Sammy Stephens, Commercial Artist

WORDS – ROBERT WOOL
PHOTO – HARVI SAHOTA

In a crisp white jacket and black dress pants, Sammy Stephens, creator of one of the most famous web videos of the modern age, strolled into the MADE Paper office like he’d been there just yesterday. Acknowledging the star-struck gawkers around him, Sammy sat down and reeled off countless truths about being an entertainer, and about life in general. “What I do is entertain,” he says. Sammy, Flea Market Montgomery entrepreneur, the man who skyrocketed to fame with “It’s Just like a Mini Mall,” filled MADE Paper in about what it’s like to be an internet sensation.

We all know the story. Back in 2006, Sammy Stephens was known as that hilarious singing and dancing guy, courtesy of his local flea market commercials that ran constantly on the local television stations. As YouTube grew in popularity, Sammy was noticed nationwide. Sammy Stephens became our celebrity – dancing with Ellen Degeneres, satirized on “Saturday Night Live,” interviewed by Jay Leno, and a pop culture reference in everything from “The Cleveland Show” to “The Office.”

Today, Stephens is still working hard in the entertainment industry. Not only is he performing in and creating songs for commercials throughout the South and Midwest, he recently gave the green light to have his work featured on the newest season of Comedy Central’s “Workaholics.” He continues to receive many offers for airtime from reality TV shows, but the down-to-earth Stephens knows what projects to pass on. He explains, “I’m not a reality person, reality is kind of crazy.”

Raised in the now demolished Trenholm Court public housing project in West Montgomery, Stephens says he was always confident. ”People thought I just came into all of this. It wasn’t like that. It was my dream to be an entertainer and a celebrity.” Stephens is a savvy businessman, making sure to purchase the rights to his music from the onset. “I knew it was going to be big.”

Although Sammy carries a healthy sense of confidence – or what he describes as “self love” – fame hasn’t changed him. It would be difficult for anyone with over fifty million online views worldwide to maintain an air of realism, but as he says, “It changed people but it didn’t change me.”

Underneath the humor and swagger, Sammy’s backstory gives a seriousness and a level of understanding. His personal philosophies about problems in this community reflect this. “I look at people as being human and people are going to make mistakes.” He continuously speaks of a need to improve the environments in which we raise our children. “Look at the ones that are committing crime and you look at their background,” he says. “They don’t know any better. When that is your environment you don’t know nothing but that.”

Mr. Stephens believes this notion of humanity, forgiveness, and self love has been a major contributing factor to his success. Without this drive, he may not have had the ability to turn his life into such an uplifting story. “That’s on the video I made when I did the flea market rap. I talk about believing in yourself. Self love’s the greatest love in the world,” he says. “I was born and raised in the projects. Look at me now, I changed my environment, but now let’s go back to the Mini Mall.” - Made

With their low production values and quirky personalities, local commercials are YouTube staples. But Sammy Stephens' raps and dance moves for his Flea Market Montgomery ad gained nationwide attention and an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Sure, Stephens' boogie and bugged-out eyes are easy to mock, but the commercial is definitely effective. You know they sell living rooms, bedrooms and dinettes, and try as you might, "it's just like, it's just like, a mini-mall" will be stuck in your head all day.

By Megan Friedman - TIME

In case Sammy Stephens hasn’t come to your attention yet, here’s his rap video for Flea Market Montgomery, which really is just like a mini mall. After making this spot, Sammy ended up on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

—Posted by Tim Nudd - AdWeek

In December 2006, a local Montgomery newspaper, The Montgomery Advertiser hosted a remix contest of Sammy Stephens "It's Just Like A Mini Mall Song". Remix submissions were posted, allowing people to download the audio or a blue screen version of the video and chose their favorite remixes to be streamed on the site over the next month. - Montgomery Advertiser

It’s just like, it’s just like a phenomenon. Many people have reveled in their 15 minutes of fame after posting a video on YouTube, but Sammy Stephens, the rapping, dancing, big-eyed owner of Flea Market Montgomery, is turning his Internet-fueled celebrity into an expanding business.

Since his low-budget commercial began airing on television screens here last fall, leading to an appearance on Ellen DeGeneres’ daytime talk show in December, Stephens has become more than just a local celebrity. His flea market commercial garnered attention online, and calls started pouring in from people around the country seeking to book him for public appearances and businesses -- from Atlanta to Chicago to San Francisco -- wanting to hire him for their own ads.

Stephens estimates that the initial commercial cost him about $1,500 to make. The message -- the repetitive “it’s just like, it’s just like a mini mall" -- is one Stephens said he had used in commercials for several years, but he knew he had a hit when he got in the studio and came out with the rap.

“I knew it was going to be big, but how big I just didn’t know," Stephens said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Atlanta residents will soon be getting a dose of Stephens’ catchy beat. An Atlanta-based online auction site -- www.MyLiveBid.com -- has recorded television and radio commercials featuring Stephens and plans to put his image on the sides of buses and on billboards around the city starting in July.

“He’s a good person with a good heart and a very outstanding character," MyLiveBid.com owner Randy Parker said.

He added that Stephens has signed on to be the company spokesman and will record new commercials as the business moves into other markets.

Chicago-area retailer Walter E. Smithe Furniture has arranged to fly Stephens to Chicago to film a commercial. Tim Smithe, co-owner of the 13-store chain, said he first encountered Stephens when a number of people e-mailed him a link to the commercial on YouTube.

It made him smile.

“What we’ve learned is that if something makes us smile, it usually makes our customers smile," Smithe said. “Chicago is a city of big personalities, so I think Sammy will fit right in."

The furniture chain is known in the Chicago area for its lighthearted, entertaining commercials. Smithe and his brothers plan to appear in the spot as backup dancers, while Stephens raps about their furniture.

San Francisco-based cable network Current TV traveled to Montgomery in early June to film Stephens for a commercial promoting a new series of programs about viral videos -- a subject Stephens knows a lot about, having been a viral hit himself.

Click on link to read entire article. - Tuscaloosa News

By Jamon Smith
Staff Writer

TUSCALOOSA | The secret to Sammy Stephens’ success is dancing.

Stephens, the owner of Flea Market Montgomery, gained international renown for his bug-eyed dancing, rapping commercials, which have become a YouTube sensation.

“All you have to do is come up with the right gimmick,” Stephens said as he made a grand entrance, dancing and rapping for about 30 people who attended the monthly meeting of the Tuscaloosa Advertising Federation at the Four Points by Sheraton hotel in Tuscaloosa on Thursday.

“People want something that’s different, that’s unique,” he said. “I buck my eyes and dance to the left and to the right because people love it. People tell me they dance to my commercials all the time.”

Besides a good gimmick, Stephens said it never hurts to do some self-promotion.

It pays to “love yourself,” he said. “Why not brag about yourself? I know we all love Grandma and Mamma, but when you start bragging on yourself, good things start to happen.”

Stephens said he’s a prime example.

“See, I love myself,” he said. “I love me. I make it happen so I can get paid. I’m not bragging on Oprah and Jordan, I’m bragging on Sammy.”

Laura Lineberry, chair of the diversity committee for Tuscaloosa Advertising Federation, said she invited Stephens to speak because the organization’s members wanted to know “how a small-time local businessman was able to have such an international presence just through an advertising mechanism.”

She said the group learned a simple, though valuable lesson from Stephens.

“Advertising works,” Lineberry said.
Stephens, who declined to give his age, said he’s been in the advertising business for “quite some time,” but hasn’t always been successful.

“I used to be a radio announcer in the ’60s, but not a lot of people had heard of me,” Stephens said. “I also used to sell cars and automobiles in the ’70s and ’80s.”

Stephens said he got into the flea market business in 2002 when he rented a space at Flea Market Montgomery to sell toys and furniture.

However, the flea market didn’t do well, and in 2003 the owner put it up for sale.

“I bid on the lease and became the owner,” Stephens said. “Then I asked myself, ‘How am I going to make this work?”

Stephens said that’s when he came up with his now famous tagline, “It’s just like, it’s just like a mini-mall.”

“I repeated it so people would remember it,” he said. “I called the flea market a mini-mall because we have more than 25 stores there. Everything from hair salons and barber shops to furniture and clothes.”

Stephens’ catchy commercials, in which he would repeat the tagline over and over in a rap song while dancing and bugging out his eyes, increased business at the flea market, but it wasn’t until December 2006 that he got attention from the media.

“Ellen DeGeneres invited me on her show,” Stephens said. “She wanted me to come on in jeans and sneakers, but I came in my best suit dancing and rapping.”

“From there, I got on YouTube, VH1’s ‘WebJunk TV’ and Jay Leno.”

Stephens recently shot a commercial for Dunn’s Wholesale Auto Sales in Cottondale in which he and the owner, Mike Dunn, combine their popular taglines.

In the commercial, Stephens says “it’s just like, it’s just like, a Dunn …” and Mike Dunn finishes the line by saying “deal.”

Stephens, who declined to give his age, said he’s been in the advertising business for “quite some time,” but hasn’t always been successful.

“I used to be a radio announcer in the ’60s, but not a lot of people had heard of me,” Stephens said. “I also used to sell cars and automobiles in the ’70s and ’80s.”

Stephens said he got into the flea market business in 2002 when he rented a space at Flea Market Montgomery to sell toys and furniture.

However, the flea market didn’t do well, and in 2003 the owner put it up for sale.

“I bid on the lease and became the owner,” Stephens said. “Then I asked myself, ‘How am I going to make this work?”

Stephens said that’s when he came up with his now famous tagline, “It’s just like, it’s just like a mini-mall.”

“I repeated it so people would remember it,” he said. “I called the flea market a mini-mall because we have more than 25 stores there. Everything from hair salons and barber shops to furniture and clothes.”

Stephens’ catchy commercials, in which he would repeat the tagline over and over in a rap song while dancing and bugging out his eyes, increased business at the flea market, but it wasn’t until December 2006 that he got attention from the media.

“Ellen DeGeneres invited me on her show,” Stephens said. “She wanted me to come on in jeans and sneakers, but I came in my best suit dancing and rapping.”

“From there, I got on YouTube, VH1’s ‘WebJunk TV’ and Jay Leno.”

Stephens recently shot a commercial for Dunn’s Wholesale Auto Sales in Cottondale in which he and the owner, Mike Dunn, combine their popular taglines.

In the commercial, Stephens says “it’s just like, it’s just like, a Dunn …” and Mike Dunn finishes the line by saying “deal.”

Though Stephens gives himself most of the credit for his success, he said without marketing it wouldn’t have happened.

“Marketing is great,” Stephens said. “What it’s all about is loving you, getting a game plan and making it work.”

At the end of his speech, Stephens called Dunn and Tuscaloosa Advertising Federation’s newly inducted president, Katy Wallace, to the podium and taught them how to do his dance - The Tuscaloosa News

Among the guests at Tuesday night's celebration for Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright's re-election were a pair of New Yorkers, and they weren't really there for Bright.

They were following Montgomery's own Sammy Stephens, owner of Flea Market Montgomery, 2270 E. South Blvd., who has become world-famous for a song and dance about his business. It's a big hit on YouTube, and has earned him national media recognition.

The filmmakers' goal: Create a video that could spark interest in a reality television show about Stephens.

Avery Andon, of Andon Artists in New York, saw Stephens' online video on YouTube and immediately thought it would be a good idea for a show.

He called Sean Glass, an independent filmmaker from New York, and soon after the pair were on their way to Montgomery.

Glass discribed the current stage of their project as "an introduction" for Stephens, Flea Market Montgomery and the city itself.

- Shannon Heupel - Montgomery Advertiser

Freakiest Advertising Moment of 2007: Round 1, Vote 14.

See all previous votes here.
Here’s the full 64-team bracket.
Here are contenders 53 through 56.
53. Wendy’s helium inhalers. Fast-food eaters filled up on helium before getting the Wendy’s pitch in this commercial.
54. WA anti-smoking’s headless turkey. Washington state created a headless cold turkey with a nicotine habit in this anti-smoking campaign.

55. Sammy Stephens’s mini-mall ad. Sammy’s song for Flea Market Montgomery got him all the way to Ellen DeGeneres’s TV show.

56. MTV’s pooping elephants. A guitarist dreams of the big time, while shoveling elephant poo, in this MTV commercial.

Vote below for the freakiest of the four. Voting goes until 11 p.m. EST Thursday, and the winner advances to Round 2.

UPDATE: Sammy Stephens outlasts the elephant droppings and heads into the next round. See the voting results here. - AdWeek

About
The Flea Market Montgomery Commercial is a local advertisement video made for a flea market in Montgomery, Alabama. The video features local businessman and former radio personality Sammy Stephens rapping about the market with memorable catchphrases including “It’s just like a mini-mall.”

Origin
The commercial for Flea Market Montgomery was recorded some time in 2006 and a 30 second version was uploaded to YouTube by dogcows on October 7th of that year. A two minute version was uploaded by YouTuber teedadawg on November 30th, 2006. As of January 2012, the extended version has over 7.4 million views and over 165,000 Facebook shares.

Spread
The commercial first received mainstream attention in November 2006, when Alabama resident Kimberly Carr submitted the video to the daytime talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show in response to an open call for local commercials to air during the program. The video was broadcast later that same month and was parodied by the host Ellen Degeneres herself. A month later, Ellen invited Sammy to appear on the show, where he announced that he wanted to release a CD with remixes of the original rap.

In December 2006, a local Montgomery newspaper hosted a remix contest allowing people to download the audio or a blue screen version of the video and chose their favorite remixes to be streamed on the site over the next month. In January 2007, Flea Market Montgomery was shared and discussed on advertising sites AdWeek and Awful Commercials as well as entertainment sites CollegeHumor and the Break. It was defined on Urban Dictionary that February.
In June 2007, The Consumerist featured the video as part of a series called “Great Moments in Commercial History.” TBS blog Very Funny Ads shared the video in April 2009. That September, an mp3 version of the song was made available for purchase on Amazon as well as Sammy’s personal website. In March 2010, Flea Market Montgomery was named as one of TIME’s 50 best YouTube videos. That year, Rhett and Link named the video as one of their inspirations for their show Commercial Kings, which would go on to create the Ojai Valley Taxidermy commercial.

Mainstream Appearances
Actor Craig Robinson parodied the video twice on an episode of Reno 911! entitled “Deputy Dance” that originally aired on June 10th, 2009. His character, Levan French, made two commercials for linoleum floors and for the police department in the style of the Flea Market video.


Later that year, the Family Guy spinoff The Cleveland Show recreated the video in the fourth episode of the show, “Birth of a Salesman,” which first aired on October 18th, 2009.


Notable Derivatives
In 2008, Sammy Stephens recorded two more commercials using catchphrases from the original Flea Market Montgomery video for a local supermarket and the Atlanta Braves baseball team.


Search Interest
Flea Market Montgomery began picking up search traffic in December 2006 and peaked in April 2007. Search picked up again in April 2009 when it was featured in TIME Magazine. - Know Your Meme

Sammy Stephens is known best for his YouTube video “It’s Just Like a Mini-Mall”. The video has received almost 8 million hits and rocketed Sammy into pop-culture history. Since then “It’s Just Like a Mini-Mall” has been featured “The Ellen Degeneres Show” and even parodied in “The Cleveland Show”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Sammy about his success and what he has planned for 2012.

Mike Gencarelli: Give us the origin of how you came up with the tagline “It’s just like a mini-mall”?
Sammy Stephens:I used to do commercials for the flea-market. I used to always say, “The Flea Market Montgomery, it’s just like…it’s just life a mini-mall.” The reason why I said that is because when I took over the flea-market, it was only selling antique stuff and people weren’t supporting the Flea Market at that time. So, I said I was going to bring in some new merchandise along with other venders and it will be like a mall, and that is how the mini-mall terminology was born. I was seriously talking with myself about the idea, and I said, “Sammy, how are you gonna make this work?” And then I decided to develop the tagline that we now know and love today. But I figured that this alone was not going to catch the people’s undivided attention, so I figured I needed to repeat myself and make it memorable. I wanted something that would stick in the people’s minds and whenever they heard it, they would automatically think of Flea Market Montgomery. I said, “When it comes to saving money, there’s only one place to shop in Montgomery, and that’s the The Flea Market Montgomery…it’s just like…it just like a mini-mall. Oh yeah!” So that’s how that tagline and the beginnings of a very popular commercial jingle came about.

MG: Tell us about your process creating the rap and the video for the commercial?
SS:A friend of mine came to me one day, and he had this jingle. I liked it, but I wanted something more upbeat. So one night, we were in the studio in his house, and he told me we where going to cut some tracks. He told me that when he plays the music, he wanted me to talk over it. So I said “Living rooms, bedroom, dinettes. Oh yeah. You can find it at the market. We’re talkin’ ‘bout Flea Market. It’s just like…it’s just like a mini mall. Oh yeah.” I thought it sounded really cool with the music. I did the line in a few different voices, so when you listen to the song you hear all these different voices in the background and they are all me. We had about 32 seconds, so I told him I was going to buy sometime on the radio and make a rap out of it. Then I hired this guy from the TV station to help me make the video. We shot the video, edited it, and put it together and that’s the video you see on You Tube. But the real video is only 30 seconds, which is what they played on TV here in Montgomery. The original video is about 2 minutes and 2 seconds long on You Tube.

MG: What was your reaction when this video became viral on You Tube?
SS: When I made the video, I just knew it was going to be a hit. I had a feeling in my heart because it was so unique. What happened was that Ellen Degeneres got a hold of it. She asked her viewers to send in their favorite commercials. So, some young woman sent in my commercial, and Ellen played it on her television show. She said that out of all the videos that she received, mine was the only one she really liked. From there, I started to get phone calls from radio stations and text messages from all over. The first call I got was from a radio station in Florida, and they also wanted to interview me on the air and it just blew my mind.

MG: Tell us about your experience then going on “The Ellen Degeneres Show”?
SS: Well, she called me and invited me to “The Ellen Degeneres Show”. It was quite an experience. She and I were dancing together of course. It was just such a rush and an amazing time. She is a really nice woman, and I was lucky to be on that show. I hope to be on the show again in the near future. Thanks so much again Ellen. Call me.

MG: How did you get involved with the AMC Sprint Commercial shown in theaters? Tell us about that experience?
SS: That was a really great experience as well. They flew me down to California and treated me to the works. They took me to this huge theater, and they had rented out the entire place for us to shoot the Spring commercial. It was a lot of fun and very impressive. The only thing is that it is not being shown at theaters down here in Montgomery, Alabama, so a lot of people I know haven’t had a chance to see it yet.

MG: What else do you have planned for 2012?
SS: I am trying to get an internet radio show going currently. So when I get that accomplished, I am going to be live at 5 in the morning for the morning drive at 5. It will be called “The Sammy Stephens Morning Show.” If you go to YouTube and look up “The Sammy Stephens Morning Show,” you can see one of the shows that I did last year. I think it will be a really big hit. I also have a new single that is coming out as well. It is going to be great. So I’ve got a lot of things coming up this year for sure! Stay tuned, and remember, log on to SammyStephensTV.com. - Media Mikes

See? Not all rap is about guns and drugs. - College Humor

Flea Market Montgomery- Long Version
# 15 out of 50. - VIDeBASE

Trivia: Gained fame through a commercial of his "Flea Market" shop in Montgomery, Alabama. The commercial features him rapping and dancing on the inside and in the parking lot of the "Flea Market", repeating several times the slogan "It's just like, it's just like, a mini-mall!" It was discovered by local DJs, then spread out in video hosting sites across... - IMDb

by Adam Finley, posted May 12th 2007 11:01AM

I was pokin' around NBC's YouTube channel the other day when I came across this video of Leno interviewing celebrity lookalikes on the street.

The bit isn't all that funny, but check out the first guy Jay interviews. That's right, it's Sammy Stephens, owner of Flea Market Montgomery in Montgomery, Alabama. Stephens' commercial, which features him both rapping and dancing has made him a minor celebrity both online and on TV (Ellen DeGeneres loved his commercial and invited him on to her show).


During the bit, Stephens says people sometimes tell him he looks like Jesse Jackson, but I don't see it. I do have to give the man credit for knowing how to promote his business, though. He not only mentions his flea market, he's even wearing a t-shirt with his "It's Just Like, It's Just Like, a Mini Mall" slogan on it.
Oh yeah, and I'm mentioning it here. I guess I'm part of the Sammy Stephens promotional juggernaut. - HUFFPOST TV

by Adam Finley, posted Feb 17th 2007 12:01PM

Courtesy of Boing Boing comes this local commercial for a flea market in Montgomery, Alabama. Yes, it's silly, lame, and goes on a little too long, but for a locally-produced ad, it's really not that bad. I'm not expecting high quality from local advertising, anyway.

The man in the video is the owner of Flea Market Montgomery, Sammy Stephens. In case the video isn't enough, I would like to remind you that his store is just like a mini ... mall. Stephens has already gained some notoriety, most notably on The Ellen Show when host Ellen DeGeneres asked him to appear because she found his commercial so funny.

Click ahead, crank up your computer speakers, and get down with what is most likely the greatest rap song ever written about a flea market. - HUFFPOST TV