Dad Transformed Into Construction Worker Instagram Influencer, Revealed as Stunt to Promote Coffee Shop

A construction worker dad has shown how easy it is to become an Instagram star after racking up over half a million followers by posting pictures of himself mocking typical influencers on the platform. It has since been revealed the stunt was the result of a brainstorm for new promo tactics for a small coffee shop.

Posting under the handle @justaconstructionguy, Omar, based in Austin, Texas, has been catapulted to online success. But it has now been revealed everything was a carefully constructed stunt to advertise a local coffee shop. And it seems the plan worked.

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Only appearing on Instagram last month, the account was the result of a “creative brainstorming session” by Cuvee Coffee staff. The page has since hit dizzying social numbers for mocking influencer culture.

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Speaking to Buzzfeed News, coffee shop owner Mike McKim said:

The whole idea was what we always thought as an influencer, and what we used as an influencer in the past, they don’t always fit our brand. We need a different type of influencer: a hard-worker, blue-collar guy.

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With thanks to ad agency Bandolier Media, the persona was born. Things went up a notch after a Twitter account with the handle @barbzlovescarbs posted about the account, claiming it was her dad, with the tweet subsequently spreading across social media.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BxOCaXMDAWV/

McKim admits the goal had been to get the Instagram profile to 1,000 followers. But now, it sits at 531,000. Not a bad effort!

Lead image by Christopher Burns on Unsplash.