interviews
Drew Scanlon Shares The Legend Of Becoming "Blinking White Guy" And How He Used The Power Of Memes To Help Others
ince becoming one of the most prevalent reaction GIFs to ever sweep the web, the “Blinking White Guy” meme has transcended into the annals of internet legend, forever immortalized among the halls of meme mythos. But every legend has a beginning, and in 2013 during a normal day at work, Drew Scanlon reacted to an inconsequential joke and wound up the face of one of the decade's most well-known images. Since then, Scanlon has used his newfound internet fame to help others by raising funds for multiple sclerosis research each year, turning memes into a force for good. We caught up with him to retrace the origins of the meme, recap his life before and after going viral, as well as learn a little more about the Blinking White Guy himself.
Q: Welcome, Drew. Thanks for joining us. So could you begin by introducing yourself a bit for those who aren’t familiar and let us know what you’ve been up to lately?
A: Sure! My name’s Drew, and I’m a producer at a video game company called Digital Eclipse. I also co-host a podcast about Formula 1 called Shift+F1 and raise money for multiple sclerosis research every year at BikingWhiteGuy.com. Previously, I ran a YouTube channel called Cloth Map and used to work at a website called Giant Bomb.
Q: Before we get too far along, I’d like to begin by learning more about your background. Can you tell us some of your backstory? Also, because of your current association with internet and meme culture, could you fill us in on what some of your earliest experiences online were?
A: I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area of California and, after attending university in Los Angeles, returned to Northern California to start working as a video producer at Giant Bomb, a website that covers the video game industry. Giant Bomb produces reviews of video games, podcasts, live video shows and a whole lot of other wild stuff, so it was a really fun place to work.
I consider myself lucky to remember the heady days of dial-up modems because it makes me grateful for the speed and ease of everything on the internet today. It’s been fascinating to watch the culture of the internet develop and change over that time, but even as far back as I can remember, there have been memes. The first one I remember encountering was All Your Base Are Belong To Us.
Q: In addition to the meme, and given your work with Giant Bomb, can you tell us more about some of your background as a gamer and how you got into that world? What were some of the most impactful experiences that led you to a career in the industry?
A: I got a Sega Genesis when I was 5 years old, so I’ve loved video games for about as long as I remember. In high school, a friend showed me how to edit videos. One of my first experiments with the family camcorder was figuring out how to use it to capture video game footage from my PC’s video card and make that into a music video.
I studied design and media arts in college, which prepared me for the eclectic nature of web content production. At Giant Bomb, we were always trying new things with web media, so it was a perfect fit.
Q: Alright, let’s travel back to that day in December 2013 when you were on Giant Bomb’s “Unprofessional Fridays.” Can you give us some context about when you originally made the blinking reaction, what happened and if you thought anything of it at the time?
A: “Unprofessional Fridays” was (and still is) a weekly live show where Giant Bomb staff members each bring a video game, potluck-style, and play it for everyone. During one segment, Jeff Gerstmann, Giant Bomb’s editor-in-chief, was playing a game called Starbound and made an offhand joke. The facial expression you see in the GIF is the one I made to Jeff’s double entendre. It was a reaction to one of the dozens of jokes in a two-hour show that we produced every week, so I definitely do not remember doing it!
Q: Before the reaction and GIF really took off several years after this, did you ever encounter it between 2013-2016 online, or was it only after the GIF went viral in 2017? If so, what was your early reaction to seeing this appear online?
A: The Giant Bomb community is really fun and creative, so they were always making animated GIFs of us and sharing them around the Giant Bomb forums. I may have seen the GIF in the intervening years, but it’s hard to say.
What made the GIF stand out to me was when, in 2017, Giant Bomb fans started pointing out, via Twitter, instances of people using it who had no idea who I was or what Giant Bomb was. I think someone even shared a screenshot of their mom using it on Facebook. That’s when I knew it had escaped our own weird corner of the internet.
Q: So, this brings us to early 2017 when the GIF saw a sharp spike in popularity and became solidified into the “Blinking White Guy” format. When did you first notice it was taking off online, where did you see it initially, and what was your reaction to seeing your image being used in such a manner?
A: The first example I saw of the now-established format was this one, and I think it’s still my favorite. It’s very well-crafted and definitely speaks to my own experience with biology class.
me: ill take a biology class, im smart enough for this just watch meteacher: cellsme: pic.twitter.com/fHJJsPLioO
— IᑎIᖇO🥕 (@eskbl) February 5, 2017
A: Because everyone at Giant Bomb is somewhat used to being on camera and in front of an internet audience, the initial shock perhaps wasn’t as big as it may have been otherwise. What was weird was seeing celebrities use the meme. Prior to that, I had this feeling that the internet was its own little world, separate from civilized society. Seeing the meme “jump species” to the real world was jarring.
Q: During that initial timeframe of the meme’s heyday, how familiar were you in the ways of meme and internet culture? Were you already fairly knowledgeable with them, or was it more so after you became one?
A: Working at a website means you spend a lot of time on the internet; staying up on current events in the industry, taking the temperature of your audience, etc. So I was pretty familiar with memes and how they worked. Still, I am continually impressed with the creativity of meme creators and their ability to come up with new, hilarious ways to use my face.
Q: The meme continued to explode in popularity throughout the late 2010s. As it spread all over the world and became a phenomenon, can you tell us more about how some of your family and friends reacted to it?
A: I think it was after Terrell Owens used the meme that I figured I should tell my family about it. That took some explaining, but in general, everyone who knows about it gets a kick out of it. I am constantly ribbed by my friends, who delight in sending me every new permutation they come across.
One occasion, in particular, underscored to me how big the meme had become. After Giant Bomb, I started a YouTube documentary series called “Cloth Map” that explored video games around the globe. During our trip to Brazil, I arranged to interview some content creators. When I arrived at their studio, I introduced myself. Virtually all of them responded with “we know who you are.” Here I was, thousands of miles from home, on another continent, and people knew my face. That was wild.
Q: One of the biggest positives to come out of this phenomenon is how you’ve used the meme as a platform to raise awareness and money for multiple sclerosis. Would you tell us why you decided to create awareness for this specific cause, what your association with it is, and some of the ways you’ve done so?
A: Two close friends of mine live with MS, a degenerative neurological disease with no known cure. For years, I’ve done a charity bike ride organized by the National MS Society called “Bike MS” to raise money for MS research.
I don’t usually use the meme myself (it feels kind of corny if I do it, like a rock band wearing their own T-shirt), but I figured if I could somehow utilize this thing that, incredibly, has been seen by millions of people, maybe I could raise some funds.
As it turns out, there are some very gracious people on the internet! With their support, we raised over $30,000 last year, and we’re doing it again this year! If you’d like to help out, you can donate at BikingWhiteGuy.com. The ride isn’t taking place this year because of COVID, but the people with MS still need our help, now more than ever.
Q: While your meme was relatively safe and lighthearted compared to some more controversial examples, what did you make of seeing your likeness being used in such a fashion? At any point, were you ever upset by the memes, or did you fully embrace the internet’s adoption?
A: When you become a meme, it quickly becomes apparent that you have absolutely no control over what the internet does, which can be kind of scary. But it’s also kind of liberating for me, because it’s this thing I get to observe from afar. After all, while it is my face, I didn’t create the GIF or turn it into a meme. Often, it doesn’t really feel like it’s me.
Q: Given how huge the meme has become, what are some of the biggest ways it has impacted you? Would you mind sharing any of the ways you've been affected by this internet fame, either personally or professionally?
A: The biggest impact the meme has had on me has been seeing the generosity of thousands of strangers on the internet donating to support MS research. Just from seeing an animated GIF! The internet can be a nasty place, but there are still plenty of good folks out there too.
Q: What sort of interactions with fans have you had over the years since the meme’s rise to fame? Do people recognize you out in public as the man from the meme, and how do those encounters typically go?
A: It may sound strange, but in person, more people recognize me from my work on Giant Bomb and “Cloth Map” than from the meme. In business situations, people typically know the story or have Googled me ahead of time, but so far, I’ve only had one person recognize me from the meme in real life. The GIF was from 2013, after all. I look different!
Q: Since it became such a prominent meme, the original Blinking White Guy has continued to evolve and morph into new formats with a multitude of meanings, such as “First Guy To.” What are some of your favorite versions of the meme you’ve come across over the last few years, and which ones do you think are the funniest?
A: Oh man, too many to count! “First Guy To” is good. The three-frame “blink and you miss it” format is solid. I’m impressed that people went back to the original video and found frames where I was turned toward the camera. My friends often send me the ones where I’m God.
Q: Because of your personal involvement with meme culture, do you particularly like memes in general these days or do you not typically follow them too closely? Got any to share that you’ve made?
A: I don’t find myself sending a lot of memes, but I have been known to send GIFs. Modern GIF aggregators often don’t have the exact clips I’m looking for (usually a scene from some ‘90s action-comedy that nobody remembers), but I did manage to find and send a “Steve Martin as King Tut” to my brother this week, so that’s something.
One thing that amazed me recently is that someone trained a neural network to create memes. For some reason, I find computers failing at imitating humans to be absolutely hilarious. It is an incredibly dumb application for extremely sophisticated technology, and I love it.
— Drew Scanlon (@drewscanlon) April 29, 2020
Q: In our “Meme of the Decade” Contest, Blinking White Guy came in at No. 10 out of 50, just below Harambe, so what would you like to say to all your fans out there?
A: Top 10! That’s a points-paying position in Formula 1, so I’ll take it! In all seriousness, if you’re someone who donated to the National MS Society as a result of the meme, I cannot thank you enough. You have no idea who I am, and yet you decided to help. You’re the best!
Q: Your bio on Giant Bomb’s website has quite a few interesting facts we’d like to learn more about. Can you tell us more about how you got the nickname “Punmaster?” Mind sharing any good puns with us?
A: Giant Bomb’s database is actually a wiki, so some of that info about me may be embellished by the always-imaginative Giant Bomb community. Nobody should be rewarding this behavior.
Q: Okay, so what about this whole ability you have to chug a can of Coke in “record time.”
A: Ha! That’s a deep cut. It refers to one of the first Giant Bomb videos I appeared in as an intern.
Q: We saw recently that you and the Giant Bomb team have been playing games like Microsoft Flight Simulator. What sort of upcoming projects do you or Giant Bomb have in the works that we should keep on our radar?
A: I always loved covering flight simulators at Giant Bomb, so when the new Microsoft Flight Simulator came out, they invited me back as a guest. I had a great time! In fact, I’m planning on doing a video game livestream with my old boss at Giant Bomb, Vinny Caravella, to raise money for this year’s National MS Society fundraiser. Stay tuned on Twitter for details!
Q: We know you just closed down the “Cloth Map” project in early July, which was a really cool concept. Can you tell us more about that, why you ended it, and if you plan on ever revisiting it or expanding on it in the future?
A: “Cloth Map” was a documentary web series that explored the cultures of the world through the lens of games. No matter where we’re from, games are a part of our lives. They can take the form of video games, sports, board games or even traditional cultural games. Just like food, games are both an expression of our culture and a way for us to celebrate being together.
Over the course of three years, we went to Cuba to see their homegrown, city-wide gaming network, toured Brazil’s “gray markets” where bootleg video games are sold, experienced the Mongolian festival that celebrates the games of Genghis Khan, learned how games kept people together during and in the aftermath of the Bosnian War and visited the real-world locations of many video game settings, including Rio’s favelas and Chernobyl.
Naturally, such a project involved lots of international travel, something that became much, much harder in the age of COVID. Instead of waiting for the project to wither, I decided to be proactive and end it on my terms, which I did in July. Shortly thereafter, I started a new job in game development. I’m really proud of the work we did with “Cloth Map,” but there are currently no plans to produce anything in the future.
Q: So looking back on the whole phenomenon of your random reaction to a one-off comment that day in 2013, would you prefer to go back and stop the meme from ever happening if you had the ability, or do you now fully embrace it and find some positive aspects to Blinking White Guy?
A: It’s a strange piece of my life, for sure, but for the most part it’s been fun, and there’s no denying the good that’s come from it in the form of donations to a very important charity. I wouldn’t change a thing!
Q: Any final word or additional info to add?
A: You can follow me on Twitter, keep up with our Formula 1 podcast, and, if you like, donate to support MS research. Thank you!
Drew Scanlon is a game producer, podcaster and YouTuber known as the face of the Blinking White Guy meme. You can check out his podcast, Shift+F1, YouTube channel, Cloth Map, his Twitter or his MS charity, Biking White Guy, to stay up-to-date on his latest work.
Comments ( 1 )
Sorry, but you must activate your account to post a comment.