40 Oz Van is a young online/offline entrepreneur. Since last year, 40 has gone from hosting events and uploading pictures of sexy women to launching a successful line of hats that have flooded the youth and fashion savvy markets.
40 Oz Bounce was an event that started as a BBQ 40 Oz Van hosted for his friends. Through word of mouth and social media, the BBQ spawned a series of free outdoor events that drew thousands of people. At these events, 40 provided free bottles of 40 Oz beer, forever associating himself with the beverage. As the events expanded, 40 would later team up with street wear brands and corporate sponsors. Recently, 40 has expressed his interest in bringing the Bounce back on a larger scale including live perfromances. >>>>>>>>>>Why It Worked: Free beer didn't hurt! Also, New Yorkers are notoriously eager to hit the outdoors after long winters. Beautiful weather, being social and stylish young people in one spot? You can't go wrong.
After his original Tumblr account was shut down for posting "pornographic video", Van relaunched his site under the address http://40ozvannyc.tumblr.com/, a site he still manages today. The site is unique because the photos are totally original (most Tumblr users reblog other peoples pictures) and the content is refreshingly specific, "selfies" of voluptuous women of all colors and hip hop music that leans towards underground and late 90's era New York rap. The NSFW photos on his site are gathered primarily from email contributions and all photos and music are hand selected by Van himself. To date, the site has gathered over 9 million international page views.>>>>>>>>>>>Why It Worked: Tumblr has endless photographs of models. Many of the women on Tumblr are generic model stereotypes e.g., skinny, Caucasian. (Not that theirs anything wrong with that.) 40 oz VAN NYC offered a "thicker" alternative of women. As for the music, Van's taste displayed a great mix of nostalgic hits and upcoming talent.
Blow Hip Hop interviews 40 oz Van. In the interview, Van discusses the success of his Tumblr and how it all got started.
Reporting on online identity theft, NBC news correspondent Andrew Siff interviews 40 Oz Van. In the interview, Van shares his experience dealing with people posing as him online.
NYPD shuts down a 40 Oz Bounce when hundreds of people converge to attend the event. The MTA orders trains to bypass the 181 st station in order to halt more people from arriving near the event. The NYPD shuts the area down and order people to leave. Reports of helicopters hovering the area and plenty of police officers on the streets may have ended the event early but the story goes down in party history.
Street wear label Prohibit teams up with 40 oz NY for a t-shirt collaboration. Next, another street wear brand, Deadline, hooks up with 40 for the "HNIC" t-shirt. 40 oz as a fashion brand begins to take form.
The first 40 Oz Van snap back is released for a 12 hour, online-only sale. The hats sell out (Van later releases his sales profits). >>>>>>>>>Why it Worked: The combination of high-end symbolism and affordable wears made for an instant must-have item for the general public. In addition, Van's 12 hr only sales strategy adds an exclusive element to the release. After 12 hours Van closes the online store and never re-releases the hat.
The Source invites 40 onto it's pages with a full 2 page spread. The article is a profile on 40 and his tastes from music to women to fashion.
Blow Hip Hop TV catches up with Van again. This time, they speak to 40 a year after his hats have had an impact on the streets and social media.
Van releases his latest snap back. The hat is inspired by the 90 cult film "KIDS".
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