'Compliment Guys' spread cheer to East Coast
By Meghan Gilbert
THE BLADE
A Sylvania native is taking his practiced craft of giving compliments on a 10-city tour this summer.
Cameron Brown, one of the two "Compliment Guys" of Purdue University, began saying nice things to people yesterday in New Orleans and will travel across the East Coast during a two-week "BrightSide Tour" sponsored by Kodak.
Brown, 20, and his friend Brett Westcott, also 20, got national attention for their kindness by appearing on Good Morning America and in a university video of them on campus posted on YouTube that has been viewed more than 43,000 times.
"It's a little bit ridiculous," Brown said of the attention. "It's awesome and amazing. We're still kind of in awe and question why it's happening and what's going on."
Brown said he was surprised when Kodak approached them, but he is excited to spread their message even further.
"We always thought we would just do it in our local area and boost spirits there, and that was awesome," Brown said.
Leslie Dance, Kodak's vice president of worldwide brand marketing and communications, said the summer partnership is a perfect fit. "We believe that it's time to smile, and these guys are obviously out there to make people do that," she said.
Westcott, who came up with the idea to stand outside the chemistry building on Purdue's West Lafayette, Ind., campus, said they joked at first about getting sponsored.
They didn't really think it would happen or see compliments spread like this, he said.
"I am just ecstatic that this little idea I had, that this random act of kindness, has blown up into such a big thing," Westcott said. "I'm having kids who are messaging me online asking me if they can start free compliments at their school."
After New Orleans, the guys will go to Birmingham, Ala.; Atlanta; Charleston, S.C.; Charlotte, N.C.; Washington; Baltimore; Philadelphia; and New York. The tour ends in Rochester, N.Y.
The duo will blog about their experiences at the Web site, brightsidetour.com.
mgilbert@theblade.com
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