Why do Billionaires do Super Bowl Ads???

[@Xelbiuj_1988]

"That's Jack Harlow right?" No, its Knuckles.

[@MenacingBanjo]

Sonic's friend, Jack Harlow

[@tryingnot2bdumb]

Hehehehehe AHAHAHAHAHA

[@ameersJournal]

“I’m vanilla baby” is so funny

[@VideoHeadII]

Hey, I worked on the Dunkin Ad! Just in the lighting department, but I was on set. Ben was actually the director, and I very much got the vibe that the goal was to promote Jenifer's "This is Me" album.

[@hankschannel]

!!!!!

[@ApequH]

Lighting is very important (and my brother does that)

[@bimboforcocoapuffs]

lighting dept are my favorite production people, bless you :)

[@drunkenfarmerjohn42]

To be fair, he's also a Boston guy, so it isn't like a Dunkies commercial is a hard sell for him. It's a bit of a meme, but they really do go hard for Dunkies up there.

[@aliensinnoh1]

@@drunkenfarmerjohn42 Yeah, with Affleck, Damon, and Brady you could feel the Boston oozing out of the screen lol.

[@chris-the-bard]

Hank: “Sonic’s friend Tails” *points at knuckles* 😭😭

[@semdening]

Funniest part of the video

[@hankschannel]

We're gonna get past this...

[@Karlyr_]

@@hankschannel Honestly I'm not sure about that. *starts cracking his tail intimidatingly* 🙃

[@raymondgilbert7887]

The reply speed was real@@hankschannel

[@Chris_winthers]

​@@hankschannelno. You need to make an apology video

[@gweiss1858]

Reminds me of the Sarah Lynn line from Bojack when she's talking about how she was paid a couple thousand dollars to wear a shirt she doesn't like, not because she needs the money, but just because she liked that someone still wanted to pay her to wear their shirt.

[@agerardi125]

Omg that's such a good comparison to this video, I didn't even think of that until now.

[@veronicamcghie5238]

This whole video all I was thinking was "This is all extremely BoJack Horseman"

[@Chorweiler]

@@veronicamcghie5238fr

[@PhotonBeast]

I think also of something Smon Sinek talks about. That context that you mention - the pay, the perks, etc - what's really happening is that people are valuing the celebrity STATUS and not the actual person. You swap out Swift or Beyonce with a different singer, they're still going to treat them with all the perks. And as soon as Swift or Beyonce carry no popular weight, no one is going to treat them with anything. The value of "I am wanted" and the value of "I am being treated well" are two different values. At the end of the day, treating someone well what ever their station and status in life is a more candid form of value because it's treating someone well because it's them not because of what they bring.

[@omgitsyelhsa13]

That’s too much, man

[@Time_Traveling_Corgi]

My son gasped when you called "Knuckles" Tails. He's 5, I think we can salvage this in time.

[@kitwinters7434]

I gasped, and I’m a 34 year old lady who has never actually played a sonic game hahaha

[@brightknight1965]

I wouldn’t dare show my 6 yo. He would be so upset with no where to put those emotions 😂

[@wavesofbabies]

That kid is going to be shown Hank Green talking about some science thing in school 6 years from now and think "that's the guy who said Knuckles was Tails"...

[@Time_Traveling_Corgi]

@@wavesofbabies In other news, I'm going to show him Teen Girl Squad thanks to you.

[@heartofgoldfish]

this did so much damage to hank green's credibility, I unlearned microbiology

[@The8BitPianist]

Every video on this channel follows the same arc for me: "Oh, a new vlogbrothers video!" →"Huh, this seems like it is pretty long for vlogbrothers" → "And it's not Friday?" → "Oh, it's hankschannel"

[@AerinMoriarty]

Yeah, I clicked this thinking, "oh sweet, I got 5 minutes for a vlogbrothers video."

[@ezrakainz]

I literally didn't realize until I read this comment. The whole time I was thinking "whys it not friday" and "whys hank not saying hi".

[@MaggieJacksonJacksonspace]

​@@ezrakainz We don't get a hello from Hank. That's reserved for his favorite brother.

[@wearwolf2500]

I didn't do that with this video but I have before

[@IrisGlowingBlue]

+

[@Mountainpeakprophet]

To some extent I wonder, at least for the retired celebrities, that they may also just be kinda bored. Like they could lounge around all day, or they could go get some attention, make some money, go out for a day and hang with people they haven't seen in a while. Like to me that just sounds like a fun day.

[@MeNowDealWIthIt]

But like, do they need to be in an advert to do that? Like couldn't Arnie could just text his secretary "Ay secretary, would you please talk to Danny DeVito's people and some writer guy and some producer guy and set up a shoot for a short film that's like a parody of that old Twins movie I was in?"

[@MKPiatkowski]

​@@MeNowDealWIthItBut this way someone else is paying for it.

[@ryanclark4231]

@@MeNowDealWIthIt That's a lot more work and expense than just letting State Farm take care of everything.

[@justincain2702]

@@ryanclark4231 Yeah but Arnold doesn't have to do it and they can actually do more of what they want rather than being bound to a 30 second commercial with someone else directing.

[@irakyl]

I believe this, and I think another factor is just that it's a tradition at this point. There are many ways to feel valued like Hank says, and there are many ways to alleviate boredom, but the Super Bowl has this reputation for being the thing that celebrities do ads for. With all these reason combined it makes sense I feel.

[@JulieHerrick]

There was a CapitalOne pre-sale for Eras Tour tickets, only for cardholders, so I feel like the commercial was one piece of a bigger partnership deal between Taylor Swift and Capital One

[@TroyRubert]

I used to help manage one of their HVS call centers. It's wild what they do for their most valued clients.

[@sylvy16]

oh yeah they seem to have. deal going back a few years i think. she has been in atleaat four other capital one ads and always has presales exclusive to capital one cardholders

[@richardparadox163]

Yeah Capital One sponsored her tour, and does exclusive Merch with her for cardholders, etc.

[@patrickjordan2233]

It'd be interesting to read their contract IMO? I would be super surprised if there's not an equity earnings component..? Edit: on par with stock-options/front suite equity preference agreements ..

[@maximilianosalvador9559]

I find it funny how I don't really care about any of these celebrity people or whatever the superbowl is, but I value Hank so much I just watched him ramble for 13 minutes about a topic I don't give a damn. You are pure gold Hank, please never stop

[@ArtichokeHunter]

i feel like this vid is not at all expecting you to care about celebrities or the superbowl? it's about the psychology of fame and wealth? i guess that is also a topic you don't care about, which is legit.

[@buffienguyen]

same!

[@grumblefkitty]

@@ArtichokeHunterhank is so good and so interesting. i love his little adhd mind. i will follow him down just about any rabbit hole, but sociology is one of my favorite things, so this one was particularly cool.

[@zaza7594]

That was 13min? Oh man ^^

[@Coral_Forever]

Yes, I usually skip the Superbowls, often catch up on the ad culture stuff after the fact...and find Hank's analysis of celebrity Superbowl ads more interesting.

[@Mongoose0017]

I also noticed the extreme amount of Cameos, and my first thought was, "Oh yeah. They had that actor's strike and needed work."

[@CompiledGabriel]

That actually makes it sadder that there are not more smaller actor getting the bag instead of these people that don't really need it... unless is to recoup what they donated to the strike found but like.. nah

[@HuckleberryHim]

Haha, yeah, Matt Damon and Jennifer Lopez were suffering tremendously from the actor's strike. I'm glad they made it out alive! I heard at one point their budget was down to just one gilded Kobe filet mignon a week 😢

[@DueySR]

​​@@HuckleberryHim By doing the ad they created jobs for a lot of people behind the scenes, who would've suffered from the strike. This is similar to Hank's point about feeling obligated to their agents.

[@HuckleberryHim]

@@DueySR More like obligation to contracts and their own personal enrichment, if they were such saints why aren't they giving away their wealth? I'm not talking tax-free "charitable" "foundations", or some genuine good here and there. These people could give away >90% of their wealth (this used to be the top tax rate some decades ago!) and still be just uncomfortably wealthy, instead of disgustingly wealthy. Let's not kid ourselves about the beneficent motivations of ultra-wealthy ultra-privileged elites.

[@enialb]

@@HuckleberryHimI’m not saying they don’t have ungodly wealth, but Matt and his wife, Ben and Jlo were amongst the actors were donated the most amount of money to the strike fund, so it’s not as black and white as it might seem

[@michaelnolan9416]

“Drew berrymore is a blonde” SO iS ELLAN

[@demesisx]

Temu: Boil the oceans on a whim like a billionaire.

[@twelvecatsinatrenchcoat]

"I'm not gonna psychoanalyze Larry David. God... that sounds... hard." 😂😂🤣🤣

[@FBDSG]

[@OrpheoCT]

I feel like me commenting this is like a self-fulfilling prophecy for the intention of these cameos ("MAKE PEOPLE TALK ABOUT THE THING!!!"), but: The last season of Curb Your Enthusiasm just came out, so that's probably what that cameo was about

[@eyeDavid]

Still waiting on these ads to trickle down to me from these billionaires

[@emersonjakes8119]

as my high school us history teacher said, "something's trickling down... And it ain't money"

[@finalcountdown3210]

​@@emersonjakes8119 Sounds like a George Carlin quote, lol

[@tianqi5008]

I hope your likes will trickle down to me. Capatilism

[@JanisFever]

Honestly the ads cover the cost of the content, super bowl is PPV because the Billionaires Ads. Same with KZbin

[@akivaweil5066]

Things do trickle down. Flat screen tvs were something only rich people had at one point.

[@Shalom64221]

In today's edition of Hank Tweets Spiral Into Enough Thought To Earn A Hankschannel Video...

[@Shalom64221]

Which I'm more than happy about!

[@ocupersgmail]

any Hank content is good content

[@Noah-lj2sg]

Edition* 🤓

[@Shalom64221]

@@Noah-lj2sg We're lucky that's my only typo

[@DeltaNovum]

I think Hank is spot on with his reasoning. I'd say almost any of our behaviours are motivated by either fear, sex or ego.

[@TheWizardsOfOz]

I couldn't stop smiling after Hank said Jean-Luc Picard instead of Patrick Stewart. 😄 It shows a lot of how Sir Patrick will be forever remembered as the legend he is and has been in Star Trek.

[@pattheplanter]

I will always think of him as that Spanish psychic Prof Javier, despite his speech impediment.

[@jonm4206]

Hey that's Gandalf's bestie right there!

[@soloracer19]

Professor X deserves his cred, but to be fair it was damned near the same dude

[@grumblefkitty]

i didn’t even realize. i noticed that something seemed off, but i would never have put it together that he used the wrong name. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@iconoclastic23]

I preferred him as Sejanus in "I, Claudius"

[@jasonzeppa8661]

I know this is not really relevant because Larry David was just an example but, Larry David is promoting something right now. The newest and final season of Curb Your Enthusiasm is currently coming out, and the character in this commercial is definitely the same characterized version of himself that he plays in Curb Your Enthusiasm.

[@rederik99]

Also, and it's not important, but there's no way he's a Billionaire. (I know Hank didn't say "Larry David is a Billionaire", but it was implied, based on the direction of the monologue). I'm sure he's stinkin' rich, more than I'll ever have, but it's not a billion. Maybe half that. EDIT: He basically does say it later in the video, lol.

[@YoJesusMorales]

I think Jennifer Lopez has a movie going on, so maybe Ben Affleck being on the news also transfer to her, if they google him and then click on JLo, or am I stretching?

[@pattheplanter]

@@rederik99 One site says he has $450 million and lost half of his wealth in a divorce. Which explains why no-one stopped him when he crashed the Elmo piece with his "I am a horrible person" schtick.

[@Thatguyinyourclass]

Also, I believe he has invested heavily in Crypto so he gets a ROI if people actually use the crypto trader he promotes

[@richardparadox163]

@@YoJesusMoralesJ Lo was also in the commercial

[@OliveDasi]

It reminds me of a bit from Lewis Black's stand up from way back. "Can somebody explain to me why Pepsi and Coke advertise? Are we missing something? Seriously, everyone in this room has drank enough Pepsi and Coke in their lifetime they could piss it for a week. Just send us all a coupon in the mail. Here's ten bucks. Try our shit."

[@caseytailfly]

Because people have the memory of a gnat and need to be constantly and relentlessly reminded that sugary brown bubbly beverages exist!

[@SamAronow]

They advertise because if one don’t, the other one still will.

[@MimiKe_]

Every year there are new 5 year olds to advertise to create lifelong brand recognition with. The ads aren't aired for the 40 year olds who have already seen them their whole life.

[@jonm4206]

Dr Pepper and Coke need to advertise because I'm back and forth about which is superior and will buy either. I have no clue why Pepsi is burning their money, its not like anyone would choose to buy their product... You know what I could really go for? Feeling like my teeth are sticking together for the next few hours.

[@machinatingminotaur6285]

@@MimiKe_ correct, I think it was coke that realized in the late 80s they were losing their market share because they weren't advertising to kids. cool world!

[@mineola_]

Hank's journey into confirming that it was in fact Jack Harlow is such an insight into adhd

[@goodnightgirl]

Skipping his name in the title despite reading it, while saying his name, and then FINALLY noticing it a solid 3 minutes later was peak ADHD. I've done the exact same thing hundreds of times.

[@567secret]

Isn't that just having developed good online habits of verifying information?

[@mineola_]

@@567secret I meant more overlooking the name in the title, falling down a slight rabbit hole and only once you've already found the answer noticing you already had it the entire time.

[@SunjayVideos]

oh the guy who was in that one Lil Nas X song?

[@OrganicGreens]

He doesn't even have one tail. lol

[@agerardi125]

This made me laugh so hard.

[@kashiichan]

+

[@master_blizzard]

AMAZING COMMENT

[@KillahMate]

I think it's a variation on that last option but the other way around. The celebrities appear in a very well-viewed piece of media that will inevitably also go viral to some extent etc etc, because these ads not only bank on their celebrity status, but they also _reiterate and perpetuate_ it. Every ad is an ad not just for the product but _for themselves._ Assuming Jack Harlow never appeared in a Superbowl ad before, then he has now become not just famous for whatever it is he does but _also_ 'Superbowl famous,' which is an additional layer on top of his existing celebrity. I suspect the Superbowl is the biggest example of this because of the unusually wide crossover appeal it has. So the celebrities may do it in part because it makes them feel more valued, but at the same time (and I'd argue more importantly) it _makes_ them more valuable.

[@pattheplanter]

If I understand correctly, last year Jesus finally became Superbowl famous.

[@AbbreviatedReviews]

I always assumed it's like when I do an online survey where I get paid like $3. That money becomes "it doesn't matter" money that I can throw away at anything without feeling guilty. I suppose once you're a billionaire, there are few things that could be above the bar of things that are too expensive to feel justified, but I'm sure there are still things. But if there's one thing I've noticed about really rich people is that they would MUCH rather spend someone else's money on any given venture. Like a billionaire could easy start a 50 million dollar "startup" without it affecting any facet of their financial present or future, but they'll get outside investors, leverage the value of numerous assets, take low interest loans, and dance around a thousand different tax breaks.

[@RAFMnBgaming]

Well you don't become a billionaire by spending your own money.

[@machinatingminotaur6285]

that's how they became billionaires. no one in the history of our entire species has worked hard enough to be a billionaire on their own merit. jeff bezos is not better at what he does than the best scientists, engineers, doctors, athletes, to say nothing of the tradesmen and blue collar workers, or even those working menial jobs, because like all billionaires he doesn't just admit the fact he wakes up whenever, does whatever, and has everyone attend to his whims, he openly flouts it in our faces

[@sappy_]

Everyone's talking about the Knuckles-Tails thing, but the Jack Harlow segment of this video is GOLD

[@chriswest6988]

I've heard rappers level some pretty serious disses at Jack Harlow, but none of them were anywhere close to "Yung Gravy, or...no not Yung Gravy, a guy like him, the other one"

[@adriankerrison]

Agree with all your points Hank. The other thing companies used to spend that extra Super Bowl budget on was visual effects, but now most ads have computer generated characters, stunts, and effects. So it makes sense that the limited resource left to make an ad special is exponential celebrity cameos.

[@abdullahenani9670]

That temu ad was truly a waste of money, and they showed it like 4 times?!! EXPENSIVE And it was a forgettable one at that 😭

[@ChadMourning]

I learned it was pronounced Temu and not Temu.

[@harkostroef]

and quite a morally questionable company at that

[@Khronogi]

Buy into the market share

[@heartofgoldfish]

Temu? I guess I'll check it out

[@BigBoiiLeem]

@@heartofgoldfish be careful, their app has viruses. I'd stick to their website if you're going to use it

[@chandleready8988]

I think this from Billy Joel sums up the fears that bring them to the Super Bowl pretty well: I am the entertainer And I know just where I stand Another serenader And another long-haired band Today I am your champion I may have won your hearts But I know the game, you'll forget my name And I won't be here in another year If I don't stay on the charts

[@FosukeLordOfError]

7:46 Hank you don't remember twins. Danny devito and Arnold swartzinager are the result of a genetic experiment to create a super human. This is Arnold, their mother however had twins and Danny got all the not great stuff. Danny is a down on his luck slightly sleazy guy who finds some high level crime stuff from stealing a car and wants to give it to the bad guys for a ton of money. At the same time his long lost twin that was separated at birth, Danny thrown into foster care Arnold raised in a secluded location and privately tutored, is seeking out all the dads that were used to create them and his brother. Danny lies about what he is doing but goes on the road trip with Arnold. (This is my memory of the plot)

[@YoJesusMorales]

You have an amazing memory, it sort of checks out from what I remember. I remember strongly the chain mostly, looney tunes antics in real life.

[@FosukeLordOfError]

@@YoJesusMorales oh yeah the chain with some sort of call back one liner

[@risitascositas1699]

Arnold is raised on a tropical island educated in philosophy and the arts. He is sheltered, naive, thinks everyone is honest & trustworthy. And on the road trip to deliver the briefcase they meet and fall in love with two sisters. Arnold loses his v card to one sister. End of the movie the couples are married and each couple has twins. They even found their mom. Synopsis from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twins_(1988_film)

[@grtlyblesd]

At one point, they’re stealing a car (bad twin’s idea) and the alarm goes off. Good twin just elevates one end of the vehicle until the alarm goes off. It’s something that he read about in a book, so he understands the theory of how car alarms work, but can’t see through bad twin’s shenanigans. And yeah, that was a long time ago. Dude needs to shave.

[@milkshakebananaz]

Hank, those characters were all paramount owned and that was a paramount + commercial ☺️ probably not too expensive when you already own the characters. Or you know, it was expensive when you bought them and you want to use them to get your money’s worth

[@milkshakebananaz]

Patrick Stewart will show up places just for a good time.

[@mykadassano438]

Tails?!?!? Hank. HANK. That's knuckles!!!

[@mols556]

Well, I wonder when they filmed that Twins commercial because they were going to make a Twins 2, but round about last November they announced it wasn't going to happen.

[@AndrewGordonBellPerc]

This video made me feel like Hank doesnt know about Curb your Enthusiasm..... which has several plotlines that are core to the thesis of this video. And its final season is coming out.

[@Palbizu]

Because billionaires always do “Good Billionaire™️” propaganda

[@thecannonballz4647]

As a poor person, I feel like one of the lessons I learned early in life is that making more money on the side(especially doing something fun, quick, or easy,) even when you don't need to, is never a bad thing. No matter how well off one becomes, that feeling scales up. Never get too comfortable, because you never know when it will all come crashing down and that extra can make a difference be you formerly rich or poor.

[@pattheplanter]

See all the Monty Python cast who didn't find a proper career afterwards.

[@ArtichokeHunter]

this is legit, but once you have a billion dollars (or a bunch of millions), you can just make your money do the work instead. if people grew up without money, they may still have that anxiety that they could lose it all, though, so that could be a reason. but with celebs who grew up rich, i wouldn't expect as much concern about taking gigs out of fear that they someday won't be rich.

[@ArtichokeHunter]

@@pattheplanter i'm curious who you're thinking of. graham chapman died young and i feel like the others all had fairly cool careers, although i guess terry jones' was the most niche. (objectively none of the pythons were, even at their height, as famous or as rich as someone like taylor swift or beyonce though.)

[@mariannetfinches]

​@@pattheplanter didn't they all grow up rich? They met at Cambridge

[@pattheplanter]

@@ArtichokeHunter Eric Idle and John Cleese have both said they are still working in their 80s because they have to for the money. Quibbling publicly with each other about how Monty Python didn't earn them enough in the last few days. Gilliam, Palin and Jones all made a good living from their multiple solo projects.

[@quantumfluffyflapjack]

It's kinda like in Star Trek right, like none of those people are getting "paid" because money doesn't exist, but people get bored. It's boring to be unemployed. That's why we have games that have jobs in them, we love to do stuff, often even fairly repetitive and menial stuff. The soul crushingness comes from things like having to do it to survive, long hours, poor compensation etc.

[@bloodgain]

And not only are they working hard, under military-like structure and regulations, often in jobs that are both mentally and physically taxing, away from their families for sometimes years at a time (a major reason Galaxy class ships were created), they are in an extremely dangerous environment (SPAAAAACE!) and under _frequent mortal peril._ And the best part of this is that we all watch it and have no problem accepting it. If all your needs, including recreation, were provided for, of course people would still pursue such activities. Wealthy people were responsible for much of the research and discovery of the past, because they were the only people who had time and money for education, research, and expeditions. But bring up universal basic income, even as a concept ignoring feasibility, and one of the first arguments against it is, "but then nobody will want to do anything and society will collapse".

[@SirRebrl]

@@bloodgain I often think, if we were to implement UBI then anyone who would stop working was 1) Exhausted from being forced to work at something they don't care about to survive 2) Never given the chance to learn the joy and fulfillment of self-motivated work because they have always been coerced to work since school or 3) Both of the above Also, it wouldn't be the most awful thing in the world for a lot of people to quit. We'd need to reorganize a bit, but _so_ many jobs are fabricated to inflate labor and really just aren't needed. Too much micromanaging and squeezing every last penny of potential profit. And of course, eventually yeah, the quitters would get bored and go back to work. Or develop skills and crafts they enjoy... so much they do them a lot... and share them with others... _oops_ that's working they've accidentally made a job for themselves. We could see a lot more entrepreneurship if people had the security of their livelihood not depending on success.

[@bentaylor102]

There's also a survivorship bias, we see the ones still doing it and forget the ones who retire

[@MonocleTopHats]

I am so grateful that you and John aim to chase the "make a meaningful positive impact on this world" version of futile immortality rather than the "have biggest number of dollars/eyes" version of futile immortality. I don't even think I have to be that grateful about it because I imagine it's a lot more nourishing of a chase.

[@roguegreyjedi]

Hank: "Hair colors can change!" *looks pointedly at the camera in recently-went-through-cancer-treatement*

[@Wezla]

Sonics friend... Tails? 🤨

[@TheScottybob]

The “value” explanation works for me. The promotion, the doing a favor, etc. is the excuse but in reality, celebrities are like musicians that had a hit awhile ago and want to know if they can still pack a stadium or if they are playing at the next county fair. It’s an ego thing.

[@chris_troiano]

Everyone’s running to the keyboard for Sonic’s friend Knuckles, but I’m over here shouting that Tom Lennon doing Jim Dangle is “this man with short shorts.”

[@benbatz382]

“Money is a surrogate” -Hank Green

[@zeusmiller3100]

Look at all the effin hair you have. I love that.

[@MrJakewray]

It's probably also the easiest bag to secure for these people. Crazy ROI

[@bigb531]

2:16 thats knuckles hank.

[@Foopets101]

hank looking up "im vanilla baby" to find jack harlow had me screaming

[@elisebrown5157]

had to scroll back to see that. LOL, Hank. Vanilla, though? Nah, I don't believe it. You're too smart.

[@rondaherriott]

Someone who knows how to do this - make a petition to get Hank in next years Super Bowl ads

[@pchygrl17]

Love the video topic, lots of good points. I want to add to the brainstorm: Taylor was not a Billionaire when she did the CapOne commercial 🤷🏻‍♀️ but I believe CapOne is one of the sponsors of the Eras Tour. Also, a lot of the commercials from this year’s super bowl may have filmed during the SAG-AFTRA strike in 2023, when a lot of actors were doing commercials as a way to make income.

[@CountGremlin]

Twins was one of the first comedy movies I saw as a kid back in the VHS days, love that movie

[@Chris_winthers]

2:14 you're not gonna believe this, hank

[@luciabee]

this is my absolute favorite topic!!!! the analysis of celebrity culture and its realities for the people in it. FASCINATING. i have wondered about this for ages and now i feel like i have context. thank you SO much for sharing your thoughts!

[@VilcxjoVakero]

Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger might not look like twins, but at least they're both placental mammals - unlike Knuckles, the freakin' ECHIDNA!!!

[@DissociatedWomenIncorporated]

I’m glad Hank’s in touch enough with youth culture to recognise Sonic’s friend Tails.

[@JasonKPargin]

I like to think there are like 12 people out there who are current Hank Green fans and were also former Cracked fans and who saw the note at the end of the video and said "Wait wasn't Jason Pargin one of the main guys at Cracked whatever happened to him" well the answer is that I'm on TikTok and sometimes Hank Green makes response videos that are way better than my original video

[@Hillary429]

More of this!!! I love this video!!! Hank trying to figure out Jack Harlow is like Julien trying to decipher between Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, and Sandra Bullock 😂

[@sweetbabygirl13]

I think the reason they do it is because they have to support a crazy bougie high standard of living continuously. All their staff plus people to run, clean and landscape their giant mansions. Designer wardrobes, expensive cars, organic food, imported decor, lavish vacations, etc. Plus even if they have enough they always want to have more. The warm fuzzy "they still love me"' is just the cherry on top.

[@charleslegates9231]

Some celebrities are also attention addicts Many of them aren't, but those that are will take anything they can for heightened attention

[@Moffen9T]

I just wanted to say, I always appreciate you thinking about this stuff so publicly and candidly. As a complete outsider I wouldn't have considered the relationships/obligations to folks like agents. But that makes total sense. I also think your empathy for the desire to be seen/valued is really neat. I think it's so often dismissed as mere narcissism. That's not to say we shouldn't examine it critically, and think about how to channel it into positive outcomes. But I think that the way we'll best be able to do that is from understanding the experiences of the people involved. Particularly those very strong emotional desires.

[@Lynkah]

Money is infinite. The richer you are the more you realise there's more to be bought. Some people never stop falling down that hole. Me personally, I'm suicidally poor so I'll never have that problem.

[@derj1981]

My man, are you ok?

[@Lynkah]

@@derj1981 Hell no! But isn't that life these days?

[@TheBananaCustard]

I have one more proposal to add - i feel like an additional factor is who will see the commercial. Like sure the money is likely the biggest factor and nice. But surprising your Mum/kids/friends by appearing on their TV when you know they're going to be watching is probably also nice.

[@Chrismas815]

"Sonic's friend Tails" that was interaction bait, right Hank? *Wink wink*

[@nathan_gk]

This was a long and kinda silly ramble but I loved it, so thank you Hank. You have a way of presenting a thought to us like you're a friend that just had to let us know something that was on their mind.

[@johnchessant3012]

It's so interesting to me that there hasn't been a celebrity-led ad for a good cause. To hear these insane dollar amounts being passed around from companies to actors and tv execs, none of whom strictly 'need' this extra cash, kinda makes me throw up in my mouth a little.

[@hailey_holmez]

Honestly, I really appreciate hearing your perspective on how you deal with your agents. I have been struggling with consuming media after some time in LA and hearing positive stories helps me feel a lil less bad. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that people in the industry can look out for others around them in that way. BTW I love the twins reference! It was one of my favorite movies growing up so it’s nice to hear about the reunion.

[@okaykatieokay]

i'm so glad you noticed it said jack harlow in the title

[@osmia]

+

[@ShadowTheLight]

omg now it makes sense. recently ive been struggling to get a job and its felt really bad and my friends are considering kicking me out. ive been scratching my head why it all hurts so much, its because often money is a representation of ones value like you said. i feel bad because losing this many interviews feels like managers dont see me as valuable. ive always heard that theres always the next interview or they will eventually call back and now i can say with confidence it doesnt hurt everyday because each of these jobs are important to me it hurts because im in a way being told i dont have value to all these people.

[@cammie49]

Plus, if you are on the spectrum or ADHD, there is this thing called rejection sensitivity…an over the top emotional reaction which is pretty common in neurodivergent groups due to how are brains are wired!

[@ShadowTheLight]

@@cammie49 ohh, ive been reading and watching videos about asd and adhd lately. its definitely possible i have one or both of them from what i understand

[@LarsMarkson]

Watching this at 1.5 speed makes you feel even more frantic and lovely.

[@mint_quiche]

Thanks so much for thinking about this and telling us what you came up with, because this question has been haunting me since it occurred to me a few months ago, and I think you just cleanly answered it!

[@JamesRibe]

"We don't remember the celebrities of 250 years ago" May I introduce you to my friends Nanni and Ea-Nasir? They've been dead for over 3000 years and we still meme about them!

[@ericeaton2386]

"The Halo guy and Sonic's friend *Tails*" is the most pointed trollbait I've ever witnessed.

[@naganorisama]

SONIC'S FRIEND, TAILS! Oh Hank, baby... That's clearly Dr. Robotnik

[@janicew9]

The evolution of what Hank is willing to say and how he is willing to say it is what raised me

[@cyclopsboi]

if they are SAG i think there is a bit about having to work a certain amount to retain the union health coverage/pension. I assume commercials also count for that

[@qazedctgb19]

You think billionaires needs union health insurance?

[@emmynoether9540]

1:48 So true, thank you Hank for spreading the message! ❤🐄🌳🌲

[@adorodrums]

That was pretty surprisingly good. Success is indeed nothing you ever arrive at. As entrepreneur, you are trying to be successful until you are fail, and then you are a failed entrepreneur- it does not matter how long you managed to feed your family and those working for your company, we never arrive…

[@DavidleViseur]

There can be no end to my love and appreciation because, your insight and brilliance, fueled by passion, is even bigger!

[@sequoyahrice6966]

personally i dont watch either ads or the superbowl so this video is like looking at a whole other world

[@summussum7540]

Love this. And we appreciate you. And I’m constantly in awe of your drive to focus on doing good in the world. Keep being you!

[@NomineBlack]

"Sonic's friend Tails". Hank pls. Even if that was on purpose, it still hurt.

[@na-vk1ju]

Even though it's like totally your video I could *feel* a different editing style throughout!! Really enjoyed their work!

[@nicolesaintdenis]

We pay celebrities millions to billions of dollars to entertain but educators pennies to educate our future. It's ridiculous

[@BassLiberators]

We don't "pay" celebrities. They create products that make money. That's like saying "We pay coca cola millions of dollars to make beverages while we pay teachers pennies."

[@stevenqirkle]

Yeah this is a fairly naive comment.

[@p00lking]

​@@BassLiberators If we pay people according to how valuable the products they create, does that mean teachers arnt producing valuable products? i.e. are they bad at their jobs?

[@crsm42]

That's the free market, humanity has created whole cultures and complex systems that have turned things like entertainment into highly profitable revenue streams. Quality education for ALL in every nation is not nearly as easy to turn a profit on, but in the long run has immense social value.

[@neutral_narr]

​@@BassLiberators I think they are more referring them be brought on to do an advertisement. Also doesn't mean it's good.

[@stanis_gaming]

This was so grippingly engaging for me. No idea why. But Hank is just so incredibly animated both in movement and thought in this video. Having much fun watching, I feel like I’m in this conversation. Like really in it.

[@SweetChuckPi]

If I had $100 million... I'm not sure you could pay me to get out of bed....

[@ea_naseer]

Yeah you never see Larry Page or any Silicon valley bro in a Superbowl ad but those guys really move the world.

[@shadebug]

That’s the thing about being a Popstar. You never stop never stopping

[@ERYN__]

I am alphabetically next to Jack Dorsey by region in our high school alumni directory. I don't live in San Francisco anymore, but I did when the school decided to create a lovely hardcover even then obsolete piece of reference material. I'm glad I don't live there anymore, but I will forever be printed next to my school's biggest celebrity. He did speak at my class graduation in 2010, when Twitter had some appeal, but not enough for me. I think it still had under 100 employees.

[@N0THANKY0U]

I imagine that when you're a celebrity part of your "job" is to be a celebrity, in other words to be seen as famous and in the public eye. Like if you're an actor, having recently been in a super bowl ad demonstrates that you are still publicly relevant and might help you land roles in the future.

[@nadionmediagroup]

Larry David was in the middle of a press tour for the final season of CYE. For him, that might be it.

[@Commenter339]

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts!:) I am 27, share an apartment, currently unemployed but probably going back to my old workplace because the whole "learning programming and becoming a rich programmer" thing didn't work out for now. But I also have a lot of thoughts. I think like, a lot. It's like my main hobby, aside from all my other hobbies. It's so interesting to hear what someone in a different time, place, age and different experience thinks about, and the thoughts that they have. Again, thank you for sharing!

[@Commenter339]

P.S. The subject of why people do the things they do is very interesting to me. I like to think about that a lot. So far the ones benefiting from it the most have been my closest friends who get a lot of insight and silly ideas and a great conversation partner from it. Maybe one day I can also publish something great that I can channel all of my thoughts and ideas into. So far I have been working on music. Maybe one day I will write a book. Who knows. I hope I can live that long.

[@piratecheese13]

12:21 Excuse me but 250 years ago was 1774. A lot of the famous people back then are now on money and have Broadway musicals.

[@reeveharper6061]

Omg yes! And famous composers too

[@iSalameee]

Hank Green, you are valued! Congrats on all that you’ve accomplished. You have done more than you know for a lot of us. Thank you. ❤

[@KumoKumiko]

the absolute cascade of Actor Names in this video flipped some kind of switch in my head. there are too many. we need to delete some.

[@qazedctgb19]

Calm down Thanos

[@megan5867]

This has legit been killing me! I always wondered why too. I think you answered that question for me.

[@JohnSmith-qm5xu]

This just in, Knuckles’s name is now tails.

[@jamesk1111]

My high school band teacher (and band room) was in the bellin health superbowl commercial! It is such a weird experience, "I hung out with that person!!" except "this person altered my life path significantly"

[@Yurt_enthusiast7]

A more important question is why do people watch ads?

[@charleslegates9231]

Because they are inserted into content on all media platforms

[@GamesFromSpace]

This was all a new world to me, I had never imagined any of those people doing commercials. It's weird.

[@Pfhorrest]

I like your final theory because it ties in to a philosophy thing of my own: that all pleasure, all enjoyment, and consequently all value, is about something or other communicating to you "yes, good job, you are good, keep doing more of that, keep being you", and conversely all pain and suffering is about something or other communicating to you "no, stop, that's bad, you're screwing it all up, get out of here, do something different". The most obvious physical pains and pleasures are parts of your body communicating that to you. I think that "spiritual"-seeming feelings of well-being, peak or "mystical" experiences and existential dread or ennui, are an even more primitive type of feedback from your literal gut, mediated by the enteric nervous system, communicating that to you. Thinking that you are a morally good person trying to do the things that you ought to do rather than some kind of "monster" feels good because it's communicating that kind of encouragement too. Thinking that you are a successful person who is actually managing to do the things you try to do rather than some kind of "loser" feels good for the same reason. And of course when people say or show that they value you, or even if you just imagine that people would say that because you feel like you look like the kind of person people would admire and value, like if you think you look sexy or wealthy or whatever, that feels good precisely because it's communicating to you "yes, good job, you are good, keep doing more of that, keep being you".

[@deuce_b14]

That’s KNUCKLES

[@patricknelson]

2:15 - Excuse me, sir, I’ll have you know: _That_ is Knuckles.

[@bjbarlowe]

I think your bit about not wanting to let down an agent who will get a commission has more truth to it than you gave it credit for! Beyonce, for example, is not an individual. I mean, she is, but she's also an institution. There are a lot of people who depend on her doing this kind of work to make their own living. So I think some of these famous folks feel a responsibility to take care of a bunch of people who work for or around them, and you just can't stop that without a really careful plan to wind down slowly over time.

[@machinatingminotaur6285]

it's a lot weirder when laypeople who have literally no allegiance to them, especially ones who do not purchase the product, feel the need to defend the institutions of these god-kings. because that's what they are. they live like pharoahs, emperor, etc

[@jijitters]

Sometimes this extends just/also to their families. I've heard more than one famous person at some point mention that they'll keep working so their kids never have to want for anything. Working for the sake of someone else is a drive for a lot of people.

[@povertymidas]

Quite the plausible conclusion, thanks Hank! At one point I recall my dad pointing out that if you saw a celebrity on a commercial you knew their career was dead, and at the time it was true. The medium has changed and with so much vying for attention I imagine it's beneficial to just stay in the public consciousness. If someone releases something new they're excited about - you'd prefer the fans thinking "oh sweet, more X" instead of "he's still doing things?", right?

[@CJ0611]

Aint know way he called Knuckles, "Sonic's friend Tails"

[@douglasyoung927]

Great video! I only have one note: If you think money is some kind of analog for status or individual value, then you've already made it. Like to have a moment where you receive a few dollars and have the feeling of total indifference towards whether or not you will spend those dollars because it's not already allocated towards necessity or debt or daily life. To feel appreciated when you receive money is relatable, but to feel like that money means anything other than life or life maintenance is something different. Most of us have nothing left after housing, utilities, food, transportation, communication, education, family, and maybe a hobby if you're lucky enough to have one a few times a year. This kind of freedom from financial burdens may be the "it" that we're all trying to make. Nobody needs a billion dollars, but all of us want stability and reliability and some guarantee that our basic needs will always be met. I know a person that has a nice house and new car and otherwise lives a pretty modest and grounded life but obviously has millions of dollars between assets, circulating investments, business, and base pay. Not a rich person but not an entirely normal person. This person is just living well below their means. The thing that 100 percent separates this person's experiences from mine is cost analysis. Literally everything I do, everywhere I go, everything I purchase, everything I eat, etc. is a cost analysis. Literally nothing this person does is done with the consideration of money. They definitely consider the cost of things, but they don't consider the money because they know that the money is always there and what's not there now will come tomorrow. The moment I realized this was when this person expressed to me that they have not looked at the price of gasoline in years because it's irrelevant. They need it and will buy it and they know the money is there so the numbers on the little display at the pump station don't translate to reality or life. This person can tell you in great detail what the cost of gasoline is if you ask them, but if you ask them how much money's worth of gasoline they are putting in their car they don't even know where to start thinking about it. Because the amount of money they have makes the cost of driving a car entirely irrelevant.