Project for Awesome 2007 edition: the final Brotherhood 2.0 project (2007)
project history · status: completed · last event: outcome (2007-12-19) · last mentioned: 2026-02-15
Hank teased a secret final Brotherhood 2.0 project in late November 2007 and launched it on 17 December as the first Project for Awesome, filling YouTube with Nerdfighter videos promoting some 300 charities. The brothers later looked back on it as the start of a yearly charity event.
Part of: Brotherhood 2.0: the 2007 year of daily video letters
Parts: Hank asks Nerdfighters to sign up for the secret project email list at Brotherhood2.com (2007) · Hank asks viewers to give money to their local humane society (P4A 2007) · Hank asks viewers to comment on, rate and favorite Project for Awesome 2007 videos (2007) · Hank invites viewers to make a Project for Awesome 2007 video (2007) · Hank asks viewers to spay, neuter and adopt pets (P4A 2007) · John asks viewers to watch Project for Awesome 2007 videos and support charities they like (2007)
Told alongside: John asks Nerdfighteria for feedback on changing how P4A 2014 money is divided (2014) · Hank asks people to make and submit P4A 2013 videos promoting their favorite charities (2013) · P4A 2014 edition · P4A 2012 edition · Question Tuesday: weekly Tuesday question days for nerdfighters (2007) · Happy Dance Project: compilation of the brothers' and Nerdfighters' happy dances (2007)
About: YouTube, Project for Awesome, world suck
| date | event | what | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-11-29 | proposed | Hank says he wants to announce next week (week of 3 December 2007) a final Brotherhood 2.0 project needing the combined efforts of every Nerdfighter. (hedged) | November 29th: sXePhil, Leaky Brains and a Secret Project 00:03:03 |
| 2007-12-03 | rule change | Hank says the final Nerdfighter project announced last week (week of 26 November 2007) will be secret, revealed only through an email list, will need a YouTube account, and will be an effort to decrease world suck. → refers to November 29th: sXePhil, Leaky Brains and a Secret Project | December 3rd: 10,000 Subscribers! and secret project 00:01:57 |
| 2007-12-11 | announced | Hank says the first Secret Project newsletter, an introduction, goes out tonight, and that December 17 is the day: only people on the email list and signed up for YouTube can take part, and it may take much time. | Dec 11: Secret Project...And More Punching 00:00:10 |
| 2007-12-17 | launched | Hank launches the secret project on December 17 as the 2007 Nerdfighter Power Project for Awesome: take over YouTube with hundreds of videos sharing one thumbnail, each promoting a charity its maker believes reduces suck; brothers will seed videos with questions. | Project for Awesome: Explanation and Humane Societies 00:00:00 |
| 2007-12-18 | outcome | John shows the most discussed page of YouTube filled with Nerdfighter videos and says watching hundreds of the videos with thousands of Nerdfighters made him the happiest since his wedding. (playful) | Dec 18th: The Project for Awesome and Question Tuesday!!! 00:00:00 |
| 2007-12-19 | outcome | Hank and Katherine's song reports the Project for Awesome result: 300 charities promoted and Nerdfighters taking over YouTube's most discussed page. (playful) | December 19: The Day that the Nerds Took Over YouTube 00:01:50 |
| 2007-12-28 | looked back | John says he enjoyed the Project for Awesome because people who don't suck came together to do something that doesn't suck. | Dec. 28th: John's Last Brotherhood 2.0 Video 00:03:18 |
| 2008-12-17 (said on 2008-12-16, implied) (happened 2007) | looked back | Hank recalls last year's (2007) Project for Awesome as a fun YouTube-wide party in the comments where he found new YouTubers who became friends. | One More Day Until the P4A!!! 00:00:29 |
| 2010-05-17 | looked back | Hank recalls his and Katherine's couch song about how amazing the first Project for Awesome was, now on YouTube's timeline, and says the P4A has since grown bigger and better. | My YouTube Story is Short 00:01:10 |
| 2010-11-26 (happened 2007) | looked back | Hank recalls P4A began in 2007 when they realized Nerdfighteria had become a big deal and decided to make YouTube about charity for one day. · also in: John and Hank Hanging Out but they Keep Getting Younger and More Pixelated | p4a, Space Pasta, and Giant Squids of Anger 00:00:22 |
| 2010-12-20 (happened 2007) | looked back | Hank looks back on P4A's start in 2007: a group of YouTubers used every trick they knew to 'hack' YouTube for charity, slowed only by Mike Huckabee's rival 'hack'. | Thoughts on the Project for Awesome 00:00:01 |
| 2013-03-08 | looked back | Hank recalls that the first Project for Awesome launched the day they hit 10,000 subscribers, to use their community to do good. | ONE MILLION NERDFIGHTERS! 00:00:58 |
| 2014-11-19 (happened 2007) | looked back | John: the P4A started in 2007 with YouTubers making charity videos, when videos were found via the Most Discussed and Top Rated pages, and Nerdfighteria came together to hijack YouTube's algorithm. | The Future of the Project for Awesome: Pizzamas Day 8 00:01:47 |
| 2016-11-01 (happened 2007) | looked back | John says the Project for Awesome began in 2007 when Nerdfighteria essentially tricked YouTube's algorithm into featuring videos about charity. (hedged) | BABY! BABY! BABY! (And the 10th Annual Project for Awesome) 00:00:51 |
| 2026-02-13 | looked back | John says the Project for Awesome began as a lark, an attempt to hack the YouTube algorithm for good: they were not thinking of raising money and had never made a dollar from YouTube. | Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! 06:55:13 |
| 2026-02-14 (happened 2007) | looked back | John recalls that in 2007 and 2008 the early Project for Awesome raised no money but hijacked the YouTube algorithm to make it about charity for a day. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 4! 01:34:09 |
| 2026-02-15 (happened 2007) | looked back | Agreeing with a viewer, John says the first few Project for Awesomes were not fundraisers at all but an attempt to take over the YouTube front page and hijack an algorithm that was then unsophisticated. | Project for Awesome 2026 part 5! 03:03:00 |
Dates are upload dates, which set the order. Where the speaker gives a different recording date in the video, it is added as "said on YYYY-MM-DD, implied" (derived from the date said in the video).
What is said about it
21 statements, by date (the events above are the turns of the thread; these are the details).
- 2007-11-29 · November 29th: sXePhil, Leaky Brains and a Secret Project — announcement: Hank says that next week (week of 3 December 2007) he wants to announce a final Brotherhood 2.0 project, the ultimate test of awesome, needing every Nerdfighter's combined efforts to make the awesomest thing happen. (hedged) — 00:03:03
- 2007-12-03 · December 3rd: 10,000 Subscribers! and secret project — announcement: Hank says taking part in the secret project will require a YouTube account, and apologises to non-YouTubers because the project is somewhat YouTube-centric. — 00:02:27
- 2007-12-03 · December 3rd: 10,000 Subscribers! and secret project — announcement: Hank promises the secret project will be extremely awesome, on YouTube, and a combined effort of many Nerdfighters to decrease world suck. — 00:02:56
- 2007-12-03 · December 3rd: 10,000 Subscribers! and secret project — ask: Hank says now is a good time to sign up for YouTube, and that a way will be found to involve non-YouTube Nerdfighters who want to take part. — 00:02:56
- 2007-12-03 · December 3rd: 10,000 Subscribers! and secret project — announcement: Hank says today's scavenger hunt clue is online only and has something to do with the secret project. — 00:03:25
- 2007-12-11 · Dec 11: Secret Project...And More Punching — announcement: Hank announces the first Secret Project newsletter goes out tonight, so people should sign up now; it is an introduction, not the main organizational newsletter, which comes later. — 00:00:10
- 2007-12-11 · Dec 11: Secret Project...And More Punching — ask: Hank asks those on the list to keep December 17 as clear as they can, since the project may need a significant amount of time from all of them. (hedged) — 00:00:50
- 2007-12-13 · December 13: Mailing Shopping Thanking. It Must Be Christmas — Hank says the response to the Secret Project is going extremely well. — 00:02:34
- 2007-12-17 · Project for Awesome: Explanation and Humane Societies — announcement: Hank declares December 17 secret project day and welcomes viewers to the 2007 Nerdfighter Power Project for Awesome. — 00:00:00
- 2007-12-17 · Project for Awesome: Explanation and Humane Societies — announcement: Hank: The project is to take over YouTube by making the P4A image the thumbnail of hundreds of videos, from channels with 50,000 subscribers to channels with 5. — 00:00:40
- 2007-12-17 · Project for Awesome: Explanation and Humane Societies — announcement: Hank: Every Project for Awesome video promotes a charity of its maker's choice that they believe reduces the amount of suck in the world. — 00:00:40
- 2007-12-17 · Project for Awesome: Explanation and Humane Societies — announcement: Hank says the brothers will seed the P4A videos with questions that commenters can answer. — 00:03:18
- 2007-12-18 · Dec 18th: The Project for Awesome and Question Tuesday!!! — John says that watching hundreds of Secret Project videos and discussing them with thousands of Nerdfighters made him the happiest he has been, apart from his wedding day, since about age seven. (playful) — 00:00:00
- 2007-12-18 · Dec 18th: The Project for Awesome and Question Tuesday!!! — John says it is amazing to see so many people come together to support each other and worthy organizations, and thanks them. — 00:00:39
- 2007-12-19 · December 19: The Day that the Nerds Took Over YouTube — Hank: The song recounts that the Project for Awesome began on December 17 with the goal of decreasing world suck, helped by sxePhil, Nalts and WhatTheBuck. (playful) — 00:01:05
- 2007-12-19 · December 19: The Day that the Nerds Took Over YouTube — Hank: The song's refrain calls the Project for Awesome the day the nerds took over YouTube, joking that their center screenshot proved more powerful than 'two boobs'. (playful) — 00:01:25
- 2007-12-28 · Dec. 28th: John's Last Brotherhood 2.0 Video — John has come to think a lot of life is about doing things that don't suck with people who don't suck, which is why he enjoyed the Happy Dance Project and the Project for Awesome. (hedged) — 00:03:11
- 2008-12-17 (said on 2008-12-16, implied) · One More Day Until the P4A!!! — Hank recalls last year's (2007) P4A as a huge YouTube-wide party: he and Katherine commented across videos and he found new YouTubers who became real-life friends. — 00:00:29
- 2010-05-17 · My YouTube Story is Short — Hank: The other shows Hank and Katherine on a thrift-store couch singing about how amazing the first Project for Awesome was; Hank says the P4A has since grown bigger and better. — 00:01:10
- 2010-12-20 · Thoughts on the Project for Awesome — Hank says that in 2007 a group of people 'hacked YouTube', using YouTuber tricks harder than they normally would to get views, which felt awesome rather than dirty because it was for charity. — 00:00:01
- 2010-12-20 · Thoughts on the Project for Awesome — Hank jokes that Mike Huckabee's attempt to 'hack' the Republican presidential nomination kept P4A from taking over the whole first page of 'most discussed', but P4A's hack was more successful. (playful) — 00:00:19