Twitter is a community full of limitless possibilities. The social media platform closest to a real-time, in-person conversation, you can jump into and out of a (tweet) conversation with complete strangers with only a few taps on your keyboard. It was on Twitter where I randomly tweeted asking for thoughts on Reese’s Pieces compared to peanut butter cups.
And that one tweet is how I met Andrew Athias, aka The Reese’s Guy.
— The Reese’s Guy (@AndrewAthias) October 8, 2019
Meet Andrew Athias: The Reese’s Guy, Super Fan & Social Media Sensation
After several fun tweets with Andrew, watching a couple of his incredible Reese’s YouTube videos, having my daughter report on when his latest TikTok posted, and finding myself genuinely curious to learn more about when he fell in love with Reese’s, where he finds all his incredible Reese’s merch, and what’s been his biggest claim to Reese’s fame so far, I tweeted him saying that I’d like to interview him for a blog post.
Doing what I do, I know the immense value in user-generated content and brand ambassadors from a business’ side of things. And doing what I do, I also know that there are lots of people curious to understand the motivation and drive behind brand influencers.
Interestingly, when I asked Andrew if he pulls off super amazing videos like “All I Want for Christmas is Reese’s” on his own and if he was sponsored, he responded by saying, “Yup all on my own. Too much free time on my hands and too much love for Reese’s. Not sponsored…yet“.
All I Want For Christmas Is Reese’s! pic.twitter.com/EkdEuZzfRo
— The Reese’s Guy (@AndrewAthias) December 18, 2018
So I sent a list of questions to Andrew, and he gladly obliged. His interview is below.
Q1. At what age did you first taste a Reese’s product? Do you remember what Reese’s product it was? And was it love at first taste?
My earliest memory eating Reese’s was just like most kids. I was picking out Reese’s Cups from my collection of candy after trick or treating in elementary school. Also, whenever I went to the movies as a kid, my go-to snack was Reese’s Pieces and Raisinets, a delicious combination.
Q2. How long ago did you create your first Reese’s-branded social media account? What inspired you to do so? And has one social media platform been consistently a stronger performer for you than another?
I’ve always tweeted and posted on Instagram about my love for Reese’s, but the summer of 2018 was when I made my first Reese’s-inspired music video. It was for a contest when Reese’s partnered with Wawa (a convenient store, popular in the Philadelphia / NJ area) to promote the new “Reese’s Outrageous Bar”. The contest was to see who is the most Outrageous Reese’s and Wawa fan. I’ve never wanted to win something so badly in my life. I took the song “Without Me” by Eminem, and turned it into a Reese’s-inspired music video called “No One Loves Reese’s More Than Me”. After seeing that video go viral and winning the contest, I decided to start making more Reese’s-inspired content and publicly displaying my love for Reese’s. In terms of which social media platform has been stronger, I would say TikTok and Instagram have been the best social media accounts as those apps are where most of my content currently exists and where I see the most interaction with other Reese’s fans.
Q3. How do you come up with your content? How far in advance do you plan it? What’s your process for writing, shooting, editing, and publishing? And what type of equipment do you use?
To be perfectly honest, I have no idea how I even come up with some of my content ideas. I amaze myself whenever I do come up with something because “Reese’s” is an incredibly challenging word to rhyme with, so the fact that I have been able to make any music videos – let alone 4 – about Reese’s is quite the feat. That’s the power of creativity. Sometimes random ideas pop in my head and I just run with it, and other times I sit and try to take a popular song or meme and try to mold it into something about Reese’s. Sometimes I’ll have an idea the minute before I make it, or I will sit on an idea for a few weeks leading up to a special holiday. When I was in college at the Rochester Institute of Technology, my a cappella group, Eight Beat Measure, would take a popular song and try to change the lyrics to be a Christmas song. It was a lot of fun to put a new twist on a well-known song to fit a specific theme, so I guess that’s the beginning of where I learned how to change song lyrics and make them about Reese’s.
In terms of writing and editing, I have a folder on my laptop FILLED with about 10 dozen lyrics, ideas, and content I want to do. I call it my “Reese’s Wish List”. Most of it I can film on my own with my phone and a tripod, some require someone to hold a high-quality camera and record me, and others (my most ambitious ideas) require a future sponsorship/partnership with Reese’s or collaboration with other content creators.
Q4. How do you go about locating mentions of Reese’s on the social platforms you use? For example, do you have saved hashtag searches on Twitter?
People constantly tag me on a post or message me whenever they see anything Reese’s-related online, but I also have an app on my computer that shows me a separate Twitter and Instagram feed anytime “Reese’s” or #Reese’s is used in the post. I love interacting with and talking to other Reese’s fans out there in the world; it almost feels like a cult. It’s also really awesome seeing all the original Reese’s art and food baked that’s inspired by Reese’s. I have some friends who work for The Hershey Company either as a sales rep or at the headquarters in Hershey, PA, so they occasionally send me some Reese’s news.
Q5. Have you specifically tried to contact Reese’s to make sure they know about your adoration for all they make? Has Reese’s ever responded to you in any way, even if it’s just a retweet of a tweet?
The Hershey Company and the Reese’s marketing teams are VERY aware of my existence and adoration. My content has been shared by the Reese’s social media accounts on a few occasions. The Reese’s team has also been very generous in getting me involved in a few projects over the past year and even supplying the Reese’s and clothes I use in all of my content. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and getting to personally know some of the incredible people who work for The Hershey Company and Reese’s.
Q6. What’s your biggest claim/achievement to fame so far as The Reese’s Guy?
I’m still new on the “Reese’s Fame” scene, but I walked around South Philly on Halloween handing out hundreds of Reese’s to trick or treaters, and a bunch of kids did recognize me from TikTok, so that was the highlight of my Halloween and so far my biggest achievement to fame. Hopefully, if I keep this up I can be the person associated with Reese’s on a national scale other than Travis Scott, who is currently on the cover of some special Reese’s Puffs boxes, or the kid who used to be in those incredible Reese’s Puffs commercials in the early 2000s.
There are other people out there in America who have some really fun claims to Reese’s fame. There’s a guy in Nashville who designed the outside of his car to look like a Reese’s. There’s a guy who surrounded his bathtub with all of the different Reese’s products. My personal favorite is the girl who is LITERALLY named Reese E. Cupp. That is a real person, that is her real name, and she won $10,000 from Reese’s for it and was named “The World’s Biggest Fan”.
Q7. Do you do it all for fun and your genuine love of Reese’s, in hopes of becoming an official Reese’s brand ambassador, or a combination of both?
This is all for fun and my genuine love for Reese’s. Don’t get me wrong – I would absolutely LOVE to be an official Reese’s brand ambassador and/or be sponsored, but that is not up to me. There’s a saying that goes “Be the change you want to see in the world.” I just like to “be the content I want to see in the world”.
Q8. Where do you find all your Reese’s merch?
I get asked this all the time. Some of it came from the Reese’s contest I won, some of it was generously gifted to me from the Reese’s team, but most of it was purchased at the Hershey’s Chocolate World Store in Time Square, which funny enough, was directly right across the street from me when I worked in IT for Morgan Stanley. Most if not all the of the merch I have can also be found online or at Hershey Park.
Q9. Do you have an ultimate goal or dream for The Reese’s Guy? If so, what is it?
If I do gain a huge following then maybe I can work my way into a Reese’s / Reese’s Puffs Commercial, or simply working full time for Reese’s. That would be a dream come true. But for now, the goal is to keep using this all as my personal creative outlet, grow my following, and make funny Reese’s content that people hopefully enjoy. I have a lot more ideas and plans, so stay tuned.
*****
I can honestly say that in the 2.5 months since my first interaction with Andrew, I have noticed and purchased more Reese’s products than I have in the past 2.5 years, along with discovering my own love for a couple new-to-me Reese’s products I didn’t know existed. So, thank you, Andrew, for bringing more deliciousness into my life and for joining me for this blog interview. I’ll see ya on Twitter!
See more of Andrew, The Reese’s Guy’s, creativity and chocolate peanut butter devotion at his social media accounts.
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