Man From Viral Everest College Commercial Shocks Social Media

If you grew up watching daytime television in the 2000s, you know the Everest College commercial. The one where a man looked directly into the camera and told you to stop sitting on the couch and letting life pass you by. That man's name is Babatunde Artunde, and in July 2024 he went viral all over again after a 2022 interview with YouTuber Curtiss King resurfaced on social media. The clip was picked up by the media page The Art of Dialogue and spread across X, Instagram, and TikTok, bringing Babatunde back into the spotlight.

In the interview, Babatunde revealed details about the making of the iconic commercial that shocked viewers. He explained that the commercial was not even filmed on the Everest College campus. Instead, they shot it in the parking lot of an Embassy Suites hotel on Thomas Street in Phoenix, Arizona. He said they did not have proper lighting, so they turned a car around and used the headlights, possibly even the brights, to light the scene. The buildings visible behind him in the commercial were not dorms or campus buildings at all.

The man from the classic Everest College commercial says he never went to college. (: Curtiss King TV/YouTube) pic.twitter.com/Y69qjveYAo — The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) July 10, 2024

The College Question

The moment that really sent social media into a frenzy was when Curtiss King asked Babatunde whether he had actually attended college. His initial response was blunt: he said he never went to Everest College and that if he had attended the school, he would not have been eligible to get paid for their commercials. The clip was shared with headlines saying the Everest College guy never went to college, which made the irony feel almost too perfect.

However, Babatunde later clarified the record after the clip went viral. He said he never claimed he did not go to college at all. He said he attended Phoenix College for about three semesters. The distinction mattered to him: he did not attend Everest specifically, but he was not someone who had zero college experience. The clarification did not get nearly as much attention as the original clip, which is how these things tend to go on social media.

The Legacy of the Commercial

The original Everest College commercial aired in 2008 and became a cultural touchstone, particularly in the Black community where it ran constantly on networks like BET. The aggressive, motivational tone of the ad made it both memorable and endlessly quotable. Babatunde's delivery was so distinctive that the commercial became the subject of memes, parodies, and references for years after it stopped airing.

In October 2024, Babatunde leaned into his legacy by recreating the commercial to encourage people to vote in the presidential election. The updated version used the same energy and format as the original, telling fans to get off the couch and get informed. The recreation proved that the commercial's appeal has not faded, and that Babatunde Artunde remains one of the most recognizable faces from early 2000s television advertising.