Troy Dog
When I wrote my take on finding the Blippi motocross video a couple weeks ago I got a GREAT response from the Troy Doggo Squad. That is what I am calling you faithful readers. Thank you.
I did not underestimate the popularity of Blippi, however I did underestimate the amount of feedback I would get from my column. I realize now that all my columns get twice as many eyes as Slaw’s do, which is hard to do because he writes everything ya know?
Anyway, I had all the players on this video coming out of the woodwork…except our man Blippi. That is okay though. I have plenty of words to get me through how this video happened and why.
I completely missed this video coming out and, as my former boss at Racer X explains, we can all thank his son Lane Weigandt for putting everything together.
Jason Weigandt explains in this email.
My son was all over Blippi as well when he was two. He was all over YouTube in general and what I noticed is that when we typed “Dirt Bikes” into YouTube we only found garbage content, like some dad with Chinese minibikes doing drag races in the neighborhood. Not the best promotion for the sport. I also noticed Blippi did videos that were SUPER popular on all sorts of vehicles, like police cars or fire trucks, airplanes etc. So why not a dirt bike video? We would not only get his massive audience to notice dirt bikes, but also solve the problem when moms and dads typed Dirt Bike into YouTube and only found garbage content.
So I reached out to Chris Jonnum, who used to work for us at Racer X and now runs the PR agency of record for American Honda. I sent him some links to Blippi, and he took it from there. Of course, neither Chris nor anyone at Honda had ever heard of Blippi. You have got to have a two-year-old to know about this guy. So, they found Blippi’s contact and apparently the Blippi folks had been looking to do a motorcycle video but did not know the best way to approach it. Honda bridged the gaps—they brought out bikes and gear, they rented the track for the day, they brought Yoder out (the youngest Honda-supported rider at that time) and let it rip. If you are Blippi and American Honda reaches out, you are going to do it. Anyway, that is how it happened. I was frustrated with the YouTube content available for kids and this was the solution.
The irony was the video took probably 8-10 months from when I first told Chris to get in touch with Blippi, then getting it arranged and shot and posted. By then my son was almost four and not quite as interested in Blippi as he once was. He liked it, but a year earlier he would have LOVED it.
The best part is, Jonnum had Blippi shoot a selfie vid for my kid thanking him for the idea. That was amazing.
Anyway now it is 20 MILLION VIEWS!!!!!! That is my contribution to the industry. I retire.
We all know that the Weege is too cheap to retire even when he reaches the ripe old age of 87. He will still be pounding keys at Racer X, sleeping in airports, and still questioning how to use a coffee maker.
Enter Hunter Yoder, the true star of the video. He did a great job ripping and helping Blippi on the track. I had to get his take on things, and this is what the newest member of Phoenix Racing Honda had to say (Congrats on your new ride Yoderlayheehew).
“He (Blippi) was cool off camera. It was an awesome experience being able to do that video with him and reach a younger audience. I had no clue who he was or how popular that video was going to be. That video was almost three years ago, and I still get people messaging me and watching me now because of it, which is awesome! (As far as Blippi goes) I am not sure how much he knew about the sport, but he did know how to ride with a clutch, so that was impressive.”
Even the top brass at Honda PR, Chris Jonnum (a legendary journalist in this sport may I add) tweeted @troydogvurb some great info on this deal as well.
So, all in all, I am Blippi’d out bro. Unless I hear back from Blippi himself I shall not speak or write his name. You parents out there totally understand where I am coming from. Thank you to Yoder, Weege, and the legendary Chris Jonnum for the help with this article and giving us all a behind the curtain view on a cool story.
If you want to get in touch with Troy Dog you can email him at [email protected], whether it be a story idea, to talk about a previous column, or even if it is just to say hi. Troy will answer all emails sent. Also, be sure to follow @troydogvurb on Instagram and Twitter!
