The Where the Hell is Matt? phenomenon started way back in the good ol’ days of 2006, when game designer and traveller Matt Harding filmed  himself dancing in locations around the world.
The sequence of moves was cut and edited, put in front of a soundtrack and thrown on to YouTube. It became an instant hit. A proper viral, you might say.
A chewing gum brand took notice and sponsored Harding to jet off again in 2006, this time producing a broader effort in terms of the number of counties featuring the now infamous dance move.
Another video arrived in 2008Â and the Where the Hell is Matt movement exploded – Harding was invited to speak at conferences and had numerous media appearances.
Despite the massive popularity of the videos and Harding, the travel industry watched on and tried to emulate with various, often very unsuccessful clones of their own. Harding had the buzz and the brand.
It is still somewhat perplexing that a global travel brand (Lonely Planet is the name that is mentioned most often as a likely partner) didn’t jump in with Harding and form a partnership (he did it with a chewing gum manufacturer, remember!).
Anyway, fast forward to 2012 and Harding has returned with a new video. It follows the same format and has not lost a scintilla of its original charm.
If anything, Harding’s videos still capture the essence of travel, discovery, culture and people.
Here is the 2012 edition:
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I remember this, twice. I also seem to remember a host of those fail attempts at duplicating it.
From what I recall this all started with a stick of chewing gum
Now that’s some travel sponsor!
@dave – yes, as mentioned in the story, a chewing gum brand (Stride) paid for matt to produce the 2006 effort.
The brand is not featured in the closing credits in the latest version, so I’m not sure if the alliance has remained.