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A Crisis of Branding

2021-03-12 · letter vlog · Hank, a guest · 3:59 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube · mode: Personal essay · tags: community lore

Answering John's claim that he rebranded away from corndogs, Hank says it is not weird to be different people in different places: as a professional performer he adapts to medium and audience, the more he acts a way online the more he is that way, there is no authentic self, and he can only be authentically confused about who his authentic self is.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — His crisis over the corndog rebrand; forgotten lore (Metamucil, My Little Pony)

  • ★★ Answering John's claim that he rebranded away from loving corndogs while John is stuck with pizza, Hank admits to a ludicrous little crisis about it. (playful) — 00:00:00 · John Green
  • ★★ Hank still eats corndogs a lot and probably prefers them to pizza; they just aren't part of the lore anymore. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Much lore has faded: a couple of years ago Hank couldn't shut up about Metamucil, which he still uses and stands by. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • ★ Hank has forgotten much lore: was he into My Little Pony for a while, or did people tell him to back off? (playful, unsure) — 00:00:29
  • ★★ Ordering a pizza right before recording, Hank gave his name and was told 'I love your TikToks'; he asked to record the person. — 00:00:29 · TikTok

00:00:51 — A pizza worker's view of him from TikTok; pelicans

  • ★★ a guest: The pizza worker says Hank's TikToks show an intelligent, well-spoken person raising very interesting topics, a nice educational break in their feed. — 00:00:51 · Hank Green, TikTok
  • ★★ That is one conception of Hank: the person didn't know his pelican, bean or 'don't eat stuff' content; his pelican TikToks aren't his most successful. — 00:00:51 · TikTok

00:01:20 — Different selves in different places, professional performance versus the authentic self, manufacturing ourselves

  • ★ Hank's affinity for pelicans isn't a thing anywhere else; he talks about pelicans on Twitter only a little. — 00:01:20 · Twitter
  • ★★★ Asked whether it is weird to be a different person in different places, Hank says no: everyone is a different person to parents, friends, spouses and kids. — 00:01:20
  • ★★★ Part of Hank's job is being a professional performer, and he changes his performance based on medium, content and audience. — 00:01:20
  • ★★★ Online you're supposed to be your authentic self, which seems antithetical to performing, but isn't: viewers watched him become a professional performer. — 00:02:04
  • ★★ Hank didn't start out a professional performer: his 2007 videos are not professional caliber, yet none of those people aren't him. (playful) — 00:02:04 · Vlogbrothers
  • ★★★ The more Hank acts a way on the internet, the more he actually is that way; people change their whole lives, different from one year to another. — 00:02:30
  • ★★ Hank really is into pelicans: Katherine loved them first and got him into them. — 00:02:30 · Katherine Green
  • ★★ Hank honestly loves Pizza John and They Might Be Giants. — 00:02:30 · Pizza John
  • ★★★ Does Hank manufacture his quirk for the internet? He doesn't know, finds it terrifying, and doesn't think so: he has always been a goofy, silly guy. (hedged) — 00:02:59
  • ★★★ Maybe everyone manufactures their quirks; if so it doesn't matter, since we all manufacture ourselves: there is no authentic self, and Hank created the person he is. — 00:02:59

00:03:22 — Authentically confused about the authentic self; sign-off and 'a bit much' outtake

  • ★★★ As a professional internet personality Hank is supposed to be authentically himself and cannot be; instead he can be authentically confused, or disinterested, about who his authentic self is. — 00:03:22

    “Authentically confused about, or even authentically disinterested in, who my authentic self even is.”

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description clarifies that by having no authentic self Hank doesn't mean lacking innate tendencies, but that searching for 'the real me' could go on forever and leave him freezer burned. — video description
  • ★★ In a channel comment Hank says he can be authentic in his performance without being every facet of himself; as long as core values are real, creators aren't lying to their audience. — creator comment

Humor (significant)

  • Metamucil left the lore, but Hank's loyalty did not — 00:00:00

    “And I still use Metamucil! And I still stand by Metamucil.”

  • Hank can't remember whether he was ever into My Little Pony — 00:00:29

    “Like, or maybe I like talked about it and people were like, actually Hank back off from that a little bit.”

  • Viewers watched him become a performer, if they've seen all the vlogbrothers videos — 00:02:04

    “And let's be honest you haven't I have”

  • Outtake after the sign-off: no one ever tells Hank he is a bit much — 00:03:51

    “I think if I met me, I'd be like, that guy's a bit much.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: authenticity

Also: People: Katherine Green

Works: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

Organizations: TikTok · Twitter

Groups: They Might Be Giants

Terms: Pizza John

Concepts: pelican · personal identity

Products: Metamucil

Replies to

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