Observation
Those with a religious or woo-woo bent have thousands of spiritual teachers to choose from – Jesus, Buddha, the Pope, L Ron Hubbard, Dr Phil – but who provides this crucial guidance to the secular and skeptical among us? We located an unfulfilled need in the culture for a secular deity who’s wise but fun, edgy but positive: a Guru to have when you’re not having a Guru.
Our Response
Guru Adrian provides spiritual guidance free of dogma, wind chimes and wizardry. He’s the Non Prophet, the Savior Self, a pop-cultural Sage for the Ages. We introduced the Guru and his wise sayings, or Adrianisms, via a comic strip for Sydney radio station Triple J and followed up with street posters, t-shirts, stickers and badges. He graduated from a black & white comic strip in Alan Magazine to a color, full page in Countdown Magazine.
Impact
Guru Adrian became a popular meme in Australia, gaining a large cult following of young non-conformists who found in the boy guru a sense of belonging. They adopted Adrianetics (his Philosophy of Fun), wrote his wise sayings on their notebooks and backpacks, spray-painted his face on the city’s streets and walls, and bought hundreds of Guru Adrian Fun Packs, each containing a t-shirt, badge, stickers, and Fun Credit Card.
