Social media influencer Joshua Schaffer has recently been spotted around Chapel Hill — and he's hard to miss.
Schaffer perused around the Pit, skirted down Franklin Street and cruised down the quad — all while sporting a Mario suit, driving a go-kart and blaring songs from the Mario Kart games. Students refer to him as the "Mario Kart Man."
Schaffer runs multiple social media accounts where he has amassed a large following — most notably on TikTok where he has over 900,000 followers. Spreading joy is a large theme on both his Instagram and TikTok pages, where he shares videos of his shenanigans.
Some of Schaffer’s TikToks show him extinguishing an animated fire and throwing plushie shells at people and cars while in his go-kart.
Patrick McPode, Schaffer’s social media manager, said the two are performing the social media gag in different places across the country.
“Josh literally passed through North Carolina after he dropped me off at the airport to get a hotel,” McPode said in a message to The Daily Tar Heel after they had left UNC. “We just went to Alabama and are currently in Texas. Next stop is California.”
McPode is often seen participating in the videos, and the two often exchange gold coins — reminiscent of those used in Mario games.
Schaffer and McPode are also active on YouTube, where they post videos of their interactions with people from different cities, including in Chicago, Illinois and New York City.
On campus, numerous students encountered Schaffer and took to social media to share their experiences with him. Schaffer even made a pit stop at the Pit, letting passersby take a joyride in his go-kart.
