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Lucas Talks Venmo Subway Ads: "The Absolute Funniest Thing That Has Ever Happened To Me"
By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 7, 2014
Modified Feb 7, 2014
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 7, 2014
Modified Feb 7, 2014
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If you have eyes and have ridden on the subway, then you've certainly come across Lucas, the semi-mustachioed face of Venmo. The ads for the app, which allows you to exchange payments with friends via your smartphone, became ubiquitous this winter, as well as ubiquitously mocked, especially since Lucas' unblinking visage came packaged with nonsensical phrases such as "Lucas takes the stairs" and "Lucas has dreams." But the real life Lucas Chi has been taking his newfound fame in stride: "It is the absolute funniest thing that has ever happened to me," he told Fast Company. "It's still crazy to think that there are posters of me all over the city just staring off into space with that mustache (if I can call it that)."
Chi, who joined the company four months ago, really does work for Venmo as a software engineer; he was chosen for the ads after one of the company's cofounders saw him making coffee one morning and was struck by inspiration: "Apparently 'Lucas uses Venmo' has a good cadence," he noted. He says he's gotten recognized on the subway, in the gym, and even in dim sum restaurants—they mostly ask to take photos with him.
Of course, the most important part of all this is the question of his mustache.
The most interesting piece of conversation was something I overheard a man asking some coworkers of mine. After finding out that they worked for Venmo he asked, "How did he get his mustache like that? Did he go through and pluck every other hair? It's just so ... sparse."
He explained why he didn't shave it off for the shoot: "I didn't have a choice. We shot the ads during Movember." Go ahead and make Lucas do whatever you want here.
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lucas
lucas chi
mustache envy
subway
subway ads
venmo
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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