Did This Office Turn Into A Rave?! The PR Activation That Pressed CTRL + ESCAPE
Ever in your life did you think the concepts of taxes, office spaces, cubicles, and finance could relate to the world of partying and EDM? As a self-proclaimed citizen in the EDM world, the idea of office spaces being turned into a dance floor sounds like a fever dream. However, John Summit and his recently produced album, CTRL + ESCAPE achieved just that. In a PR activation that made many fans get excited for tax day.
John Schuster the CPA
The world-famous DJ, John Summit, is famously known for his iconic discography of EDM songs including “Where You Are” and “Shiver” featuring HAYLA and “Crystallized” featuring INEZ. Before his DJ career, Summit was known as John Schuester, an ordinary college student from the suburbs of Chicago attending the University of Illinois, studying to pursue a career as an accountant. After discovering his love for DJing, he left behind his accounting career and dove headfirst into music.
In his recently released album, CTRL + ESCAPE Summit built a world heavily influenced by his past as a former accountant. The album was released on April 15, 2026 - better known as Tax Day. Summit and his team launched an activation in collaboration with two brands that most people wouldn’t expect to collaborate.
John Summit is #Opentowork
Imagine just a typical day of logging onto your work laptop and receiving a notification from John Summit on your LinkedIn inviting you to a super “small” show after work. Prior to the album’s release, on April 2- just 13 days before launch- Summit collaborated with LinkedIn and Spotify to create Summit CPA’s. To invite people, Summit created a LinkedIn profile that went undercover as John Schuster, inviting local CPAs in New York City to connect, which served as an invitation to his pop-up set.
Upon arriving attendees were given “Hi, my name is” nametags to reference the office workspace aesthetic. The pop-up featured a photo opportunity with a desk setup and the Summit CPA logo, all leading to Summit taking the stage and performing tracks from his new album.
Social media responded positively to this collaboration, as videos on TikTok and Instagram went viral. This collaboration got not only CPAs in the office talking, but also people outside the EDM community curious to learn more about EDM culture and the CTRL + ESCAPE album.
The World of CTRL + ESCAPE
As a fan of John Summit this activation felt truly genius. This activation did not simply promote the album; it transformed John Summit’s former life as an accountant into a cultural story told through brands and media. The CTRL + ESCAPE album builds on the idea of leaving behind the life you need and pursuing the life you wish you lived. Using LinkedIn as an unexpected partner alongside Spotify helped continue building that world, inviting people to listen to the album, generate excitement for the release and learn how Summit pressed CTRL + ESCAPE on his former career.
Danny Magana is a fourth-year student majoring in Public Relations with a minor in Marketing. He currently serves as the Director of Communications for the CSUN chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America and is a member of the Christopher West Street LA Pride Youth Advisory Board and a brother of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity’s Cal Theta chapter. He is beyond excited to use his college experiences to pursue a career in public relations within the tech, healthcare, tourism and hospitality industries.