Love it or hate it, Blackstone’s latest holiday video has created a stir on the Internet for its Taylor Swift-theme.
Shot in mockumentary style, Blackstone released “The Alternatives Era Tour” on Thursday to coincide with its annual Christmas parties. The video, by Friday afternoon, had racked up more than 600,000 views, with its biggest draws on LinkedIn and YouTube, a spokesman said. While these numbers may seem tiny when compared to a real Taylor Swift video, in private equity they’re huge. Apollo Global Management, a Blackstone rival, also released a holiday video earlier this month. "No New Toys” has garnered just 15,000 views on YouTube. (Apollo doesn’t have an account on Tik Tok or X, a spokesman said.)
Blackstone’s "Alternatives” video is easily the firm’s most successful and most viral holiday outing, Jonathan Gray, Blackstone’s president and COO told Fortune. "This thing has had more of viral push than anything we’ve ever had. Amazing people from different walks of life are reaching out about it,” Gray said in an interview Friday.
“Alternatives” is the sixth holiday video from Blackstone since Gray was named president and COO of the firm in 2018. That year, the demise of BX’s holiday party was the subject of Blackstone’s holiday video and firm execs riffed about how it was a test of Gray’s leadership. (The 2018 holiday video, a parody of TV show, The Office, starts out with Gray shouting at his assistant, “Laurie! Did you hear? They canceled the holiday party. Everyone in my conference room. Five minutes.” That video has received 54,000 views on YouTube.)
Each year, Blackstone’s holiday videos follow a loose structure, often featuring the same executives. The videos are always released on Thursday, to coincide with the firm’s holiday parties. Gray, the heir apparent at Blackstone, is the over-enthusiastic CEO who forces a silly idea on his reluctant staff. Stephen Schwarzman, who co-founded Blackstone in 1985, often delivers a heartwarming message. (Many times, he is pushing his book, What it Takes.) By the end of the videos, everyone at Blackstone is on board with Gray’s scheme.
Coming up with something funny is hard work. Since April, Gray and his staff have been “spitballing” ideas, usually on weekends, on what would make a funny video or how to make fun of the firm. They considered many things, even AI, Gray said.
The inspiration for “Alternatives” came after Gray, his wife and four daughters, who are in their twenties, attended a Taylor Swift concert in Los Angeles in August. “My wife claims it was her idea, I claim it was mine. We came back [from the concert] and I was like "Guys, this is what we do,” Gray said.
The process to create “Alternatives” was very organic with Blackstone staffers sometimes ad-libbing funny lines while filming, Gray said. Blackstone’s in-house production team, led by Jay Gillespie, SVP marketing, created, edited and filmed the video. Filming, in bits and pieces, began after Halloween, with the majority completed in two to three weeks, Gray said. “I did the crowd surfing thing on Tuesday,” he said.
Schwarzman, Blackstone’s CEO, was hugely enthusiastic about the video, Gray said. “Everyone wanted to be a part of [the video],” he said.
In case you haven’t seen “Alternatives” yet, Gray is an ardent Taylor Swift fan who is following the musician around the world. "We need to go on tour like Taylor and we will raise a billion dollars," Gray tells his staff while wearing a white cardigan like his hero. Michael Chae, Blackstone’s CFO, reminds him that Blackstone reached $1 trillion in assets earlier this year. But Gray wants a tour and won’t be denied. "Fireworks. Glow sticks. Those little helmets with the ice cream…and then an epic performance starring us,” Gray says.
In typical Blackstone style, “Alternatives” features several self-deprecating moments. “AIG says they’ll insure the tour but only if we don’t make them go,” deadpans Gilles Dellaert, head of Blackstone’s newly combined credit and insurance group (BXCI).
“Just this once, I hope people do confuse us with Blackrock,” said Christine Anderson, Blackstone’s global head of corporate affairs.
The video features several Blackstone investment professionals dancing and wearing sparkly costumes. “It’s the alternatives era. We buy assets then we make them better,” they sing in a jingle that is in danger of becoming an ear worm.
Schwarzman, wearing a multi-colored tinsel jacket reminiscent of the one Swift wore during her “Eras” tour, drives a van emblazoned with the names and acronyms used for some of Blackstone’s business units. (Blackstone’s confusing acronyms was a joke from its 2022 holiday video). At the end, Schwarzman and employees sing, “Not to be confused with BlackRock.” (BlackRock and Blackstone are often mistaken for each other due to the similarity of their names. BlackRock also started off as a unit of Blackstone and became a separate company in 1994.)
The response to “Alternatives” has been mixed. Blackstone videos on YouTube never allow comments, a spokesman said. LinkedIn had many positive reactions. “🤣 Love it! Looks like the pilot for a new sitcom! 'The BX' (TV series) replacing 'The Office'!” one person said.
“The fact that this got signed off is INCREDIBLE! Love the creativity. I think you've inspired a lot of people. I now have ‘This is the alternatives era!’ stuck in my head 😂,” another person said.
X showed more negative responses. “Can cringe be an SEC violation,” one person said.
“After watching this cringe-worthy video, I question whether I should continue to be a shareholder,” a different person wrote.
Gray said Blackstone clients and investors like the video. More importantly, some of the most important people in his life, namely his daughter, also liked it, he said. He shook off everyone else’s criticism. “As Taylor would say, haters gonna hate. You can’t please everyone,” Gray said.
