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Hank Rebranded Without Any of Us Noticing

2021-03-09 · letter vlog · John · 3:48 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube (also: Personal life) · mode: Personal essay · tags: community lore

When his daughter doubts that Uncle Hank loves corn dogs, John realizes Hank has quietly rebranded from goofball corndog enthusiast to TikTok science communicator; comparing his own 2007 self, he reflects on online artifacts of the past and concludes that one way Hank has stayed himself is by changing.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Puff levels; the pandemic shaping every conversation; his daughter's school-lunch corn dog

  • ★★ John notes that his puff levels remain near record levels. (playful) — 00:00:00 · the Puff
  • ★★ Almost all of John's conversations over the last year have been about the pandemic or shaped by it; it is essential to the geometry of every conversation. — 00:00:00 · COVID-19 pandemic
  • ★★ John's daughter said she didn't like the cornmeal casing on her school-lunch corn dog, a conversation that could have happened at any time. — 00:00:00 · Alice Green
  • ★ John didn't point out the conversation's pandemiclessness, since that would have added the pandemic to it. — 00:00:29

00:00:58 — Hank's rebrand from corndog lover to TikTok science communicator; Planters' sudden rebrand versus slow change

  • ★★ John told his daughter her Uncle Hank loves corn dogs; she asked 'does he?', and John realized how successfully Hank has rebranded himself. — 00:00:58 · Alice Green, Hank Green
  • ★★★ In 2010 Hank was a goofball corndog enthusiast; today he is a TikTok sensation among the world's leading science communicators, two phrases John had never heard in 2010. — 00:00:58 · Hank Green, TikTok
  • ★★ John sees two approaches to rebranding; one is the Planters path: a commercialized funeral for the animated spokesnut, then a hip baby spokesnut. (playful) — 00:00:58
  • ★★★ The other approach is slow reimagining over time, which often goes unnoticed until we look back into the past. — 00:01:27
  • ★ Walking in the woods, John sometimes finds a seemingly ancient beer can that turns out to be from 1994, when he was alive and sometimes drinking beer. (playful) — 00:01:27

00:01:56 — Online artifacts: 2007 John and 2007 Hank versus now; Corndog Hank forgotten, Pizza John still here

  • ★★★ People who left many artifacts online, from tweets to YouTube videos, now have a similar experience: John's March 2007 vlogbrothers self is both familiar and quite distant. — 00:01:56 · Vlogbrothers
  • ★★★ The one essential thing John would say about himself is that he is a parent, which 2007 John wasn't. — 00:01:56
  • ★★ 2007 John wasn't the author of The Fault in Our Stars, a resident of Indianapolis, an AFC Wimbledon supporter, Crash Course's co-founder, best friends with Chris and Marina, or a jogger. — 00:01:56 · The Fault in Our Stars, Indianapolis, AFC Wimbledon, Crash Course
  • ★★ 2007 Hank wasn't a father, an author or the CEO of an educational media company; he was a goofy YouTuber who loved corndogs. — 00:02:26 · Hank Green, Complexly
  • ★★ As proof of Hank's rebrand, John recalls the Corndog Hank t-shirt made to go with the Pizza John t-shirt: Pizza John is still here, Corndog Hank forgotten to history. (playful) — 00:02:26 · corndog shirt, Pizza John

00:02:55 — Never leaving the online past behind; Hank stayed himself by changing; corndog love story; sign-off

  • ★★★ John says Hank's novels brilliantly explore how online you can never fully leave your past behind: everything you said is still being said, heard in the listener's present. — 00:02:55 · An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor
  • ★★ John doesn't really know how to navigate having pieces of his past, from books to tweets, floating around in other people's present. (unsure) — 00:02:55
  • ★★ For that John looks to Hank: they never let Hank being the younger brother stop him from being the wise older brother. (playful) — 00:03:24 · Hank Green
  • ★★★ It seems to John that one of the ways Hank has stayed himself is by changing. — 00:03:24 · Hank Green
  • ★ John adds that Hank plus corndogs remains a great love story, as noted on his 2021 vision board. (joke) — 00:03:24

Humor (significant)

  • Children have pulled the cornmeal off school corn dogs since time immemorial — 00:00:29

    “Like, I'm pretty sure that such a scene is depicted on a Grecian urn.”

  • Planters' rebrand: a commercialized funeral for its animated spokesnut — 00:01:27

    “and then rebrand with a hip baby spokesnut”

  • A seemingly ancient beer can in the woods turns out not to be ancient — 00:01:27

    “it's from like 1994 when I was not only alive but sometimes drinking beer.”

  • After praising Hank's change, John insists the corndog romance endures — 00:03:24

    “Hank plus corndogs remains a great love story, as prominently noted in my 2021 vision board.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

People: Alice Green · Chris Waters · Marina (friend, mentioned from 2016)

Projects: Complexly · Crash Course

Works: A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor · An Absolutely Remarkable Thing · corndog shirt · The Fault in Our Stars

Organizations: AFC Wimbledon · Planters · TikTok

Terms: Pizza John · the Puff

Concepts: parenting · personal identity · vision board

Places: Indianapolis

Events: COVID-19 pandemic

Characters: Mr. Peanut

Later videos replying to this one