Michael Wong is the ultimate Asian dad hype man
Ahead of Father's Day, the creator behind Asian Verified and "Asian Dad Cam" talks Asian dad fashion and how it really is just dad fashion, and why it should be celebrated
Michael Wong of Asian Verified.
Courtesy of Michael Wong
Words by Andy Crump
As the creator and operator of Asian Verified, described as “cultural anthropology” on each of his social media pages—TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, notably—Michael Wong highlights such phenomena as two-hour wait lines for new Asian grocery stores, and expounds on Seattle’s preeminence as a bánh mì hot spot. Of late, though, he’s put focus on style trends within an overlooked, oft-mocked demographic: dads, and the ‘fits they wear out in plain view of the world.
But Wong doesn’t want to mock these dads. He wants to build them up. “It’s an appreciative thing,” Wong tells JoySauce.
Wong’s Asian Dad Cam series, begun at the tail end of 2023, captures Asian fathers in their element, at shopping malls, Home Depot, and graduation ceremonies, dressed as unfashionably as they please; in some cases, they’re dressed very fashionably, unless you’re the sort to turn your nose up at a person’s wardrobe for being bought at the outlets. You may mistake the bit as mockery. (If so, you’re forgiven.) But Wong harbors no such antipathy for the dads making candid cameos in his videos. Asian Dad Cam isn’t about roasting these men. It’s about lauding them.
“Our ethos is celebrating dads,” Wong explains. “So everything I have to say needs to be in that spirit. It’s why it doesn't come across as mean, or I hope doesn't come across as mean, or malicious, or mocking.” There’s a fine line delineating negative commentary from positive, and Wong’s discretion keeps him well on the latter side of that line. His goal is punching up, rather than down. “The jokes are coming from a perspective of, ‘I want to like this outfit,’ like a red carpet commentator commenting on fashion. I'm adopting the person who's trying to be a hype man.”
Watch any Asian Dad Cam clip, and Wong’s intention is hard to misinterpret; there’s joy in these segments, a genuine love for the fathers and grandfathers sporting not one, not two, but up to four popped collars in one outfit, or complementing a bright red ADIDAS tracksuit with Hey Dude stretch shoes, or, the ultimate dad flex, a tape measure clipped on their pocket at IKEA—Asian Al Borland energy. The codified response to accessories and choices that fall under the “dad fashion” umbrella starts with astonishment: “I can’t believe he wears his socks that high!” Then, embarrassment: “I can’t believe he wears his socks that high.” Then, last of all, disgust: “Can you believe he wears his socks that high?” It’s a step-by-step process of disgust ending in snarky derision.
Not so for Wong’s process. Each video in the series speaks to his intrinsic, personal admiration for the people he records. He’s not out on safari, seeking comically dressed Asian dads, but out in the world, where those dads happen to be. That’s closer to the People of Walmart blog, meanspirited at its core and antithetical to Wong’s spirit. “I'm not looking for that,” he says. “I'm looking for stylishness. I'm appreciating the styles of dads in a way I didn't before, and they're Asian. So there you go.”
Asian Verified’s philosophical aim is “reclaiming the rubric,” in Wong’s words, of what defines Asian identity, from people who aren’t Asian but who try to define that rubric anyway. A deep dive into Asian Verified’s archives reveals food content, lots of it, not because Wong considers himself a foodie, but because cuisine made an easy “in” for the series’ foundational purpose. He lived nearby a number of restaurants, and so he went to those restaurants to make videos. “I was going to the place on the corner, the place in the strip mall,” Wong recalls. “I was living in White Center (in Seattle). I’d think, ‘Where could I eat today?’ And while I was there, I’d grab a couple shots.”
That’s how he approaches Asian Dad Cam, too: real-world encounters with dads decked out with Cole Haan sneakers and Mountain Hardwear puffer jackets; for the moments when time is of the essence and none to spare for putting on day clothes, they go forth into the bright afternoon wearing their flannel PJ pants. It’s all coincidental. What Wong sees is what he films. The unspoken trick to the bit is that, yes, the subjects are all Asian, but very little about Asian dad style is fundamentally exclusive from any dad styles: white, Black, Latino. (Certain dads among JoySauce’s contributors try, perhaps a little too hard, to avoid traditional dad style flourishes, like wearing socks with sandals; we wear naturally torn skinny jeans, to signal that we’re “cool,” and favor Allbirds shoes, betraying our age and desire for comfortable footwear. It’s a losing battle. We all develop dad fashion sense eventually.) “There is no difference, and that's the point,” Wong says. “A lot of pages try and show how different Asian people are, and there's a spirit of that in what we're doing at Asian Verified. But the real magic of Asian Dad Cam is that we have an opportunity to do the opposite.”
A good framework for understanding Asian Dad Cam’s underlying motive is the old chestnut of “I don’t see color.” It’s a nice thought that clangs loudly against the objective of inclusion and multiculturalism. It’s crucial that we recognize what makes us different from one another, all the better to embrace those differences, as well as to drill down to what makes us all alike. “It’s not about saying, ‘I’m so unique,’” Wong clarifies. “It’s about, ‘Actually, I’m so much like you.’ That's an important part of the double consciousness of anybody who is trying to make content about race, or adjacent to race. You have this opportunity to say, ‘Hey, we're so unique,’ but you also have an opportunity to say, ‘We're not that different from you.’”
Published on June 14, 2025
Words by Andy Crump
Bostonian culture journalist Andy Crump covers movies, beer, music, fatherhood, and way too many other subjects for way too many outlets, perhaps even yours: Paste Magazine, Inverse, The New York Times, Hop Culture, Polygon, and Men's Health, plus more. You can follow him on Bluesky and find his collected work at his personal blog. He’s composed of roughly 65 percent craft beer.