CASE STUDY 

In 2016, I had a strong personal reaction to Jared Leto’s portrayal of the Joker. Two years later, still bothered by the performance, I decided to channel that frustration into a content experiment. I approached it seriously — writing, editing, and structuring it with the same care I’d give any high-level client project.
 

The video struck a nerve. It now sits at over 2.5 million views, making it the most-viewed Jared Leto Joker critique on YouTube.

Over time, something changed. I ended up shifting my perspective and — almost as a bit — started actively campaigning for Leto to return as the Joker. I had noticed that the channel’s success was now directly tied to his career. Every time Jared Leto released a new movie, my analytics spiked.

The idea was absurd enough to be compelling: the same creator who led a high-profile bullying campaign was now leading the comeback. I framed it as a “bet on the future,” and the video documenting that reversal also performed extremely well.

When Zack Snyder released the Snyder Cut with Jared Leto back as the Joker, the gamble paid off — that follow-up video covered my rent for an entire summer.
 

But the real story happened behind the scenes.

That original Joker video became something I casually included in my portfolio. A well-known figure in the social media space came across it and was impressed — not just by the numbers, but by the storytelling, tone, and strategy. They hired me to lead their social media and video content. Since then, I’ve helped them generate millions of dollars using purely organic growth, and I’ve made hundreds of thousands of dollars working under their brand.
 

This case study could be about that. About how we positioned that influencer as the authority in their niche. How every piece of content was designed to build credibility disguised as entertainment. But honestly, that case study is boring. It sounds like everyone else’s.

If you want to be the kind of boring client who makes a few million a year selling to your followers, that’s fine by me. But sometimes the best way to get those fans in the first place is to do something boldly authentic.
 

It’s been six years since I made that Joker video. Since then, I’ve turned it into a seven-part series. I’ve used it to land some of my biggest clients. And I’m still talking about it — because the results never stopped.
 

These things don’t happen by accident. I figured out what worked and I hammered it. Over and over. How many different ways can you say “Jared Leto sucks as the Joker”? Apparently, a lot. Maybe infinitely, if it keeps paying off.
 

The point is: Jared Leto and the Joker have nothing to do with my life. I don’t even really like comic books anymore. It’s just become its own thing. At this point, any video I upload to YouTube — no matter what it’s about — will still get comments asking about Jared Leto. I built a brand around hating and then ironically loving the Jared Leto Joker.
 

If I can do that, we can sell whatever product you have. But you’ve got to be bold enough to be authentic — and then lean into it until the glass ceiling breaks.