Two years ago, the first “I’m Shmacked” video was posted to YouTube and followed the students of Temple University as they ate pizza, threw back shots of alcohol and smoked marijuana. Since then, their Facebook page has garnered more than 88,000 likes and their videos have accumulated more than a million views.

On Tuesday evening, the “I’m Shmacked” crew drove down to Atlanta as part of its fall college tour and hosted a party at the Atlanta nightclub Tongue and Groove to begin filming their Emory “I’m Shmacked” video.

The “I’m Shmacked” videos have become “a movement,” Co-Founder Arya Toufanian said in an interview with the Wheel.

“I’m Shmacked” announced the party on Twitter on Oct. 17 writing, “Emory. We’ll be putting a show on for you Tuesday night. More info [and tickets] coming soon.” The tweet was retweeted more than 100 times.

Toufanian explained that friends from high school who are now in Greek life at Emory convinced him and Co-Founder Jeffrie Ray, who goes by “Yofray,” to add Emory as a stop on the Fall Tour.

Students lined up outside of the club to get in, and Yofray spent much of the night roaming the club and lines outside behind his camera.

Amid students yelling “I’m Shmacked” at the camera, the crew filmed students drinking, dancing and kissing throughout the night.

“Here we go,” Ray yelled while filming a group of students dancing.

“[The event] was a great time between amazing individuals,” Toufanian said.

Although many students said the night was fun, others complained that the timing of the arrival of “I’m Shmacked” on a Tuesday night made it very difficult for Emory students to attend.

“It was a fun night, but I know a lot of people who really wanted to go but couldn’t, either because they had a class the next day or homework,” College sophomore David Schupper said. “It’s unfortunate because I think the turnout could have been much larger than it actually was.”

Other students had mixed reviews.

“I thought it was full of freshmen and not very crowded,” College junior Courtney Chow said. “The music was great though, and it was still fun.”

Others also acknowledged the lack of attendance.

“It was really fun! We didn’t fill up the [club] completely, but everyone that was there was definitely shmacked,” College freshman Suzanne Burzillo said.

Toufanian acknowledged that the timing might not have been optimal but wrote, “For a Tuesday during midterms did you see that crowd?”

He added that if he and Ray make a video, it will be excellently produced, and it is possible that if the two decide to hold off on making the video, they will do so until they can “revisit Emory and do [it] properly.”

In regard to when he thought “I’m Shmacked” would return to Emory, Toufanian wrote, “Maybe spring? Maybe sooner…”

The “I’m Shmacked” videos have been featured on such publications as The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Huffington Post.

Toufanian, who said “‘I’m Shmacked’… is a rapidly growing business,” said the team has made more than six figures as of September 2013 and is continuing to expand the brand with “think-tank hubs at universities like Michigan, Penn State, Indiana and Syracuse.”

The tour will continue to Florida where they will hit the University of Central Florida, the University of Florida and Florida State University.

Dustin Slade
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Atlanta Hawks Beat Writer |
Dustin is a senior from Miami, FL in the Goizueta Business School studying strategy & management consulting and finance. He joined the Wheel’s editorial board in the spring of his freshman year and spent the next two years helping lead and shape the news team. Outside of the Wheel, Dustin is also a member of Zeta Beta Tau fraternity and an avid South Florida sports fan… even without LeBron James.