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My Most Controversial Opinion

2019-11-29 · other · Hank · 3:58 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube · mode: Comedy & performance · tags: self promotion, community lore

In a sketch, a personified Twitter presses Hank for a dumb controversial opinion that will make people mad, and he offers 'butt is legs', defending it until Twitter is outraged; his second controversial opinion, 'Black Friday is dope', introduces Black Friday plugs: a UK Audible deal on An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, his next novel A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor (July 7, 2020) and DFTBA.com free shipping and products.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Twitter asks for Hank's most controversial opinion: content, engagement and saying something dumb

  • ★★ Voicing Twitter, Hank says the most-controversial-opinion question is content: an easy format to put your own spin on without coming up with something fresh. (satire) — 00:00:12 · Twitter
  • ★★ Hank says his most controversial opinions are pretty controversial, and also nuanced and slow to explain. — 00:00:20
  • ★★★ Voicing Twitter, Hank says you're just supposed to say something dumb that everybody will be mad about, to make people mad, because it's engaging. (satire) — 00:00:30 · Twitter, attention economy
  • ★★ Voicing Twitter, Hank says the formula is a dumb opinion most people despise while a minority backs you, which keeps the conversation going. (satire) — 00:00:53 · Twitter, attention economy

00:01:15 — 'Butt is legs': Hank's dumb opinion and Twitter's outrage

  • ★★★ Hank's controversial opinion is 'butt is legs': butt is butt, but also legs, since your leg bone is in your butt. (joke) — 00:01:17
  • ★ When Twitter argues the gut ends in the butthole so butt is torso, Hank replies that butt transitions to butthole as arm transitions to hand. (joke) — 00:02:11 · Twitter
  • ★★ When Twitter yells at him for the controversial opinion it asked for, Hank tells Twitter this is the world we have chosen for ourselves. (playful) — 00:02:36 · Twitter

00:02:54 — Black Friday is dope: Audible UK deal on An Absolutely Remarkable Thing; A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor announced for July 7, 2020

  • ★★ Hank says Audible in the UK picked his first book, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, as a Black Friday deal, so it costs only three pounds there this week (week of 25 November 2019). — 00:02:58 · An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, United Kingdom
  • ★★★ Hank announces his new book, A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor, out July 7, 2020, with pre-order links and a synopsis in the description; he'll talk about it more soon. — 00:03:07 · A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor

00:03:21 — DFTBA.com free shipping, new pins, the Hank-erchief, and a last 'butt is legs'

  • ★★ Hank says that through Monday DFTBA.com has free shipping everywhere in the world on orders over $50, plus lots of new Black Friday products. — 00:03:22 · DFTBA Records
  • ★ Hank wears several new DFTBA pins, including a Stentor coeruleus pin from Journey to the Microcosmos. — 00:03:29 · Journey to the Microcosmos, DFTBA Records
  • ★ Because they made a Pizza John bandana this year (2019), DFTBA is now also doing a 'Hank-erchief'; Hank doesn't expect to sell many but they had to make the joke. (playful) — 00:03:38 · Pizza John, DFTBA Records
  • ★★ Hank tells viewers to go to DFTBA.com right now. — 00:03:46 · DFTBA Records

In the description and comments

  • ★ The description says the video was inspired by a really dumb conversation Hank and his friends had after recording SciShow Tangents, and thanks them and the people who engaged on Twitter. — video description · Twitter
  • ★ In a channel comment John adds that all of DFTBA's profits go to charity, links the Hank-erchief, and congratulates Hank on his book, asking when he can read it. — creator comment · DFTBA Records

Humor (dominant)

  • Twitter coaches Hank on how controversial-opinion posts work. — 00:00:30

    “You're just supposed to say something dumb that everybody's gonna be mad about.”

  • Asked for a dumb controversial opinion, Hank finally offers one. — 00:01:17

    “Butt... is legs.”

  • Twitter, which demanded a controversial opinion, screams at Hank for having one. — 00:02:36

    “YOU TOLD ME TO HAVE A CONTROVERSIAL OPINION!!!”

  • Twitter asks whether the whole video was a set-up for a Black Friday promotion. — 00:03:48

    “Butt is legs.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Projects: DFTBA Records · Journey to the Microcosmos

Works: A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor · An Absolutely Remarkable Thing · Hank-erchief

Organizations: Audible · Twitter

Terms: Pizza John

Concepts: attention economy · Stentor coeruleus

Places: United Kingdom

Events: Black Friday · Thanksgiving

Only in the description or credits: SciShow Tangents

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