Speaker A
I'm in Vietnam, standing at one of the busiest intersections in the country. Behind me is a billboard for the hottest new condom brand in Vietnam. The face of that campaign is my friend Johnny, and he has no idea yet because in 20 minutes
Max Fosh makes his friend Johnny a surprise local celebrity in Vietnam by turning him into the face of a condom campaign without Johnny knowing.
Ask about this video. Answers come from its transcript only — with the timestamp, so you can check them.
Generated from the transcript and can be wrong — check the timestamp.
Key Takeaways
- Creative pranks can be turned into meaningful and positive experiences.
- Local advertising campaigns can be executed remotely with proper planning.
- Surprising friends with thoughtful gestures can create memorable moments.
- Understanding and leveraging local advertising regulations is crucial.
- Humor and creativity can engage large audiences effectively.
What the video covers
- Max Fosh surprises his friend Johnny by making him a local celebrity in Vietnam.
- Johnny becomes the face of a new condom brand advertised on billboards across Ho Chi Minh City.
- Max legally became Johnny's granddad as a prank before deciding to do something nice.
- He plans and executes a full advertising campaign using Johnny's photo holding a banana.
- Max creates a real condom company with a website and product to legitimize the campaign.
- He partners with Vietnamese advertising companies to display Johnny's ads citywide.
- Johnny's face appears on billboards, bus stops, lamp posts, and airport shopping bags.
- Max captures Johnny’s arrival in Vietnam and his reaction to the surprise campaign.
- The campaign reaches over 9 million people, making Johnny a local celebrity.
- Max shares the experience and the humorous journey of surprising Johnny.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction and Setup in Vietnam
- 00:34Background on Johnny and Previous Pranks
- 01:18Planning the Celebrity Campaign
- 01:58Getting the Photo for the Campaign
- 02:34Involving Maisy to Get the Banana Photo
- 02:54Taking the Banana Photo
- 03:24Creating the Condom Company and Campaign
- 04:02Partnering with Vietnamese Advertisers
- 04:40Introducing TesterUp Sponsor
- 05:12Seeing the Billboards in Ho Chi Minh City
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
his plane's about to land. But how do you make your friend famous in a country thousands of miles away? And why would I even want to?
Speaker A
What are you doing? But I guess the most important question is how would he react when he sees what I've done?
Speaker A
So to answer all of these, we need to go back to the very beginning. So I've got this friend Johnny. And on this channel, I've slightly terrorized him. I legally became his granddad because he once called me old.
Speaker A
I flew your dad to Germany. We had lunch. We met a lawyer. And I am now legally my granddad. And I made him think I got in a bar fight because he once said that I would never be able to beat someone
Speaker A
up. So, I'm not going to pester him on this channel anymore. And instead, I'm going to do something really, really nice for Johnny. Something that he will 100% love and not get upset about in any way. I'm going to make Johnny famous. But how?
Speaker A
Well, recently he told me that this summer he was going to be traveling in Vietnam, and I've decided that by the time he lands, he'll already be a local celebrity. I want him to front an advertising campaign for a brand
Speaker A
new company. But what will Johnny's company be? Exactly that, a Johnny company. So, I've got 3 months to make Johnny the most famous condom ambassador in Vietnam. And this is how I'm going to do it. Step one, get a
Speaker A
picture of Johnny that I can turn into a condom ad campaign. Step two, call every Vietnamese billboard company I can. Step three, fly to Vietnam without Johnny knowing. And step four, surprise him with his face on billboards
Speaker A
blasted around the city. So, first up, let's get a picture of Johnny. So, it's about 2 months before Johnny goes to Vietnam. I am seeing him this evening for dinner. And my goal for tonight is to try and get him to take a photograph
Speaker A
holding a banana. Sorry, editing Max here. I realized I didn't explain why I want him to hold a banana. It's meant to represent a willie.
Speaker A
It's not clever, but it's quite funny. I think if I ask him to do anything a bit weird, he's immediately suspect. So, for this evening, I have drafted in a companion.
Speaker A
Girlfriend. Maisy. Maisy, if you ask him to hold a banana and take a picture, I think he will do it and not think it's that weird.
Speaker A
I think that says a lot about me. Yeah. How are you thinking of doing it?
Speaker A
He's easily swayed if I ask him to do something. Yeah, that says more about Johnny. So, with Johnny now arrived, our mission was a go.
Speaker A
Hello. Hello. And we subtly introduced the banana. As he was more interested in the dog, it was time to start taking photos with said banana.
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Banana. Finally, we tricked Johnny into holding the banana. Johnny, you get a picture of the banana.
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Mission complete. With the photo acquired, I now needed to head on to step two, creating the campaign. And I was doing this for real.
Speaker A
So I legitimately made a condom company with a functioning website and product to sell. I then reached out to Vietnamese advertising companies, billboards, and confirmed with one of them who were happy to put Johnny's johnnies all over the city. So I am now
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an expert on Vietnamese advertising companies. After a lot of calling, I have found a company that said that they will do everything.
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They will do billboards, print, screens, the lot.
Speaker A
They're very in on the idea. They think it's hilarious. I paid them millions of Vietnamese dong, signed a two-month contract, and then, well, I left it up to them.
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And 2 months later, I hopped on a plane and arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, the commercial center of the country with a population of over 10 million people, the largest city in Vietnam and where Johnny's johnnies had been advertised
Speaker A
for the last 2 months. And I was finally there to see it for the first time. Ho Chi Minh City, I am in you right now. But first, I need to tell you all about TesterUp. But what is TesterUp?
Speaker A
Basically, you get paid for testing apps and games or filling out surveys. It's completely free, and registration is super easy. You just sign up, choose an offer, complete the task, and then you get rewarded. There's constantly new tasks as well, so you can
Speaker A
probably find games that you're already going to play. You can earn up to £80 per app test, and payouts are made within 24 hours.
Speaker A
It's pretty speedy. It's already been used by 22 million people, and it's got a 4.2 rating out of five on Trustpilot. So, give it a go by using the link in my description or scanning the QR code right here.
Speaker A
Beautiful. It's beautiful. It's completely free and if you sign up using my link or the QR code, you get a sign-on bonus of £5, which is equivalent of 177,000 Vietnamese dong. I'm giving you free dong here, guys. Right, let's go find
Speaker A
Johnny. So, it was finally time to see the billboards and find out if I had been scammed or not.
Speaker A
I think it's on this roundabout here. Where is it? Oh my god, that is absolutely massive. There he was in all his glory.
Speaker A
That is mental. Keeping the city protected, one Johnny at a time. That is so stupid. And that's one of loads of billboards. There's loads of them.
Speaker A
And luckily for me, I had just the thing to help me see them all.
Speaker A
Yeah, boy. I'm currently in a convoy of Johnny billboards. Ho Chi Minh City was smothered with Johnny's face.
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Hey, not a single lamp post, wall, or bus stop was safe. Everywhere I looked, I was met with his cheeky little mug.
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There he is on the billboard. Johnny's advert was on show to over 9 million people.
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This is so epic. Whether he liked it or not, he was now somewhat of a local celebrity.
Speaker A
Sorry, Johnny. But before I revealed all of this to Johnny, there was one man who deserved to see it first. My adopted son and Johnny's dad, Mark.
Speaker A
Hello, son. How are you? Pleasure to see you, Dad. Just wanted to show you something very quickly. I'm currently on a roundabout in Ho Chi Minh City. This is what I'm looking at.
Speaker A
[laughter] That's unbelievable. Such a massive face on a roundabout in Ho Chi Minh. That's brilliant. Thank you very much.
Speaker A
Have a good one. Bye. Perfect. Dad loves it. Around the time I was hanging up on my adopted son, Johnny was already in the air on the way to his holiday. And I had a surprise in store for his arrival. I
Speaker A
want to make sure that there's also some advertising at the airport when he lands. And to do that, I've needed to exploit a Vietnamese loophole. Yes, Ho Chi Minh airport has some very strict rules regarding advertising. No
Speaker A
flyers, no posters, no signs, but they don't have any rules about giant shopping bags.
Speaker A
That's right. I'd had a load of special bags made featuring our star. Oh, perfect.
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And had them planted throughout the airport. We've got all of the shopping bags that are going around the airport.
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So, I'm trying to get a shot of Johnny coming out of the airport and him walking straight past one of the billboards. That is the aim of this.
Speaker A
Problem is, he might see me at any point and the whole thing's blown. So, I need to be relatively stealthy. I positioned two of the bags right in front of the arrival, so Johnny would have no choice but to walk
Speaker A
straight past them, and I'll be hidden amongst the crowd waiting to get the shot.
Speaker A
Johnny's plane has just landed. There you go. It's arrived. I'm now just waiting for him to come out. With Johnny having touched down in Vietnam, it was just now a case of watching and waiting.
Speaker A
No sign of Johnny just yet. It is roasting hot. And after a frustratingly long time.
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Got him. Got him. He's just come out. The eagle had landed. There was Johnny.
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And there were our mini billboards just meters away. There he is. Johnny's strong past comple
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That was pretty close. After a [music] pretty close call, I pushed my luck as far as I could. Let's get the hell out of here. Go, go, go, go, go. In a bit, Johnny. You'll be seeing me very soon.
Speaker A
Now, you might notice that Johnny wasn't alone on this trip to Vietnam. This is Noah, or as I like to call him, my man [music] on the inside. He had secretly been in on this plan from the very
Speaker A
beginning and had been updating me every step of their journey. Even when they missed their connecting flight guitar, had to wait 24 [music] hours for the next one, so they just went bowling instead. And as they arrived in Ho Chi Min, I'd instructed
Speaker A
Noah to take Johnny immediately to the site of one of the billboards. Noah sent me his location so I was able to track their every move.
Speaker A
Oh, they're going around the roundabout now. Or is that them? No, they've gone past me. Okay, I think he's just around this corner. Right, here we go.
Speaker A
But now I had to catch up with them. They're right in front of me before Johnny sees the billboard.
Speaker A
This is going to be quite hard as it was finally time to reveal what I've been up to.
Speaker A
Should I go for it now? Right, Johnny. [laughter] Hello, mate. And for some odd reason, he didn't look best pleased to see me.
Speaker A
[laughter] Welcome to Vietnam. Yeah. Thanks, man. This video better be I surprised my friend with a million pounds [laughter] cuz I have traveled so far and you're here.
Speaker A
Oh, mate. How have you been? Tired. We were delayed. I just wanted a beer.
Speaker A
But before Johnny could enjoy a refreshing beverage, I thought I'd perk him up in a different way. You excited for Vietnam?
Speaker A
Well, less so now. Why? Why less so now? Why do you think you've clearly done something?
Speaker A
I've done absolutely nothing. It's very exciting that I'm with you today. Okay. Mainly because you are famous in Vietnam.
Speaker A
You're the face of condoms in Vietnam. There are so many of these around [music] the city. Let me show you. So, just been on this the whole time.
Speaker A
They're genuinely loads of them. You're on the face of this billboard here. Oh, and this one here. This is your dad's reaction to seeing all the bills.
Speaker A
You've been the face of condoms in Vietnam [music] for the last 2 months. Too much?
Speaker A
Yeah. There's also a 100 bikes that are going around the city with them on the back.
Speaker A
Slightly more than I anticipated to be honest. Genuinely, tens of thousands of people a day see this. But they weren't just seeing them, they were buying them.
Speaker A
Askjy.org [music] is a genuine website that sells condoms. And over the last two months, we have sold over 600,000 Vietnamese dong worth of condoms.
Speaker A
What is that converted? It's exactly £19 [laughter] 22. So that's yours. Yeah, I'm keeping it. That's a fee, by the way.
Speaker A
And despite being one of my more suspicious friends, it turned out that he'd been completely clueless all along.
Speaker A
Where's the banana p? We got that in London. You remember when Macy For God's sake Maisy was holding holding the banana? Well, there you go, mate. Enjoy traveling safely.
Speaker A
And as the face of the campaign, it was time for Johnny to do his [music] job.
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Do you want to start giving out some of your your branded condoms and meet his adoring fans?
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You like one? There you go. And he was quickly finding himself to be the toast of the town with new fans wherever he went.
Speaker A
Enjoy the rest of your stay, mate. If you enjoyed this video, check out some more silliness on the channel.
Topics:Max FoshJohnnyVietnamHo Chi Minh Citycondom campaignadvertisingpranklocal celebritybillboardssurprise
