Jimmy Tatro, an economics freshman and member of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, is the star and creator of the YouTube video “”Frat Life.”” The satirical clip depicts life in a college fraternity and has gone viral with more than 400,000 total hits. The Daily Wildcat had a chance to catch up with the man behind the meme.

What inspired you to create “”Frat Life””?

I wanted to combine all the aspects of the stereotypical “”frat guy”” that everyone seems to make fun of and put it into one video. People perceive men in fraternities as guys who just love to party, and that all they do is talk about the girls they hooked up with. That is not actually what being in a fraternity is like, but that’s what everyone likes to make fun of.

How has your perception of fraternity life changed since you joined one?

I used to think of fraternity life just as a way to party, and before coming to college, I didn’t think I would join one. I thought that guys in fraternities were like the guy in the video. Now, I see my fraternity as a tight-knit group of guys that just want to have fun. We are like a big group of best friends that hang out all the time, and most of my best friends are in my pledge class. I think of it as a brotherhood.  

How did your fraternity brothers react to the video?

They thought it was pretty hilarious. I thought that some of them would get kind of mad, but they all pretty much just thought it was funny.

Did you think the video would become so viral?

I thought it would get pretty big, but I didn’t know it would get this big so quickly. It caught on and just kind of exploded. I posted the video on some of my friends’ Facebook walls, and after that it’s like I pushed the rock down the hill and it just started rolling.

What are the general reactions you have received from the video?

I have gotten more positive reactions from people I see in person, but people on the Internet are usually pretty negative. The people on the Internet say ridiculous things. Half of the comments are so explicit, and myself and people who know I’m kidding find them so ridiculous.

What are some of the weirdest reactions you have received as a result of the video?

Some people have come up to me and said that they know me from somewhere but don’t know from where, then after five minutes of talking to them, they realize I am the guy from the video. A few random girls that I didn’t know asked me to be in a relationship with them on Facebook. I apologize to those girls for not accepting, but I thought that it might be a little bit weird.

How did you go about making the video?

I wrote down all of the main ideas in a notebook when I thought of them in the course of my pledge semester. Once I had a bunch of quotes written down, I filmed that in four days and had almost all my clips, with only a few more that I needed to add. I saw another YouTube video mocking sororities, and I figured that I better make a move. I put the video up the following day, so in total it took about six days to make. None of it was really improvisation. A lot of the things I thought of, filmed right away, and they became crucial points in the video.

Did you do all the filming yourself?

I filmed the parts where I am by the dorm doing the interview. During parts filmed where the camera wasn’t stationary, I would grab a friend and ask them to quickly film that part. I knew all of the people in the video.

Was the video aimed at any fraternity in particular?

No. The video was not meant to be offensive in any way to anybody, it is just something satirical that everyone can laugh at and relate to.

What is your favorite quote from the video?

The quote where he says that he chases shots with muscle milk. I think that’s a good one.