries.html

RV Miles full coverage including Prowse response: https://rvmiles.com/battle-born-will-prowse-lawsuit/

Truck Camper Adventure coverage: https://www.truckcamperadventure.com/dragonfly-energy-sues-youtuber-will-prowse-for-alleged-misrepresentation-of-battle-born-batteries/

Story 2 - Wingman / Bish's RV conflict of interest:

Wingman Wisdom original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBvDGAfGFH8

Josh the RV Nerd response: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bga2t5RMXP8

RV Dealers I Trust - Wingman approved dealer network:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PU-QfsdorAvyPGmyO8K0tyc6oK4ldw8IOKYie8Yordo/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.g401cdynpz4h

Story 3: Wild West of Influencer Content

European Commission influencer disclosure study 2024: https://commission.europa.eu/

Revolve $50M class action - undisclosed influencer sponsorships: https://www.coblentzlaw.com/news/beyond-the-ftc-consumer-class-actions-are-redefining-influencer-marketing-risk/

FTC endorsement guides and penalty information: https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/ftc-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking

Will Prowse fee schedule - DIY Solar Power Forum: https://diysolarforum.com/threads/my-youtube-product-review-terms-and-conditions-what-else-should-i-add.112210/

YouTube influencer sponsorship rate data: https://mysocial.io/blog/how-to-determine-the-price-for-a-youtube-influencer/

Digiday - undisclosed creator deals: https://digiday.com/media/in-creator-marketing-loose-disclosures-are-finally-catching-up/

Story 4 - LCI Industries / Lippert leadership shakeup:

LCI Industries leadership transition announcement: https://investors.lci1.com/news/news-details/2026/LCI-Industries-Announces-Leadership-Transitions/

LCI and Patrick Industries merger collapse: https://investors.lci1.com/news/news-details/2026/LCI-Industries-and-Patrick-Industries-Terminate-Discussions-Regarding-Potential-Merger-of-Equals/default.aspx

Leigh Tiffin resignation at Tiffin/Thor Industries: https://ir.thorindustries.com/investor-resources/press-releases/press-release-details/2026/THOR-INDUSTRIES-ANNOUNCES-RESIGNATION-OF-LEIGH-TIFFIN-FROM-TIFFIN-MOTORHOMES---TIFFIN-FAMILY-TO-REMAIN-ACTIVELY-ENGAGED/default.aspx

RV News coverage of Lippert retirement: https://www.rvnews.com/hall-of-famer-jason-lippert-retires/

Story 5: RV Industry is an American Powerhouse

RVIA RVs Move America Economic Impact Study full results: https://www.rvsmoveamerica.org

RV Business coverage: https://rvbusiness.com/rvia-rv-industrys-economic-impact-on-u-s-is-159-billion/