Listener (Aaron)
๐ค SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
Yeah.
Yeah.
So Kony 2012 launched, and it was our first video that we put out online, and our goal was to make it go viral. And at the time, you know, Instagram, Reels, TikTok didn't exist. The concept of viral was very different then than it is now. Our goal was by the end of the year to have 500,000 views online. Okay. We hit a million in 24 hours.
So Kony 2012 launched, and it was our first video that we put out online, and our goal was to make it go viral. And at the time, you know, Instagram, Reels, TikTok didn't exist. The concept of viral was very different then than it is now. Our goal was by the end of the year to have 500,000 views online. Okay. We hit a million in 24 hours.
Yeah. And this organization was run by a bunch of interns.
Yeah. And this organization was run by a bunch of interns.
Yeah, I don't think there was anybody there over the age of 30. Wow, right. Including our CEO.
Yeah, I don't think there was anybody there over the age of 30. Wow, right. Including our CEO.
Yeah. So at the end of the video, there was a call to action to come to the website, sign a pledge, you know, saying you want this to stop, that we were going to deliver to Capitol Hill and also buy a Kony kit. And a Kony kit was a box that we interns put together.
Yeah. So at the end of the video, there was a call to action to come to the website, sign a pledge, you know, saying you want this to stop, that we were going to deliver to Capitol Hill and also buy a Kony kit. And a Kony kit was a box that we interns put together.
I think we had made like a thousand of them thinking we would maybe sell a thousand that had T-shirts and stickers and posters and whatnot that we wanted people to put up because the goal was to make Joseph Kony a household name. Because if you knew that these atrocities were happening, if you knew that kids were being kidnapped and forced to fight, how could it keep happening?
I think we had made like a thousand of them thinking we would maybe sell a thousand that had T-shirts and stickers and posters and whatnot that we wanted people to put up because the goal was to make Joseph Kony a household name. Because if you knew that these atrocities were happening, if you knew that kids were being kidnapped and forced to fight, how could it keep happening?
No, he was the one kidnapping kids.
No, he was the one kidnapping kids.
So after about a week, the video was up to 100 million views. And with that kind of fame, you know, our website was crashing. So people thought that we didn't have a website. They thought that we were a scam. All the scam allegations started coming out. The first couple of days, it was really cool to like be on the bandwagon of stop Kony.
So after about a week, the video was up to 100 million views. And with that kind of fame, you know, our website was crashing. So people thought that we didn't have a website. They thought that we were a scam. All the scam allegations started coming out. The first couple of days, it was really cool to like be on the bandwagon of stop Kony.
And then after a couple of days, it was really cool to hate Invisible Children. Yeah.
And then after a couple of days, it was really cool to hate Invisible Children. Yeah.
Yeah. And then the big thing that happened that a lot of people will remember, our founder and my boss, Jason, had a, you know, he was flying back and forth across the country. I think he didn't sleep for something like nine days, did nothing. 20 interviews in 48 hours in New York and L.A. and New York and L.A. And he had a he had a pretty public psychotic break.
Yeah. And then the big thing that happened that a lot of people will remember, our founder and my boss, Jason, had a, you know, he was flying back and forth across the country. I think he didn't sleep for something like nine days, did nothing. 20 interviews in 48 hours in New York and L.A. and New York and L.A. And he had a he had a pretty public psychotic break.