Lucas Merayo is the person behind it MerakioThe popular influencer which began with social networks as a search, despite many casting rejections, to one day be able to work regularly as an actor. Time passed, he became professional and went viral with videos of him on various networks, where today he accumulates thousands and even millions of followers, and he finally realized his dream of going on stage, in this case with his show of stand-up.
“I usually say ‘thank goodness I failed’ because thanks to how badly things went in my search to work as an actor I discovered networking”says Merakio, who went to live in Spain at the beginning of 2021, a decision made, together with his then partner, in the midst of the pandemic.
“In 2019 I went to Madrid and said ‘I would like to live here’. Now I live in Sanchinarro, on the outskirts of Madrid, in the north. It has lots of parks for children, it’s great for families. In the videos I usually highly recommend it, ” describes .
-Can you make a living generating content for networks?
-Yes. Now I live 100% by Merakio, it’s a dream come true. My income comes from shows and social networks, which translates into campaigns I run as content on Instagram, added to YouTube and Facebook monetization. And also events.
-Does YouTube pay more, for example, in Spain?
-Yes, in Spain they pay you more, because the advertising in my videos is in euros. The advertising seen in Argentina is not the same as in Spain. Yes, you earn more if you are seen from a country with a high CPM (Editor’s note: metric that represents how much money advertisers invest to display their ads), such as Spain. Maybe YouTube is weird, streaming works better now. To earn a lot of money on YouTube you need to have a record of many videos per week. Now I have more of that consistency on Instagram or TikTok, because now I’m more dedicated to my show.
Merakio has more than 3 million followers on its social networks.-An advantage is that in Spain the ‘how much you can buy with 1000 pesos’ style videos are not old…
-Yes, huh. In Argentina I did it every month, because inflation was eating me up. But many continue to see each other and people comment a lot on the price changes. Similarly, there is inflation in Spain too. So, already warned, I started making videos without saying the prices. That’s why I make a video about how I’m going to eat something and I don’t say the exact price, but rather an approximate price.
-Does it change the mood of the Argentinian and the Spanish?
-Yes, it’s different. Especially the tone of the jokes and themes. In Spain, for example, jokes about policemen don’t work, the relationship they have with the police is different. And then there are a lot of specific words that don’t work. But what they find very funny is our spark, our atmosphere, our humor. confine. I had to change a lot of things, because the tone is different.
-And how did you adapt?
-In my first semester in Spain all my numbers decreased because I followed the Argentine paradigm. I had to find a new niche, something that would interest Spaniards and that would also interest Argentines. So I started with this “Argentine in the world” thing, the Argentine in the supermarket, in the field, talking to the Spaniards… And it worked a lot, because the Spaniard could have fun seeing someone discovering things that he was out there, they already took it for granted.
Merakio, on the streets of Madrid.-And are you personally adapted?
-It’s costing me… And it’s been three years now. Right now I’m in limbo, I feel like I belong to Argentina but I’m no longer there. And on the other hand I decided to go to Spain but I’m not quite there yet. They are stages, migration is a duel. It has very beautiful moments. At the beginning everything was very beautiful, now I’m in the real part, with its difficulties.
Merakio and his most viral video
The video “How to make the best Milanese in Buenos Aires” has more than 3.3 million views on YouTube, in which Merakio prepares the award-winning El Antojo Milanese with Cristian Franco, director of the Villa del Parque grill restaurant.
“That’s the most viral one. It also spread a lot on other networks… Then I really like the ones on banknotes… We Argentinians like to talk about money and I really like my whole ‘what do I buy with 500, 1000 pesos’ series. Everyone copied that format from me, but when you do something well it’s worth copying. But my favorite video is a sketch I made when I started in 2016, when I was a man who had a drinking problem, drinking and choking.”
Merakio performs on February 2, at 7pm, at the La Plaza Complex with his show From here and there (Plateanet). “The show focuses on what it means for an Argentine to live far from their country, in this case Spain, what are the funny things that happen to us, what do we miss… I also sing songs composed by me, always fun, and there is a very close human, who talks about how much it hurts us to be far away, go through a separation or change our life.
Source: Clarin
