Let’s Chat: Just ask

By Linda Tooth on January 24, 2024.

The ability to capture someone’s attention in a 30-45 second video is a marketer’s dream. Imagine doing that with a dog and a computer-generated voice and you have the brilliance behind Jimmy and Clarence.

On the social media platform Instagram, they have 803,000 followers worldwide, and on TikTok, they have 918,000 followers worldwide. Plus, they have a branded merchandise store that sells T-shirts, hoodies, cups and posters, all with Clarence on them.

I came across Jimmy and his black Labrador retriever Clarence quite by accident. Like so many other people, I was scrolling through social media when the first video popped up. I was laughing so hard at not only the antics this puppy gets up to but also the reference to Jimmy and his wife being dictators and the hardships that Clarence faces.

The caption ‘Free Clarence’ plays on each video and people are buying into the concept that we need to help Clarence escape living in a dictatorship.

Now before we all get angry and start some kind of revolt south of the border, please note Clarence lives a very lavish lifestyle and this is all done in fun. Every puppy should be so lucky.

I thought I would love to have Jimmy on Cats, Community and Conversations, the podcast I co-host, to talk about their journey on social media.

So, I emailed him and he responded very quickly that he would love to be on our show.

After I picked myself up off the floor, I might have screamed and ran and told Michelle the news. I am sure she thinks I am slightly crazy but I love reaching out to people and when they respond, it is golden!

We ended up chatting with him over Zoom for approximately 45 minutes. It was an impressive experience. He lives outside Boston and it was like talking to someone we have known for an extraordinarily long time.

We chatted about the NFL and NHL, how we as Canadians love it when our hockey teams beat the U.S., his journey with the concept of showcasing Clarence, his family and my love for what he is doing to make people happy.

We also gave him a little geography lesson on exactly where we were in Canada. He mentioned he had been to Toronto and Montreal and I told him he needed to come west to see the beauty of Western Canada.

It genuinely was the best podcast experience I have had. We will be uploading the episode on the day this appears in the Medicine Hat News.

You can find us on Spotify, Apple and all other podcast platforms. Make sure you tune in and find Jimmy and Clarence on Instagram or TikTok. They will make you laugh.

Linda Tooth is a communications instructor at Medicine Hat College

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