---
title: 'How John Chungus Got 115,000 People to Touch Grass'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=WMkHqAI2V0k'
video_id: 'WMkHqAI2V0k'
date: 2026-07-14
duration_sec: 0
---

# How John Chungus Got 115,000 People to Touch Grass

> Source: [How John Chungus Got 115,000 People to Touch Grass](https://youtube.com/watch?v=WMkHqAI2V0k)

## Summary

The transcript discusses the creation and success of the John Chungus character, a charismatic former opera singer used in a viral social media campaign to encourage people to go outside and touch grass. The creator explains the origin of the character, its use in a Netflix brand deal for Squid Game, and the broader strategy of undercover projects to drive offline behavior.

### Key Points

- **Origin of John Chungus** [00:00] — John Chungus is a charismatic former opera singer and the creator's neighbor, met in an acting class. He was used for a Netflix brand deal to promote Squid Game by hanging posters seeking a partner for the experience, leading to a viral video with two 19-year-old girls.
- **Psyop to Get People Off Phones** [00:30] — The creator wanted to run a psyop to get people off their phones. John Chungus was used to launch a page with funny videos, resulting in 115,000 tags of people going outside and touching grass on September 27th.
- **Creating a Character as a Story** [01:00] — The creator hired an actor to become a story on Instagram, a novel approach. This is becoming a trend, with more undercover projects in the works, but the creator acknowledges that such movements eventually become oversaturated and people move on.
- **Future of Undercover Projects** [01:30] — The creator plans to continue undercover projects for a few more months before moving on to the next thing, emphasizing constant reinvention and creating content they want to see.

### Conclusion

The John Chungus campaign successfully leveraged a fictional character to drive real-world behavior, demonstrating the power of creative storytelling in social media marketing. The creator plans to continue innovating with similar projects before trends shift.

## Transcript

What was John Chungus? Why did it work? John Chungus is a charismatic former opera singer. He was my neighbor. I met him in an acting class, and I used him for a Netflix brand deal to promote Squid Game. I hung up posters as him saying he's looking for a partner to go to the Squid Game experience with, and then these two like 19-year-old girls ended up going with him, and it was just a fun kooky video. And then I was interested in doing a a psyop to get people off their phones. John came to mind, so I just launched his page, made funny videos. On September 27th, John Chungus got tagged 115,000 times of people going outside and touching grass. >> You are creating your own character, like you're hiring an actor >> Yes. >> to become a story on Instagram, which is something I'd never really seen before. >> Yes, and it is becoming a thing now. You know, we've got a couple more undercover projects that we're working on that are going really good, but I do think, just like every other arts and culture um movement, there comes a time where it becomes oversaturated, and then people move on, right? Like I felt that way about events, right? Like now there's a bajillion look-alike competitions wherever, and if you enjoy that stuff, it's great. I think you should, but at the heart of what I try to do is, you know, constantly reinvent myself and put things out there that I want to see. Um so I do think I've got another couple more months of undercover projects, and then probably on to the next.