“So Karabo, tell us how you came to be a part of the Feels Like UGG global campaign, here in Seoul Korea.”
“I got an email?” deadpanned Karabo Poppy, an illustrator and graffiti artist from South Africa.
Great, I thought, someone else on this shoot who matches my energy. I was worried everyone else would be total pros at all this. A feint though it was, as Karabo then launched into a monologue on creativity, family, a sense of place, and how they connected to the Feels Like UGG campaign, delivered with such warmth and confidence that I felt my own start to drain away. I imagined the marketing team huddled around the studio monitor exchanging high-fives. You’re in trouble now, Phil.
Expressing enthusiasm and genuineness, you see, aren’t really my core competencies. Even when I mean it, compliments sound spiked with sarcasm—which is part of the reason I don’t do any “Hi Guys!”-style social media videos and why I often lean into my grumpy cat persona. Was this UGG shoot as good time as any to start some self-improvement?
“Okay Phil, just try to remember not to use the C-word in relation to the UGG boots,” said the director.
“Got it… So what I love most about my UGG Boots are how Comfor… Ah sorry, I mean how they… feel like home? Yes, how they feel like home!” Nailed it.
This wasn’t my first time on the other side of the camera. I once was shot for a Uniqlo ad, my face, with mouth agape like a blow-up doll, plastered all over billboards and subway stations. I loved it. And I did a commercial for Transitions Lenses, though that was scripted. “They go from clear to dark when I go outside. I love ’em!”
Neither of those experiences were nearly on the scale of the UGG shoot, where there were easily a couple hundred people on set. One to fuss with my hair, another for makeup who was also responsible for checking my teeth after kimbap breaks, and a stylist assistant; one guy to follow me around with a portable fan (shearlings and puffers in June…), and another to ask if I needed anything. And on top of the, a PA in the form of a young Korean-American fella with an NYU film degree, would pop by just to make sure I for sure didn’t need anything. I could get used to this!