Night Light | All Boom, No Doom

August 22, 2024

We Are Officially Costco Guys…

What does it take for a viral moment to stick? This week, we’re taking a look at everything AJ and Big Justice (and now The Rizzler) have done to stay top of mind.

I don’t think people realize how long AJ and Big Justice have been making content, I’ve found videos of the Befumo family on YouTube that are nine years old. I wanted to break down what they’ve done well since their viral ‘We’re Costco Guys’ video that started it all.

How has going viral changed?

When I think back to huge viral trends like the Harlem Shake, Ice Bucket Challenge, or planking (I can’t believe how old some of these are), it feels like the viral window is getting significantly smaller. These trends used to last for months before people moved on; today, it seems like there’s only a week of real opportunity.

The podcasts are key.

Let’s bring it back to Hawk Tuah for a second. I’ve seen her appear a few more podcasts like One Night With Steiny, and just the other week, she met up with Sketch. However, I find it interesting that her ‘day in the life’ content is actually behind a paywall on her Fanfix. I think she really needs to focus on building a deeper connection with her audience that isn’t behind a paywall. When I’m scrolling through TikTok and her Instagram, I’m not really seeing much content that’s about who she actually is. I’ll definitely be watching this more closely over the next few weeks.

What have AJ and Big Justice done well?

If you remember reading the Night Light about Hawk Tuah, we talked about how that first week is incredibly important to capitalize on a viral moment. Since their first video, here’s what AJ and Big Justice have gotten right:

1️⃣ They continue to evolve their content

They could have just ridden the Costco wave, but now they’re doing podcasts, appearing on livestreams, and even made music based on their ‘Boom or Doom’ catchphrase. If you just scroll their TIkTok page you’ll notice that they’re not just grinding the same format—they’re trying a little bit of everything.

Big Justice, Jason Pancake Wombough, The Rizzler is an elite crew.

2️⃣ They’re consistent with uploads

AJ and Big Justice are posting at least once a day for the past few months. It’s also impressive how many creators and brands they’ve collaborated with in the last month (I counted collabs in half of their last 30 uploads). I think being in the content game for years has helped—even with a new following, they weren’t starting from nothing.

3️⃣ Its wholesome content

At the end of the day it’s a father and his son having fun with their content. At this point, they’ve invited their whole family to join in, given them names, and jumped on trends.

The Big Takeaway:

It’s interesting to see how different creators have handled their time after their first viral video. The viral window of opportunity seems to be getting shorter and shorter, and I think there’s a clear difference between creators who have been making content for years and found fame versus someone who wasn’t making content before. So far AJ and Big Justice have been a boom, it’s clear that they’ve gone all in since they became Costco Guys.

Bout time we got this.

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