Viral Staples Videos

Staples has an employee turned social media star with fun viral videos. The “Staples Baddie” Kaeden Rowland’s somehow makes office products look interesting.

In this video, with 5.7 million views, she explains how to make a signature stamp.

Rowland says she’s autistic and wanted to show her work as a print specialist:

I was like, How can I make people really feel, not just see, the passion I have for these stationery office products?

Staples leadership supports her authentic videos, which we might expect given her following. User comments include, “You are single-handedly saving staples,” and “omg are you the staples baddie i saw someone do a presentation in their class about????” The main Staples social account engages on some videos, as you see here.

An engaging class project can ask students to develop a video series relevant to a brand that could go viral. What might make the videos take off? How would they ensure that series aligns with brand values? What are the risks and challenges?