The relationship between Myles Montplaisir and the state of Wisconsin may have had a rocky start, but now things are as smooth as an iced Busch latte.
In his first video to really get an audience, the 26-year-old YouTube personality from Fargo, North Dakota sat at a patio table at his family's lakeside home and compared Busch Light, his beer of choice, to New Glarus Brewing Co. .'s Spotted Cow.
His take on farmhouse ale, you know, too big a deal for Wisconsin? Let's just say one of the few positives over the more affordable domestic was the higher alcohol content. And that's about it.
“Wisconsin wasn't too happy with me on that one,” Montplaisir said. “It's so funny because I had talked about doing this (comparison video) and I wanted to do a craft beer. I have a brother-in-law who's from Wisconsin and he brought my parents a Spotted Cow and I was like, what do you think about doing the Spotted Cow? … I know it's like something that's only sold in Wisconsin and people are hard on it, wouldn't it be funny to make fun of people who love Spotted Cow? It was definitely a trigger.”
It's possible the backlash — from people with strong feelings about Busch Light, Spotted Cow, or who just got a kick out of the three-minute clip — helped fuel it. Attention showed what was possible with You Betchathe brand he launched 15 months ago.
If you've spent any time on social media in the past year, chances are you've seen at least one YouBetcha production. Maybe it was “Dads Under Summer,” which has garnered more than 14 million views on Facebook and another 420,000 on YouTube. Maybe “School of Ope,” a crossover with Charlie Berens of “Manitowoc Minute” fame. or the aforementioned “New Glarus Spotted Cow vs. Busch Light,” his first viral hit, now with more than 12,000 Facebook comments (many of them tagging Wisconsinites).
Montplaisir was born and raised in Fargo and went to college to play football at nearby Minnesota State University Moorhead. After finishing school, he and a friend started a company that worked on branding and marketing campaigns for local companies. For about six months he worked on an idea on the side, using his marketing skills as well as his lifelong love of amateur filmmaking. (Growing up, he shot and starred in parody sports videos on the family camcorder.)
He found a streak in simple, almost no-budget videos mocking life in the Midwest. Years of playing football and hanging around with other athletes from the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and the like, as well as his own experiences with family and other friends, attuned him to the way people in those places talk and they act.
“You get a sense of the trends that people have just by being around people throughout the Midwest and just feeling like you're hanging out with someone from your hometown,” he said. “I thought it was very exciting.”
You Betcha became his way of being creative and cuddling with love in his home. That, and make some money from opening a “Buschhhhhhhhhh”.
Buoyed by more viral hits — and income from YouTube ads — he was able to quit his day job in late 2018 to focus fully on You Betcha. (It doesn't hurt that you're actually in Fargo, the place outsiders associate many Midwesterners with, thanks to the Coen brothers.) In less than a year and a half since the brand launched, Montplaisir can now claim more than 48,000 subscribers on YouTube and 388,000 likes on Facebook.
There's now You Betcha merchandise for sale, including shirts and hats featuring his different nicknames for Busch Light: “Nectar of the Gods” and “Busch Latte.” shirts with anti-Selzer stances like “Withdraw from the Claw”; and “Polar Vortex Survivor” T-shirts. He also did a series of bar takeovers around the Midwest over the summer.
In a crossover event that looks like an “Avengers” movie for cheeseheads on YouTube, Montplaisir and Charlie Berens teamed up for a few videos over the summer. Montplaisir said he and the “Manitowoc Minute” anchor have been getting calls to work together and have been in touch. One leaving from Fargo and the other from the Milwaukee area, they met in the Twin Cities at Behrens' friend's house.
Highlights of the results? “School of Ope,” a class about noise in these parts they use, Berens explains, “to say 'Wow,' 'Excuse me,' 'You dropped that,' 'I need a beer,' and in 100,000 other situations ».
“It was kind of a friendship as well as a business partnership,” Montplaisir said. “Basically we're just trying to help each other out. … It's not like I'm trying to beat him or he's trying to beat me.”
You Betcha continues to produce content on at least a weekly basis. The hope is to continue to grow without having to compromise values and continue to connect people as a kind of ambassador of the state.
“What I'm trying to show people is that the Midwest can be cool and that we have a sense of humor, we can make fun of ourselves,” he said. “We just want to represent us as best we can.
“It's not a bad thing that we're from the Midwest. I think it's a good thing.”
You Betcha: Top 5 Most Viewed Videos
“Guys with YETI”
“Dads in the summer”
“$50 YETI Bottle Opener vs Generic Bottle Opener”
“Craft Beer Drinkers Be Like…”
“5 Stages of a Round of Golf”
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Contact Shane Nyman at 920-996-7223 or snyman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @shanenyman.
