Alex Buscemi
It was shaping up to be another ordinary interview conducted by some “Pickup Artist” with a microphone on Nashville’s Broadway Street. You know the kind. Where an unimaginative dude-bro sticks a camera in a drunk girl’s face and asks the same basic sexy questions. “Does size matter?” “How tall does a guy have to be to date you?” Etc, etc. And it usually culminates in the guy asking for her number, and she obliges because it’s awkward enough and she doesn’t want to look rude on camera.
These types of street interviews may be tired and unoriginal and I’m beyond sick of seeing them. But there’s no denying the formula of drunk person + camera can still churn out the occasional viral moment.
But never before have we seen a moment so viral, so earth-shattering as this.
Hailey Welch (as she’s now been identified) changed the world as we know it with two simple words: “Hawk Tuah.”
The onomatopoeia came as a response to the question: “What’s one move in bed that makes a man go crazy every time?” and is a not-so-subtle reference to spitting during oral sex.
The internet loved her hilarious response, and now she’s making an absolute killing off her massively viral meme.
Hailey Welch is capitalizing on her viral moment with official “Hawk-Tuah” merch
Welch teamed up with the Nashville-based company Fathead Threads to churn out “Hawk Tuah” merch, and she’s reportedly made at least $65K off the business venture.
The brand is run by Jason Poteete, who has known Hailey for years and reached out to her after the clip began blowing up.
Jason told Rolling Stone: “Of course, she hasn’t gotten a dime from the first viral video that went out.
“Nobody was asking permission for her to do nothing, neither.
“I just wanted her to get some profit off of this deal.”
Pooteete declined to share how much he was making off the merch.
He added that Hailey is”overwhelmed” by the attention she’s gotten from the clip.
“There are some crazy people in the world who’ve reached out to her.
“She’s probably one of the most well-known people in the world at this point.
“But I don’t know if she’s embraced it.”
Welch has reportedly made at least $65K after partnering with Fathead Threads
Fathead Threads is selling “Hawk Tuah ’24” hats — designed to look like a presidential campaign logo — for $32.78 on its website.
They also sold a version of the hat signed by Hailey for about twice that price, but those have all sold out.
Full Hawk Tuah interview for this who missed it pic.twitter.com/MJqhakS6Df
— TaraBull (@TaraBull808) June 26, 2024
Jason has also been overwhelmed by the massive success of the merch.
“This is way out of the normal for us.
“This is a small family-owned shop.
“We’re all hands on deck right now.”
“I just think the world needed a laugh, and she provided that”
Jason is unsure how Hailey will fare with her newfound viral fame, but he remains confident that she will emerge from the other end of the internet machine OK.
“She may be in the right place at the right time or the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said. “[But] I think she’ll do fine in the end.”
He added: “She has a bubbly personality.
“She can be somewhat risque.
“You never know what she’s gonna say.
“I just think the world needed a laugh, and she provided that.”
“Good for her!” — the internet reacts to Hailey’s success
Read More: 65 Funniest Memes, Tweets, And Reactions To The Presidential Debate