Seven years ago, two Australian brothers happened across a discarded photo of a man with a broad smile while travelling in Banff, Alberta. While most would leave the photo where it was, they took it with them, amused by the huge grin on the subject who they nicknamed ‘Happy Guy’. That goofy grin stuck with them and they made it their goal to find out not only who happy guy is, but why his photo was left behind … and if he’s really that happy all the time.
Flash forward to the present day. The search for Happy Guy has gone digital with a website and Email. Happy Guy T-shirts and posters are popping up worldwide. And Happy Guy even has a Facebook group — Who is Happy Guy? — that is 2,500 members strong. Happy Guy’s face has been superimposed in to close to 75 photos — his photo’s been to the Coliseum, inside the Death Star, and to sporting events near and far, to name a few.
And with help from the Internet, the search for Happy Guy is over. A family member stumbled across the Facebook group and now the mystery has been solved. That was the point, after all. Still, I’m kind of disappointed — the search for Happy Guy was fun and brought so many people from many walks of life together, all united in … well … Happiness.