How US Youtuber Phuc Map conquered hearts and minds after calling his mother-in-law a stupid bitch...by accident, of course!

Three steps to Phuc Map’s success

• A deep understanding of Vietnamese culture and sense of humour
• Honesty and authenticity in his efforts to speak Vietnamese
• Consistently appearing in front of Vietnamese audiences

There's a well-proven formula for expat content creators looking to get popular in Vietnam:

Do what the Vietnamese do.

Channels like Vietnam Meets Dustin, Will in Vietnam, and Cee Jay Official have racked up millions of views with content featuring Vietnamese dishes and explorations of local culture.

But Phuc Map, real name Brandon Hurley, has truly mastered the game.

His Youtube channel has over 500,000 subscribers, with many videos hitting millions of views. 

His TikTok is even more impressive, reaching nearly a million followers. 

His trademark reddish bushy beard makes him a familiar face on various reality TV shows. 

However, the secret to Phuc Map’s success in connecting with Vietnamese audiences over the last five years since his first YouTube video goes beyond just adopting a Vietnamese name and lifestyle.

Humour that works in Vietnam

Phuc Map first went viral with a video of him wearing Vietnamese women’s pyjamas walking around Ho Chi Minh City with his new cockfighting pet chicken (which turned out to be a hen).

The video hit 1.1 million views on YouTube, with no fancy effects or trending sounds. 

Since then, slapstick has always been his go-to style, making him one of the funniest expat Youtubers in Vietnam. 

This success wasn’t just dumb luck but rather a result of a thorough understanding of Vietnamese culture.

“I came to appreciate how Vietnamese humour is very different from what I'm used to in the West”, says Phuc Map in this episode of You Don’t Know Vietnam, reflecting on when his Youtuber friend faced backlash for overly relying on satire. 

“In America, it’s quite normal to make fun of politicians or people in higher places. But in Vietnam, you don’t do that…You don’t want to speak ill of their culture, food and history,” Phuc Map explains.

“You have to be very careful in this society because Vietnamese people are more of a collective society. If you make some of them mad, chances are you’re going to make A LOT of them mad.”

Even though he seems to have picked up the right style of humour from Vietnamese comedians, with whom he participated in the reality show 2 Ngay 1 Dem, it’s still very easy to cross the line with satire. 

Luckily, Phuc Map has his Vietnamese wife, who reviews his content before it airs, as his ‘scout on the ridge’.

“My wife, I have to give her a lot of credit. She stopped me from making a few videos. They were to the point where I'd be kicked out of the country.’’

When language blunders go viral

Scrolling through his videos, Vietnamese audiences can compare Phuc Map to how people see Sofia Vergara in the US. 

Both come from different cultures, have very thick, distinctive accents, and manage to charm people with their naive, goofy attempts at speaking the language.

Vietnamese audiences find Phuc Map’s content engaging precisely because of its heavy accent, accidental swearing, and off-colour humour.

“One time I got the tone wrong and called my mother-in-law a stupid bitch in front of the whole family, and everybody just laughed it off. I made an Instagram reel about it and it did very well.”  

“The Vietnamese are much more forgiving with regards to the language. 

You are going to get a whole lot of leeway when you say things wrong as a foreigner… They don't get upset with you. 

“They appreciate the effort.” Phuc Map explains.

How Phuc Map turns his pratfalls into viral content says a lot about Vietnamese culture. 

At its core, this is a culture where people value trust and honesty. 

A small mistake in language or behaviour is generally forgiven as long as you demonstrate your efforts to immerse yourself in the culture.

Consistency is Vietnamese social media magic dust

“If I stop creating tomorrow, somebody else is going to jump in. You can always be replaced in one form or another,” says Phuc.

Social media still feels like a dog-eat-dog world even for content creators who have successfully built a personal brand in Vietnam, like Phuc Map. 

Vietnam has more than 200,000 content creators across platforms, and with the rise of short-form content and unpredictable algorithms, the competition is becoming more intense than ever.

“I have done trends and had viral videos from trends. But if you are trying to be as connected to your community and be a regular staple in their social media lives, the trends won’t help much.”

Consistency is the most important. Uploading regularly, always putting yourself in front of your audiences helps not only with the audience but also the algorithm,” he notes.

Building audiences in Vietnam is difficult - many have failed or disappeared after just one hit. 

Content creators like Phuc Map have succeeded because he’s funny, understands the culture, and you’ll always see his face whenever you open a social media app, whether you like his content or not.

Want to find out how to build a consistent social media presence through compelling content? Contact us at [email protected]