BatDad
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About
BatDad is the Vine handle used by Blake Wilson, a father from Atlanta, Georgia, who produces a series of short video clips in which he playfully interacts with his children while wearing a Batman mask and acting in character of the superhero as portrayed by actor Christian Bale in The Dark Knight trilogy.
Online History
In early September 2013, Blake Wilson posted his first Vine[1] as BatDad, explaining that he drives a Honda Odyssey when he's not fighting crime because it gets better gas mileage. However, Wilson is not the first person to portray Batman as a devoted father figure, which had been done by YouTuber Greg Abbey in the pilot episode for a web series titled "BatDad" uploaded in May 2012.
On September 4th, Wilson launched a Twitter account[2] to further interact with his Vine followers and introduced the hashtag #batdad[6] for his clips. By the 5th, his Vines began to appear on repost YouTube channels including reVineKing[3], vine log[4] and Vinely HD.[5] On September 18th, Buzzfeed[7] compiled 12 of Wilson's BatDad vines, noting he had amassed more than 138,000 followers. The post received more than 17,000 likes on Facebook and more than 5,000 shares. The following day, these Vines were featured on Uproxx[9] and Wilson launched a YouTube account[8], releasing the first official compilation video (shown below) for his Vines.
The following day, his video was submitted to the /r/videos subreddit[10], where it received more than 43,000 upvotes, 3,100 points overall and 1,600 comments within 25 days. That week, BatDad was featured on Gawker[11], Kotaku[12] and the New York Daily News[13], resulting in Wilson launching a Facebook fan page[14] for his work on September 24th. The page has gained nearly 5,000 likes within a month. The following day, Wilson was interviewed on the Today show[15] (shown below) about his successful Vines, which accrued more than 7.6 million views in less than 30 days.
On October 3rd, Wilson released his second YouTube compilation (shown below), which was featured on Mashable[16], Laughing Squid[17] and the Mary Sue[18], among others. That week, CNN[19] posted an article discussing the implications of Wilson sharing videos with his young children in them, noting that Wilson and his wife try not to embarrass them or post videos that will make their kids feel bad about themselves. On October 11th, Wilson was interviewed on Huffington Post Live[20], noting he is trying to poke fun at everything parents have to go through. As of October 2013, BatDad has attracted more than 866,000 followers.
Search Interest
External References
[2] Twitter – @BatDadVine
[3] YouTube – reVineKing: Give Me My String Cheese! Vine by BatDad
[4] YouTube – vine log: Give me my string cheese batdad
[5] YouTube – Vinely HD: Where is she! She's right there daddy #batdad
[6] Twitter – Tweet Results for "batdad"
[7] Buzzfeed – 12 BatDad Vines That Prove He’s The Superhero We Need Right Now
[8] YouTube – BatDad Vine's Channel
[9] Uproxx – BatDadVine Is The Hero The Minivan Needs, And Possibly Also Deserves
[10] Reddit –
[11] Gawker – BatDad Is the Best Dad Both on Vine and Off
[12] Kotaku – BatDad Is The Best Dad. Also Maybe The Worst.
[13] NY Daily News – SEE IT: 'BatDad' protects his family from boredom in hilarious videos
[15] Today – Vine star BatDad: ‘I’m just a normal dad’
[16] Mashable – BatDad Strikes Back With a Hilarious New Vine Compilation
[17] Laughing Squid – BatDad Strikes Again, A Second Compilation of Vine Videos by a Father in a Batman Mask
[18] The Mary Sue – BatDad Returns [Video]
[19] CNN – 'BatDad' and other parents: To post or not to post?
[20] Huffington Post Live – 'BatDad' To The Rescue!
Top Comments
Baron-Von-Jello
Oct 15, 2013 at 04:54PM EDT in reply to
Baron-Von-Jello
Oct 15, 2013 at 04:57PM EDT