YouTubers hand out roses at USU
The Edgington brothers, also known as Stuart and Stephen Edge, spend their free time wearing life-sized teddy bears from Costco and creating YouTube videos.
While the two brothers work together on the YouTube channel, Stuart is the owner.
Stuart’s channel started in 2012 and by Oct. 2016, the Utah-based YouTuber had 2.5 million followers.
Stuart spent Friday afternoon filming Stephen, his younger brother, in a life-sized teddy bear costume handing out roses to students on the Utah State University campus.
“We just decided to walk around in a teddy bear costume and hand out flowers,” Stephen said.
While Stuart is normally the actor in his own videos, he said he enjoys having Stephen be the subject because it “kind of takes him out of the picture.”
Stuart also said he enjoys having Stephen wear a teddy bear costume because he likes the anonymity behind the idea and he thinks people feel connected to the bear.
“It’s like, I’m posting it under my name but even still I think people really connect with the bear because it’s a bear. He’s kind of awkward when you see him walking around but when you see him in the video, he’s awkward and I think people really relate to that,” Stuart said.
Although Stuart said he thinks people connect to the bear in the video, he and his brother have received strange reactions from those who see them shooting.
“A lot of people almost get weirded out because you don’t normally see a teddy bear walking around campus,” he said.
However, he also said the majority of people they encounter think the idea is “cute, and they’ll want to give hugs or take pictures.”
USU is the third venue the brothers have used for their bear videos — others included Stephen in the bear costume playing football and skateboarding in Provo.
Stephen said due to the fact that the teddy bear suit was not designed as a costume for humans, it is uncomfortable for him to wear at times.
“It’s tough because cute girls will come by and when I take off the hood of the costume, my head is all sweaty because I’m wearing a giant cotton ball,” Stephen said.
Stephen said he received the role of wearing the costume because “Stuart is my older brother so I kind of have to do what he says.”
However, he said he enjoys wearing the costume and making people smile.
While the channel has 2.5 million followers and Stuart has been covered on platforms including Wikipedia and Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show, the Edge brothers do not expect to gain profit from their work.
“We just have fun making videos, and we like to make people smile and laugh,” Stuart said.
The two decided to hand out roses in honor of Valentine’s Day because “giving and making people smile” are things they value.
While the brothers are Cache Valley natives, they have spent the past four years traveling around the world making comedy videos including pranks, magic tricks and flash-mobs.
The two live by the motto “amaze and inspire the world.”
@Alison__Berg
Photo by: Shanie Howard