This is how my friend and I made a $0 budget 60-second tv spot on the night of the NYC Blizzard
Dr. Bronner’s – “Find Your Everything”
AGENCY // Fully Thrifted
Ross Yenerich // Creative Director, Copywriter, Editor, Sound
Maximus Van Der Westhuizen // Director, DP, Art Director, Colorist
STARRING //
Owen Lawton as Guy
Laila Rakhamim as Girl
Madoc Wade as Roommate
Alan Lidji as “Dr. Bronner” (Narrator)
Music // “OH! TENGO SUERTE” by Masayoshi Takanaka
This is a spec ad and is not affiliated with Dr. Bronner’s (unless they want to talk business).
What Spotify Wrapped taught me about marketing myself as a hip-hop artist:
The music won’t sell itself.
No matter what quality of music you’re making, if you want to be heard, you have to put yourself out there.
I was posting about my music, but I wasn’t doing anything to get heard outside the circles that already exist. People who knew me knew – and that was mostly it.
I always hated the idea of “commodifying” my art. That was a real moral conflict for me. But I want people to hear my music. I want people to connect and engage with it.
I used to see entertainment vs. art as a real debate. I don’t think that holds anymore. The art and the marketing are two separate things.
The art stays the art.
The marketing meets people where they already are.
My numbers were down this year. I put out less music, and I barely marketed it. Those things go hand in hand.
You can’t sell a bland product.
And a great thing isn’t great if nobody knows about it.
A look at the 2025 Spotify Wrapped for the artists of Fully Thrifted.
Progress isn't always linear. But we'll continue to move forward. Expect new music from us all in 2026.
Fully Thrifted 📈
One year ago today, Rossy (now Ross Why) released his first album: Milwaukee Made Me / Wisconsin Went Worldwide.
“It marks a period of life when I really felt like I was beginning to figure things out. Of course, it’s a lifelong process. But the years this was worked on (2021–2024) marked the embarkment of a significant journey of discovering myself.
“It’s full of contradictions, half-baked ideas, and that’s part of why it’s beautiful. Art isn’t about perfection, but about process and honesty.
“The realization that Wisconsin’s not forever, but it did – in part – make me the man I am today. At the time of release, I had spent several years in Dallas, a summer in London, various other short stints globally, and I had ambitions of making it to New York to pursue my creative career and passions.
“Not only is it the story of anyone who wants to fulfill their potential, but about the fuel that pushes them into that place.” – Ross Why
Near the end of the work, in the summer of 2024, Fully Thrifted was born — the philosophy of repurposing what’s old and breathing new life into it.
