The Tiger King's Crown

“It was a crash course in ecommerce,” says Zach Butler, business development director for Seth Wadley Auto Group in Paul’s Valley.

If the name Seth Wadley rings any bells, it might be from the nine dealerships in Oklahoma under his banner. For people around the globe, it’s the man under the Seth Wadley hat who captivates them: Joe Exotic.

Oklahomans likely know of Exotic from more than a decade of bizarre news stories, including his runs for political office or his convictions on two counts of attempted murder-for-hire, eight violations of the Lacey Act, and nine violations the Endangered Species Act, for which he’s currently serving twenty-two years in prison. But his name recognition skyrocketed with the release of the six-part Netflix docu-series Tiger King on March 20. In it, the flamboyant Exotic—born Joseph Allen Schreibvogel—often is seen in a Seth Wadley hat.

Butler says the company began noticing additional traffic in the days following the series release. A few days later, he posted a picture of a Seth Wadley hat with the following message: “So . . . y’all been watching any Netflix?”

Seth Wadley's Facebook post garnered thousands of views.

By the time Butler got to watch the show with his wife, he saw the post hit ten thousand users an hour.

“We’ve always been a big fan of hats here,” Butler says. “We throw them out at concerts, we give them away when people buy a car, and all the employees have them and wear them and like them. It’s a trademark deal for us.”

So it wasn’t a surprise that Joe Exotic had one—or several—but the influx of requests for hats was a shock. The company responded immediately by opening up a separate store: sethwadleyhats.com.

“We went to all five franchise locations and gathered up all the inventory of all the hats,” Butler says. “Having that much allowed us to post a pretty substantial inventory on the site.”

Hats identical to the one Joe Exotic wore on the show are sold out, but more are coming, according to sethwadleyhats.com.

It was a new kind of challenge for a business that’s all about buying and selling automobiles, but within days, the staff had documented every hat with inventory tracking and set up dropshipping to fill new orders. Finding a new moneymaker in the midst of COVID-19’s economic crunch would be tough for most businesses, but owner Seth Wadley wants to use this newfound popularity for a greater purpose.

“Seth decided, starting in April, that we will contribute this money to charity,” Butler says. “The first one we’re doing is OK Kids Korral.”

The Toby Keith Foundation’s OK Kids Korral provides a place to stay for children undergoing cancer treatment and their families.

Some of Oklahoma Today's staff ham it up with an Instagram filter created by Seth Wadley Auto Group's in-house photographer.

On the social media side, Seth Wadley Auto Group is encouraging people who got those hats from concerts and other giveaways to pop them on and post a selfie with the hashtag #WheresWadley. And for those who don’t already have one and can’t wait for their order to arrive, the staff photographer created a Tiger King Instagram filter so you can try on a hat—as well as some of Joe Exotic’s other accoutrements—to share online.

Written By

Greg Elwell

Greg Elwell served as research editor and web editor of Oklahoma Today from 2018-2023. He also has worked for newspapers, medical research organizations, and government institutions.