Doing Things Media

Doing Things Media (DTM) is a company that focuses on pop culture and humor. Its brands include Middle Class Fancy, Animals Doing Things, Shitheadsteve, Recess Therapy, Bob Does Sports, and Overheard.

It was co-founded in 2017 by Reid Hailey and Derek Lucas and was headquartered in Atlanta before opting for permanent remote work.[1][2][3] DTM has created viral campaigns for Netflix, Amazon, Anheuser-Busch, and T-Mobile.[4][5] As of 2023, the company has 35+ social media meme accounts with over 75 million followers across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Snapchat.[4][5][6]

History

Doing Things Media was founded by Reid Hailey and Derek Lucas in 2017 after both had developed large followings for posting internet memes on Instagram. Reid Hailey created an Instagram meme account named @Shitheadsteve in 2014, while taking college classes.[3] The account obtained one million followers in less than a year, and Hailey created other accounts such as @Trashcanpaul and @HouseofGaming. Hailey met his future co-founder Derek Lucas after Lucas created the meme account @DrunkPeopleDoingThings in 2015.[7] Both Reid Hailey and Derek Lucas dropped out of college.[3] Lucas starting a medical-marijuana delivery service before co-founding Doing Things Media.[3]

Hailey and Lucas were part of a group message that called itself the Meme Illuminati. The chat included meme accounts and celebrities including Chris D'Elia, John Mayer, and B.J. Novak.[2][3]

In February 2022, Doing Things secured a $21.5 million Series A funding round.[8] In August, DTM partnered with Paramount+ to host the season three premiere of Star Trek: Lower Decks.[9]

Doing Things Media was named Most Innovative Publisher at the 2022 Digiday Awards.[10]

Work

Paper Magazine writes that "the overall theme of what makes it onto any of their meme pages seems to be 'nostalgic wholesomeness' — humor that somehow doesn't offend anyone because the stereotypes they joke about are so deeply benign." DTM describes itself as a "24/7 dopamine drip machine.”[11] Because it produces dozens of popular social media accounts, DTM is able to cross-promote new projects.[12]

As of 2020, 30% of the company's revenue comes from e-commerce.[3] In addition, Doing Things Media makes money from subscription content and TV production and sponsored ads that resemble memes.[13][14][3]

Doing Things Media had a TV show on Nat Geo Wild called "Animals Doing Things" based on its @AnimalsDoingThings account. Howie Mandel is its narrator, executive producer, and director.[2] The company wrote a book called Doggos Doing Things based on its @DoggosDoingThings account.[2] “We are always thinking about how to turn our social presence into a product," co-founder Reid Hailey told The Hustle. "Can we make a game? Can we make a beverage?”[15]

Middle Class Fancy

Doing Things Media acquired the brand MiddleClassFancy in 2018.[16] In 2021, MiddleClassFancy teamed up with Guy Fieri to release a limited-edition burger at Fieri's ghost kitchen called Guy Fieri's Flavortown Kitchen.[17]

All Gas No Brakes

In 2019, Andrew Callaghan became a full-time content creator for Doing Things Media after the company's co-founder Reid Hailey saw one of Callaghan's videos.[18][1] Doing Things also hired Callaghan's longtime friends, Nic Mosher and Evan Gilbert-Katz. All Gas No Brakes got traction on YouTube in late 2019 and throughout 2020. In May 2020, the company signed a development deal with Abso Lutely Productions for a TV series based on All Gas No Brakes.[19] The relationship eventually soured between Callaghan and Doing Things Media, with the company encouraging him to focus on “party content” rather than news and, at one point, locking him out of the All Gas No Brakes social media accounts.[1] Doing Things threatened to fire the three-person All Gas No Brakes team if they did not create two pieces of Patreon content by March 1, 2021. They refused, and Callaghan refused to hand over the show to a new host.[1] They were fired in March 2021.[1]

Recess Therapy

In 2020, Julian Shapiro-Barnum began a video series in which he interviews children, originally titled as Kids Doing Things.[3] Doing Things Media hired Shapiro-Barnum, rebranded the account, and launched it as Recess Therapy.[12] The host was inspired how “kids in the playground remained joyous despite the pandemic’s perturbations.” In an interview with The New York Times, Shapiro-Barnum said, “The reason it’s called Recess Therapy is that the original idea was that I was going to bring things that I was struggling with to children and, like, get advice from them.”[12]

Since its launch, Recess Therapy has over 2.4 million followers.[20] In 2022, the series produced the viral video Corn Kid, which was named #1 TikTok trend of 2022.[11][21][22]

In December 2022, Shapiro-Barnum received the Family Entertainment Safe Streaming Hero Award at Variety’s inaugural Family Entertainment Awards Dinner.[23]

Overheard

In January 2023, Doing Things Media acquired Overheard, a social media brand dedicated to sharing eavesdropped conversations in locales like Los Angeles and New York.[8]

Bob Does Sports

In 2021, Doing Things Media partnered with Robby Berger to create Bob Does Sports, an online series which focuses on golf content.[24][25] Co-hosted by Fat Perez and Joe Demare, the account has over 330,000 Instagram followers.[26]

Controversy

Doing Things Media faced criticism for posting sponsored content about Mike Bloomberg's presidential campaign across twelve of the company’s pages.[27] According to Reuters, Doing Things Media founder Reid Hailey said it was "a creative decision, rather than an endorsement of Bloomberg."[28] Other meme accounts, such as those affiliated with FuckJerry, also promoted Bloomberg.[29]

References
  1. Lorenz, Taylor (2021-03-23). "He Had an R.V., a Camera and a Plan to Document America. Was That Enough?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  2. "The Meme Illuminati: Behind Instagram's Comedy Empire". PAPER. 2020-09-15. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  3. Brown, Abram. "These College Dropouts Have Built A Fast-Growing Business Creating Viral Ads That Look Like Memes". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  4. Brown, Abram. "Doing Things Media, Owner Of Many Popular Instagram Meme Accounts, Raises $21.5 Million Series A". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  5. Feifer, Jason (January 2023). "This Word Helps You Go Viral". Entrepreneur. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  6. Sam Gutelle (January 10, 2023). "Doing Things Media, which introduced Corn Kid, has acquired another well-known account". tubefilter. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  7. "Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with the Team at Doing Things Media". Pop-Culturalist.com. 2020-07-27. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  8. Chan, J. Clara (2023-01-10). "Instagram's Viral 'Overheard' Brand Acquired By Doing Things Media (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  9. "Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3 Had A Premiere Party In LA". Screen Rant. August 25, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  10. "Coca-Cola, Edelman and Tropicana are winners of the 2022 Digiday Awards". Digiday. December 8, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  11. Kaitlyn Tiffany (September 1, 2022). "Don't Worry About Corn Kid/". Atlantic. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  12. Berk, Brett (2022-02-11). "In Search of the Meaning of Life? Meet Me at the Monkey Bars". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-05-15.
  13. Schiff, Allison (2020-10-14). "Doing Things Media Helps Memes Make It Onto The Media Plan". AdExchanger. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  14. kumar, Amit (2021-08-19). "Latest Instagram Marketing Techniques For 2021 v1". protocols.io. doi:10.17504/protocols.io.bxidpka6. S2CID 243579906. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  15. "'All Gas No Brakes': The inside story of the internet's favorite interview series". The Hustle. 2020-11-21. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  16. "Speaker Details: SMWLA 2021". event.adweek.com. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  17. Martin, Kalea (2021-08-19). "Guy Fieri Teamed Up With A Famous Meme Account To Create A New Burger - Mashed". Mashed.com. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  18. Documenting America's Underbelly - ALL GAS NO BRAKES, retrieved 2022-04-15
  19. Ramos, Dino-Ray (2020-05-20). "Tim Heidecker & Eric Wareheim's Abso Lutely Productions And Doing Things Media Enter Development Deal For Internet Series 'All Gas No Brakes'". Deadline. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  20. Asher Lehrer-Small (September 27, 2022). "Not It's Corn-y, Guaranteed: 'Recess Therapy' Host Shares His Top 5 Other Clips". The74. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  21. Gillian Follett (December 15, 2022). "THE TOP 5 TIKTOK TRENDS OF 2022". AdAge. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  22. Chris Morris (September 2, 2022). "How 'Corn Kid' went from viral TikTok meme to Cameo influencer overnight". Fast Company. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  23. Whitney Cinkala (November 22, 2022). "Pixar's Pete Docter, Raven-Symoné, LeVar Burton, 'SpongeBob SquarePants' to Be Honored at Inaugural Variety Family Entertainment Awards". Variety. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  24. Adam Hawk (April 21, 2022). "Bob Does Hollywood: The Hardest Working Man On Instagram Finds Gold In Golf". Fore Magazine. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  25. Jessica Marksbury (October 29, 2022). "How the social media star behind 'Bob Does Sports' discovered sidekick Fat Perez". Golf. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  26. Jack Hirsh (October 26, 2022). "How golf helped this comedian build a loyal following". Golf. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  27. Graham, Megan (2020-02-13). "How Mike Bloomberg's meme blitz was engineered to go viral". CNBC. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  28. "Bloomberg campaign pays social media accounts for memes". Reuters. 2020-02-13. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  29. Wright, Megh (2020-02-13). "FuckJerry and Other Meme Accounts Are on Bloomberg's Payroll Now". Vulture. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
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