Sammy Stephens is known best for his YouTube video “It’s Just Like a Mini-Mall”. The video has received almost 8 million hits and rocketed Sammy into pop-culture history. Since then “It’s Just Like a Mini-Mall” has been featured “The Ellen Degeneres Show” and even parodied in “The Cleveland Show”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Sammy about his success and what he has planned for 2012.
Mike Gencarelli: Give us the origin of how you came up with the tagline “It’s just like a mini-mall”?
Sammy Stephens:I used to do commercials for the flea-market. I used to always say, “The Flea Market Montgomery, it’s just like…it’s just life a mini-mall.” The reason why I said that is because when I took over the flea-market, it was only selling antique stuff and people weren’t supporting the Flea Market at that time. So, I said I was going to bring in some new merchandise along with other venders and it will be like a mall, and that is how the mini-mall terminology was born. I was seriously talking with myself about the idea, and I said, “Sammy, how are you gonna make this work?” And then I decided to develop the tagline that we now know and love today. But I figured that this alone was not going to catch the people’s undivided attention, so I figured I needed to repeat myself and make it memorable. I wanted something that would stick in the people’s minds and whenever they heard it, they would automatically think of Flea Market Montgomery. I said, “When it comes to saving money, there’s only one place to shop in Montgomery, and that’s the The Flea Market Montgomery…it’s just like…it just like a mini-mall. Oh yeah!” So that’s how that tagline and the beginnings of a very popular commercial jingle came about.
MG: Tell us about your process creating the rap and the video for the commercial?
SS:A friend of mine came to me one day, and he had this jingle. I liked it, but I wanted something more upbeat. So one night, we were in the studio in his house, and he told me we where going to cut some tracks. He told me that when he plays the music, he wanted me to talk over it. So I said “Living rooms, bedroom, dinettes. Oh yeah. You can find it at the market. We’re talkin’ ‘bout Flea Market. It’s just like…it’s just like a mini mall. Oh yeah.” I thought it sounded really cool with the music. I did the line in a few different voices, so when you listen to the song you hear all these different voices in the background and they are all me. We had about 32 seconds, so I told him I was going to buy sometime on the radio and make a rap out of it. Then I hired this guy from the TV station to help me make the video. We shot the video, edited it, and put it together and that’s the video you see on You Tube. But the real video is only 30 seconds, which is what they played on TV here in Montgomery. The original video is about 2 minutes and 2 seconds long on You Tube.
MG: What was your reaction when this video became viral on You Tube?
SS: When I made the video, I just knew it was going to be a hit. I had a feeling in my heart because it was so unique. What happened was that Ellen Degeneres got a hold of it. She asked her viewers to send in their favorite commercials. So, some young woman sent in my commercial, and Ellen played it on her television show. She said that out of all the videos that she received, mine was the only one she really liked. From there, I started to get phone calls from radio stations and text messages from all over. The first call I got was from a radio station in Florida, and they also wanted to interview me on the air and it just blew my mind.
MG: Tell us about your experience then going on “The Ellen Degeneres Show”?
SS: Well, she called me and invited me to “The Ellen Degeneres Show”. It was quite an experience. She and I were dancing together of course. It was just such a rush and an amazing time. She is a really nice woman, and I was lucky to be on that show. I hope to be on the show again in the near future. Thanks so much again Ellen. Call me.
MG: How did you get involved with the AMC Sprint Commercial shown in theaters? Tell us about that experience?
SS: That was a really great experience as well. They flew me down to California and treated me to the works. They took me to this huge theater, and they had rented out the entire place for us to shoot the Spring commercial. It was a lot of fun and very impressive. The only thing is that it is not being shown at theaters down here in Montgomery, Alabama, so a lot of people I know haven’t had a chance to see it yet.
MG: What else do you have planned for 2012?
SS: I am trying to get an internet radio show going currently. So when I get that accomplished, I am going to be live at 5 in the morning for the morning drive at 5. It will be called “The Sammy Stephens Morning Show.” If you go to YouTube and look up “The Sammy Stephens Morning Show,” you can see one of the shows that I did last year. I think it will be a really big hit. I also have a new single that is coming out as well. It is going to be great. So I’ve got a lot of things coming up this year for sure! Stay tuned, and remember, log on to sammystephens.com.
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