YETI
CW: Ryan Romero / AD: Brooke Frazier
PHOTOGRAPHER: Jeff Wilson
THE AUSTIN PEE PARTY
Yes, I came up with a billboard that says “The Austin Pee Party.” It’s a reputation that’s been hard to shake, but there’s no denying that I’m proud of it.
IT ALL STARTED WITH A BROTILLA
A name not-so-affectionately dubbed by Reddit for Austin’s floating mass of upstanding citizens out on Lady Bird Lake. When summertime in Austin strikes, you can be sure you’ll see them floating near Barton Creek as you drive over the South Lamar Bridge. Or maybe, you’re right out there with them.
THEN CAME A BRAND WITH A PERSPECTIVE
At YETI, we’re not one to judge. But seeing a literal man-made barge take over the waterways of our hometown is certainly something we’d like to poke fun at. With the Fourth of July quickly approaching, there was no better time to bring forward a line I had thought of during my first summer in Austin. And no better place to put it than our YETI Flagship store.
REDDIT WENT WILD
Anyone who knows r/Austin knows that it’s not the most friendly place. For a city that consistently hits the top of “Best Cities to Live” lists, you’d certainly never know it from reading the thoughts of these curmudgeons. As soon as the board went up, we waited to see how’d they react to our play on the Boston Tea Party. We didn’t have to wait long.
AND LINKEDIN WENT WILDER
Despite being a pretty regional message, we were pleasantly surprised to see a very positive response to the billboard on LinkedIn. In fact, my post reached almost 300,000 impressions – which feels pretty impressive for a juvenile joke on a very serious platform.
