Patrick Grieve
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Jared Padalecki Chills with Bro, Calls it a #DayItForward [VIDEO]

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Jared Padalecki stars in one of Chevrolet's #DayItForward videos for Leap Day

I hate being one of those people who is cynical about the holidays, but Supernatural star Jared Padalecki is forcing me to be that guy.

As 30 Rock reminds us, Leap Day is one of the most magical holidays of the year (every four years that it happens, that is), and yet mine was somewhat ruined by Padalecki’s less than impressive attempt to #DayItForward.

For the uninitiated, #DayItForward is a campaign Chevrolet created to encourage people to do something nice for someone else with the extra 24 hours provided by Leap Day. Chevy even got celebrities involved, with stars like Andy Cohen and Ashley Benson working with their favorite charities.

And then you have Padalecki, who chose to… hang out with one of his friends.

Huh…

Apparently, Jared Padalecki and this guy Matt were friends in high school. Padalecki dreamed of acting, while Matt was an aspiring musician. Even though Padalecki has since achieved the pinnacle of one’s acting career (starring in a Friday the 13th sequel), Matt appears to have been less successful in conquering the music industry. What’s worse, he just had knee surgery, so Jared decided to do something special and… hang out with him.

That’s it? Hanging out with your friend isn’t exactly the height of altruism, Padalecki. It’s something that a lot of us do recreationally, in fact. And yet in this video, Padalecki says he’s going to “take [Matt] out and have a good time” as if his close personal friend Matt is a Make-A-Wish kid.

Okay, I guess at the end of the video, Padalecki does buy Matt a guitar. Or does he? I feel like Chevy might have paid for the guitar. Or they probably at least paid Padalecki to be part of this marketing campaign, making the cost of the guitar somewhat irrelevant.

I don’t know, this just doesn’t seem to capture the spirit of #DayItForward. Feels more like a cheap marketing ploy, if anything. If Leap Dave Williams knew how commercialized Leap Day has become, he’d be turning over in his watery grave.

UPDATE: After some pointed feedback from some of the actor’s fans, I have some more thoughts on Jared Padalecki.