“A PUNK KID NEEDS ADVICE”
During the pandemic I found myself with some downtime, so I decided to crowdsource advice. More specifically, I wrote and directed a commercial for a 1-800 number (1-888-IMAPUNK) that old people could call in to give a "punk kid" (me) advice. I ran it on local TV here in Minneapolis and posted the ad on Reddit.
And that’s when things got weird…
The Reddit post received 25,000 upvotes, The YouTube video got 250,000 views and the hotline received almost 2,000 calls.
All in the first 24 hours.
As the dust settled, people kept asking:
"How?"
"Why?"
"What kind of advice did you get?"
I was fortunate enough to film the WHOLE process from start to finish, so I made another video explaining every detail I could think of.
People are full of great advice.
Calls came in literally from across the globe. To connect with so many complete strangers in such a positive, pleasant way was an amazing experience. Even in a time of seemingly endless division, thousands of people took time out of their day to reach out and just...talk. There's something profound about that. Plus, I got some great advice.
