The Mask King of New Jersey

I am the Mask King of New Jersey

Since the very beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in January of 2020, I began thinking about masks. Having lived for a year in China earlier in my career, I was familiar with the culture of mask-wearing and the way masks can be used to help prevent the spread of infection and as fashion. I began researching where to purchase masks. I bought a carton on 3M N95 masks and I started to wear those when going out shopping in early February, of 2020, well before any of the U.S. authorities were recommitting masking in public.

I was also tracking the news out of Wuhan, China carefully on WeChat and other Chinese social apps i those early days. One thing that I saw right away, is that people not only started masking up in public, but were also wearing goggles and other face coverings, some people were even wearing homemade hazmat suits. That's when I started wearing goggles and nitrile or latex gloves too whenever I went out to shop.

As I started acquiring more masks, I became more aware of the pros and cons of various mask materials and designs. I started sharing photos of myself wearing the masks I liked on my Instagram. I was also learning about the wide range of mask options that were available on Chinese websites, like AliExpress and TaoBao, including some powered masks that had been designed for the China market prior to the pandemic, but that offered high levels of protection against viral infection.

I'm a video maker who has been active on YouTube for many years, so of course after purchasing these (and other) masks I had to show them off. First on Instagram, then later on YouTube and TikTok. I posted my first photo with the hashtag #MaskKingNJ on Instagram on June 9, 2020. On YouTube on August 3, 2020, and on TikTok on August 26, 2020.

Since then, I've been running an active social media campaign to promote mask-wearing and vaccinations as the Mask King of New Jersey across all my social media platforms. It's a lighthearted way to encourage people to think about doing a little bit extra to keep themselves and their families safe in the pandemic.

One of my videos went viral and got over 18,400 views on TikTok.

This video here is the one I'm most proud of. I filmed it over 2 days at the Mall at Short Hills. I'm wearing the AIR X mask from MicroClimate.

I don't wear this mask much anymore, but I'm still exploring this topic as the pandemic evolves. In the meantime, I've also written the following articles about The Mask King of New Jersey's adventures on Patch.com.