Raleigh’s mysterious ‘Drunktown Guy’ is finally unmasked — sort of — by NC blogger

As a cross between Raleigh’s unofficial mascot and a never-ending internet joke, “Drunktown Guy” has enjoyed the past seven years as an anonymous poster child for alcoholic excess — forever frozen in mid-upchuck as he steadied himself against a light pole.

But now Jeremy Markovich, longtime NC journalist and podcaster, has scored an exclusive chat with the star of Raleigh’s notorious 2015 anti-booze campaign ad, which has outlived its political moment but endured as a meme.

In this week’s installment of his substack NC Rabbit Hole, Markovich tracks down the model for the Drunktown ad, revealing his identity only as Mike, an NC State University graduate, and spills the story behind the iconic shot.

Nearly a decade removed, Mike tells Markovich he did it strictly for the money.

Beer money, ironically. But the whole thing spun wildly beyond expectations.

“If I had known that the ad was going to look like that,” Mike said, “then I might have said, ‘Yeah, now here’s your money back. Go find some other schmuck.’ Right? It’s not something that I personally agreed with, but at the end of the day, you know, it is what it is. I wasn’t devastated.”

What’s the story behind ‘Drunktown’?

Some context:

In 2015, downtown Raleigh had fully emerged from decades of dormancy. Long lines stretched outside its barrooms and clubs, and patrons developed a reputation for sometimes wobbling down the sidewalks, leaving portions of their evening meals behind.

The ad emerged in The News & Observer, featuring Mike on his lamppost, accusing then-Councilwoman Mary-Ann Baldwin and her “minions” of kowtowing to bar owners and asking, “Do we really want downtown Raleigh to become DrunkTown?”

Markovich sought out Mike because Raleigh only recently created a “social drinking district,” where alcohol can be consumed outside, as people stroll from spot to spot.

“I’m here to get you caught up on a minor political kerfuffle that turned into a niche local meme that birthed an insidery nickname for our fine capital city,” Markovich wrote for the uninitiated. “You may have once laughed at Drunktown. DRUNKTOWN WAS A PROPHECY.”

Mike, it turns out, was an NC State student who applied for an internship and then consulting job at Campaign Connections, which created the ad. After he’d finished the job, a photographer there asked if he’d help out as the subject in an upcoming ad.

“It was a few hundred bucks,” Mike told NC Rabbit Hole. “I think, for like an hour’s worth of work. It was just easy money. And I thought to myself, sure, why not? ... He didn’t give me the full details of everything that it would imply. He said it would go out in some kind of ad. Like, obviously, it was something about drinking.”

The ad is meant to look like the bars have just emptied at 2 a.m., but Mike recalled it being shot in the early evening. And though it’s meant to recreate downtown, Drunktown’s set location is on Edwards Mill Road.

At one point, Mike explained to NC Rabbit Hole, he filled his mouth with mushroom soup or clam chowder and spewed it on the sidewalk, tidying up afterward.

Months passed before the ad went viral, and Mike had no idea he’d soon be starring in memes alongside Wolfpack basketball Coach Jim Valvano, or stumbling down a snow-covered Raleigh street in an even more famous weather meme.

“My dad was obsessed with all the memes,” he said. “I think his favorite one was that picture during the winter where that car is on fire. He wanted to get that one printed out.”

Mike never gets recognized, except for a few times when he posed as Drunktown Guy for Halloween and a few politically savvy people caught on. It didn’t traumatize his life, he told Markovich, and for the record, he supports the new social drinking district for livening up downtown.

Given a chance to identify himself further, adding dimension to his Drunktown legacy, Mike told Markovich he’s a regular guy who is not-so-secretly pulling for his alter-meme-ego.

One last thing:

“I can hold my alcohol.”

This story is part of our regular “On the Bright Side” feature. Got a suggestion for a story that will bring a smile to our readers? E-mail Josh Shaffer at jshaffer@newsobserver.com.