Chapter 41: I Became A Meme
March 25, 2023, 5:38 AM - Vertis North, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines - Penthouse 001
Yesterday, Inklusive not only uploaded the remaining videos but also collaborated with content creators who share their advocacy. In return, the company promoted the creators' videos about their campaign on social media, which helped increase their campaign's reach.
However, the downside is that Daniel's projections show that even with the current boost, they might only get a maximum of 3.5 million organic reach. This news weighed heavily on him, causing him to worry about failing their mission this time.
"This is frustrating," Daniel sighed. "But on the bright side, we were able to raise awareness for the drivers' situation, right?"
So after his morning usual routine, Daniel went down to the office. He tasked the team to relax for now and start to shift their focus to the next goal at hand. Preparing to attend client briefs with various companies to create pitches for paid ad campaigns.
Daniel also called a meeting with the team to thank them for the hard work for their first social media campaign and also to apologize to them for giving them such a load with a super tight schedule. He promised to avoid doing the same again as much as possible in the future.
"Great job, everyone!" Daniel greeted the team. "We did an amazing job with the social media campaign."
The team smiled and nodded in agreement.
"We're moving on to the next goal. We have client briefs with various companies coming up, hopefully, we can close accounts from those," Daniel continued.
The team nodded in understanding and readiness.
"But before we start, I want to express my gratitude to each and every one of you for your hard work and dedication to our first campaign," Daniel said. "I know it was a tough schedule, and I apologize for giving you a heavy load with a super short deadline. I promise to avoid doing that again in the future."
The team listened attentively and appreciated the acknowledgment from their boss.
"We'll be busy again starting next week," Daniel continued. "So, I'm giving you all the day off today and tomorrow to relax and rejuvenate. Jewel and Lily will take charge of preparing for the client briefs coming up next week."
The team's faces lit up with gratitude as they were surprised and delighted by Daniel's decision to give them a day off. They thanked him and left the office feeling appreciated and motivated to work even harder for the next campaign.
As Daniel was about to call it a day and leave the office as well, his phone rang. He quickly retrieved it from his pocket and answered the call.
"Good day, Mr. Daniel Abelardo. This is Abigail, a customer service representative from SM North Edsa," the caller identified herself.
Daniel was confused as to why a representative from the mall would be calling him. "Yes, this is Daniel. How may I assist you?" he asked.
"We're calling to inform you that a motorcycle registered under your name has been parked in our mall for the past four days," Abigail informed him.
Daniel felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him. He face-palmed and said, "Err... Sorry. I completely forgot about that," he continued, "Thank you for letting me know. I'll head there right away to retrieve it."
Without delay, Daniel booked a grab car and headed to the mall to retrieve his motorcycle. He was so excited about his new car which was rewarded by the system that he totally forgot he arrived at the mall with his motorcycle at that time. Yeah. Weird. I know. Who forgets that he has a motorcycle?
As soon as he arrived at the mall, Daniel headed straight for the mall's parking area. However, he was stopped in his tracks by a stranger who suddenly appeared out of nowhere and asked, "Excuse me, aren't you the tycoon from that viral video?"
Daniel was bewildered and said, "Po? What video po?"
The stranger persisted and exclaimed, "It's really you! You're the one who lent his cars for free rides, right? Oh my God, can I take a picture with you!?"
Daniel was still puzzled. He had indeed been offering free rides using his company cars for two days already, but he had no idea about any viral video. Fosho it wasn't the social campaign videos made by his team as they did not include his face at all.
After a brief hesitation, he replied, "Err... Yes, I did make use of my company cars for free rides, and I guess there's no harm in a picture. But can you tell me what video are you talking about? I really am not aware."
The lady stranger then took a selfie with Daniel and proceeded to show him a video posted by a small TikTok creator who had lined up to ride in the car during the campaign. In the video, the TikToker exclaimed, "Oh my God! I can't believe it! Someone is really lending luxury cars for free rides. I never thought I'd be able to ride in a luxury car, much less for free!"
The TikToker then pointed her phone camera toward the cars and said, "Just look at these! There are even 6 of them! They even look very new."
She then continued, "I've already asked around guys! The people here said these are owned by that guy," pointing the camera towards Daniel and the crew this time, "They're shooting some kind of video over there. Ohhhhh! He looks a little good-looking also ah."
The video ended with her showing what the inside of the car looks like when it was her turn to get a ride for free.
The video was posted early this morning and has begun to garner attention and has got more than 2 million views already, and is still increasing.
Daniel didn't really know what to make of this so he thank the stranger for showing him the video and continued his way, albeit a little slower this time due to bewilderment, toward the mall parking.
Yet again, Fate appeared to be thwarting Daniel's attempts to reach his motorcycle as his phone rang once more. Daniel answered and was greeted by Nhicole's excited voice.
"Sir Daniel! Sir Daniel!" She near shouting said through the phone
"Nhicole. Calm down. What's up?" Daniel responded.
"I'm sorry, Sir. I'm just really excited. Please check our social media accounts immediately!" Nhicole continued with eagerness in her voice, "No. wait! Let me just tell you! All our videos' overall engagements have surpassed a million already on all platforms except on our website which has around 700K!"
Daniel's smile widened as he heard the news then asked, "Wait. Does this have anything to do with a viral TikTok video about the free rides?"
"Oh! You already know about that sir!? Yes! I researched and yes the spike began when that video went viral."
Daniel half amused and half embarrassed responded and said, "Err... Yes. I just found out also. A stranger approached me and said she recognized me because of that video. But anyway, thanks for informing me. Good job to you guys. We really did well on our first campaign."
As Daniel heard the news, he felt a mix of emotions. On one hand, he was happy that the system's mission of achieving 5,000,000 overall engagements had been accomplished. However, he also felt embarrassed as he had not intended to become famous.
He even saw a meme of himself circulating on some Facebook shitposting groups when he checked his phone after the phone call with Nhicole.
It was a screenshot picture of him standing near the luxury cars with a top and bottom text that said: "FREE RIDES FOR SLAPSOILS"
The meme wasn't really meant to berate him, he knows that. It's just how internet humor is, he just finds it embarrassing that he is a meme now.
So, for the third time, Daniel continued to walk to the mall parking, and as he was almost about to exit the mall proper into the actual parking, but nope. Fate, again says, "No, Daniel. No, you ain't getting there yet."
Another phone call.
Exasperated, Daniel let out a sigh and answered the call, "Hello?"
The caller on the other end picked up on Daniel's irritation and spoke in a contrite tone, "Hello, Mr. Abelardo. I apologize for bothering you. There are individuals here at the building who are asking for you."
"Oh, Mr. Santos. Sorry. I'm just been getting a lot of phone calls all of a sudden. It's not you at all. Sorry. Who's looking for me anyway?" Daniel apologized and asked politely.
Mr. Santos then responded, "Oh, hahaha! I apologize, I thought I was bothering you. But it's good to know that it's not a bother at all. The people looking for you are reporters, and they've come to the building to interview you. However, I didn't want to let them in without your permission, so I held them off until I confirmed with you first."
"Why would they want to interview me?" Daniel asked before deciding, "Anyway, I'm currently at SM North and I'm about to head back. You can let them know they can wait for me if they want to."
With that, Daniel ended the call and started to make his way toward the parking lot once again, hoping that there wouldn't be any more interruptions this time.
After several minutes of walking, Daniel finally reached his motorcycle. He hopped on it and drove towards the parking exit, where he paid for his four-day parking fees. With everything settled, he left the mall and headed back to the condo building.
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