Mr Handsome
When good vibes go viral
Anonymous
The creator of the Mr Handsome X (formerly Twitter) account is a psychologist and educator, with no prior experience in politics. Videos and posts on the Mr Handsome account were viewed more than 42 million times during Spain’s general election in 2023. 41 videos were viewed more than 500,000 times and content was frequently reproduced in the mainstream media. Mr Handsome is renowned for its inclusive, feel-good approach — and the sense of community it managed to cultivate among progressives in Spain.
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I’ve never thought of myself as someone involved with politics. Growing up, I was drawn to the values of social democracy — equality, fairness, access to healthcare, education — but I didn’t wear them on my sleeve. I wasn’t someone you’d find at political rallies. I had my opinions, of course, but I figured my voice was no more important than anyone else's.
Then the pandemic struck.
Everything changed. The world was falling apart, and so much of it felt out of our control. Lockdowns, illness, uncertainty — it was suffocating. But what really caught my attention was the other pandemic: the rise of far-right misinformation and disinformation online. It was frustrating to see how the lies spread, distorting reality and widening divisions.
In Spain, the agitation campaign centered on the PSOE (Partido Socialista Obrero Español or Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party) prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, and his government. On social media, the nickname ‘Mr Handsome’ (which had originated in a foreign newspaper in 2018) gained traction. While some used it in a light-hearted manner, others employed it with malice, portraying Sánchez as an egocentric tyrant and his government as frivolous. It made me wonder: is this what political discourse has come to?
Then it hit me.
What if, instead of resisting the humor, we embraced it, transforming the joke into something else — something that served a nicer purpose?
So, from my living room, armed with nothing but my phone and a deep sense of frustration, I decided to test the waters. I created a Twitter account where I could post memes, jokes, fancam videos, and light-hearted content about our ‘Mr Handsome.’ And in between the laughs, I would sneak in political messages, facts, achievements, and some context for the government’s decisions. The idea was simple: hook people with humor and, once I had their attention, slip in some more serious content — like medicine into a spoonful of sugar.
I had no idea it would actually work.
People responded, and the audience grew and grew. This format of mixing humor with political information was really resonating, especially among the young and people who don’t normally follow politics.
It wasn’t about deceiving people into caring; it was about meeting them where they were and offering something relatable. The balance was tricky: I didn’t want to trivialize the issues or reduce the president to a pop culture figure. I wanted to make serious topics more approachable — without attacking anyone or engaging in the divisiveness you often see on social media.
Soon, my little account wasn’t so little anymore.
People started DM’ing me. They told me they appreciated the way I made political information more accessible. And then I got a direct message from someone close to the prime minister. And they liked it.
In a world drowning in noise, humor had given me a megaphone capable of reaching more people than I could ever have imagined.
The account reached its peak during the 2023 national elections. The speeches, interviews, and highlights I posted showing a more human side of Sánchez went viral, attracting millions of views. The account became an unofficial, more relaxed communication channel for the prime minister during a tense election campaign which ended with him remaining in power.
Looking back, it still amazes me how it all happened.
But if there’s one thing I learned, it’s that sometimes the most unlikely ideas are the ones that resonate. In a time of crisis, when misinformation spreads faster than the truth, we need every tool we can get, even if it comes in the form of a meme or a joke.
And maybe that’s exactly what the world needs sometimes — a little lightness, mixed in with a good, healthy dose of reality.