I’m so glad you asked, disembodied audience member. A native of modest Palm Springs, Ohio, Chanty Beluga is not only an influencer on the rise, but potentially the internet’s newest It Girl. Her career began to pick up steam after being cast in the role of a lifetime this past August— the Cryptkeeper in the highly anticipated Dear Evan Hansen Sequel. Despite her rapid rise to stardom, Chanty keeps things on the humble side, packing her days full of eating matcha churros with her pledge sisters and rocking out to her favorite artist (Meghan Trainor, duh). Her socials also reflect her down-to-earth spirit, where she posts candids of her day-to-day life. One day, she’s ordering swordfish burritos through online takeout. The next, she’s recycling her Trader Joe’s bags. Could she get any more iconic?

Since her first post in late July, she’s amassed a moderately sized but deeply devoted following, gaining over 40k followers on Instagram and around 125k followers on TikTok. In this short amount of time, she’s garnered fan accounts, hate accounts, fancams, and even brand deals from companies like Verizon.

…Alright. I’ll admit, I haven’t entirely told you the truth about Chanty. I’ll let you in on a little secret— she’s actually not a real person. In reality, she’s a character straight from the mind of comedian Courtney O’Donnell, known for playing satirical roles. Although she’s been in the comedy industry for several years, Chanty has taken a life of her own in a way that Courtney has never experienced before.

Despite this, the fun of Chanty as a character really only begins after this realization. When dealing with this ‘faux influencer’, you can make up nearly anything about her, and it could technically be true. Suddenly, you saw Chanty try to cut in line at Jack’s Wife Frida during their busy hours, or she hit you with her car and owes you $5,000. If you’re lucky, Chanty herself will comment back, ‘yes and’-ing your tall tales and incorporating them into the complex tapestry that is Chanty’s life.

Congrats! We’re happy to have you here, and hope you’ll have as much fun as the rest of us. 

Really, there's an indescribable thrill of being in on a bit. Even if the joke is a bit obvious (sorry Chanty, love you Chanty), getting to put your own spin on the punchline (as ridiculous as the comments can get) feels like you’re contributing to something bigger than yourself. 

On top of contributing to culture, there’s so much fun to be found in playing in the grey space between reality and fantasy. Sure, I know logically Chanty isn’t real, but I have a great time treating Chanty and Courtney as two distinct people (Courtney seems to feel the same, as she frequently stages social interactions between these two accounts— Chanty REALLY doesn’t seem to like Courtney, unfortunately for her).

Of course, it’s not like Miss Beluga pioneered this grey space. Funnily enough, the comparison I usually make when talking about her is The Muppets, who famously mess with the boundaries between real and what’s fake (or what’s felt?). When you’re genuinely engaged with the character, sometimes it can be hard to remember that they’re actually not real. Sometimes, you’re having too much fun to really care, and actively play into the narrative. There’s something to be said about how both of these comedic entities are currently within the cultural zeitgeist (with the new Muppets Show just recently scoring four Emmys along with Sabrina Carpenter)— in a world where things feel more and more rigid by the day, so much joy can be found in bending the rules and making your own story.

There’s a lot a brand can learn from our friend Chanty. Of course, I’m sure PR teams would get a chill down their spine hearing about their brand featuring a persona who could technically be anything (good or bad), but I feel like there are ways to play in this space logistically and cleverly. Sometimes, the funniest thing you can do isn’t coming up with genius copy or trying to be as “LOL RANDOM” as possible (looking at a certain yellow fuzzball when I say this), but it’s giving some of the reins over to the consumer. Play your cards right, set up a space for creation, lean into the chaos, and watch where things go from here. You might be surprised at what happens.