Mattress Mack

About

Mattress Mack, real name James Franklin McIngvale (Jim McIngvale), is an American businessman and Houston Astros superfan who during the 2022 MLB World Series caused memes en masse due to his vocal hatred of Phillies fans that spawned the Gangsta Mack meme. Throughout the early 1980s and onward, Mattress Mack became a local legend in the Houston, Texas area due to his TV commercials for his company Gallery Furniture in which he'd always say his catchphrase, "Save you money!" He also became a well-known sports bettor in gambling, sparking interest during the Super Bowl in 2021 and World Series in 2022.

Background

James Franklin McIngvale was born in Starkville, Mississippi in 1951, making him 71 years old in the year 2022.^[1] He grew up in Texas, however, and went to high school in the Dallas area. He remained in Texas for his higher education, attending the University of North Texas, in Denton where he played collegiate football.^[1] After college, McIngvale went into the furniture business, creating Gallery Furniture in 1981 within the Houston area.^[2] His business was purportedly struggling, and when he was down to his last $10,000, he decided to spend it all on a TV ad that produced great success in the long run.

McIngvale then became "Mattress Mack" through the advertising campaign. His commercials became known by many, turning him into a local Houston legend and wealthy business magnate. As evidence of his prominence in pop culture, memes were made out of his commercials in the early days of YouTube, like one uploaded on November 14th, 2007, by YouTuber Curtis Needs a Ride, gaining roughly 25,300 views in 15 years (shown below, left). On January 14th, 2021, Vice uploaded a mini-documentary on Mattress Mack, gaining roughly 856,700 views in a year and a half (shown below, right).

Online History

On November 7th, 2008, Mattress Mack posted his first tweet,^[3] which officially launched his Twitter presence. Continuing into the following decade, his social media presence remained on Twitter, not straying far from the platform, where over the course of 14 years, he amassed roughly 95,500 followers. He launched his Instagram^[4] page (@mattressmackofficial) on February 4th, 2021. Meanwhile, his company Gallery Furniture, launched its Instagram^[5] page on January 21st, 2020.

Mattress Mack became well-loved on social media due to his charitable acts. For instance, in August 2017, it was reported that Mattress Mack had opened up his Gallery Furniture stores as refugee centers and also allowed the Texas National Guard to sleep there between missions (screenshot shown below).

Sports Betting / Gambling

In his later years, Mattress Mack became well-known in sports circles for his habit of sports betting and gambling. For instance, in 2019, Mattress Mack bet over $13 million on the Houston Astros to win the World Series and then bet over $1 million in 2020 for the Tennessee Titans to upset the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game.^[6][7] On February 8th, 2021, Mattress Mack received a $2.75 million payout after he bet $3.436 million on the Tampa Bay Buccs to win Super Bowl LV.^[8]

2022 MLB World Series

In late 2022, the Houston Astros and the Philadelphia Phillies were playing in the 2022 MLB World Series.^[9] Meanwhile, Mattress Mack bet roughly $10 million on the Astros to win the World Series which would result in a $75 million payout if won.^[10] Due to his large bet, memes and discourse surfaced about Mack after every game in the World Series, gauging his ecstasy or disappointment. For instance, on November 1st, 2022, the Twitter^[11] account br_betting tweeted a video of Mack after the Phillies had won two games back-to-back, gaining roughly 66,300 views in two days (shown below).

PHILLIES GO BACK-TO-BACK ☄️Not looking like Mattress Mack's night pic.twitter.com/pfcmBtrlSa

— br_betting (@br_betting) November 2, 2022

Following the November 1st loss, the Astros came back on November 3rd, 2022, being one win away from winning the Series that would result in Mack's mass payout. Many memes surfaced on Twitter about Mack's approach toward his payout. For instance, on November 2nd, Twitter^[12] user AstrosOptimism2 tweeted a photo of a man sitting upright with the caption, "The Astros after they saw the Mattress Mack video," gaining roughly 8,500 likes in two days (shown below, left). Also on November 2nd, Twitter^[13] user rrossjd tweeted a photo of The Avengers with Astros hats on, captioning it, "The entire city coming to defend Houston Legend Mattress Mack:" gaining roughly 8,700 likes in two days (shown below, right).

Related Memes

Gangsta Mack

On November 2nd, 2022, Twitter^[14] user CantH0LDMe captioned a TikTok^[15] video that showed Mattress Mack cursing out a Phillies fan after the World Series game. CantH0LDMe wrote, "Naaaaaaa Mack is a gangster I love this guy," and received roughly 9,000 likes in two days (shown below).

Naaaaaaa Mack is a gangster I love this guy pic.twitter.com/O58hSlqGiN

— JC The Bronx Mattress Mack (@CantH0LDMe) November 2, 2022

Soon after on November 2nd, Twitter^[16] user HOC_STUDIOS quote retweeted CantH0LDMe with an original drawing of his that showed a "Gangsta Mack" wearing an Astros jersey, gold chains and a black bandana, receiving 24 likes in two days (shown below, left). The illustration went viral thereafter and eventually led to Twitter^[17] user and Houston sports anchor Ari Alexander showing Mattress Mack the "Gangsta Mack" drawing in a tweet sent on November 3rd, earning roughly 1,200 likes in one day (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Templates

Search Interest

External References