Fyre Festival, A Disaster Waiting to Happen

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FYRE Festival is the Latest Culprit in Misleading Advertising Practices

Fyre Festival, A Disaster Waiting to Happen

We have all been a little fed up with social media from time to time. No matter how hard we try, it seems that the celebrities on these social media outlets are having “better” and “more luxurious” lives than us. But how much of that is real? Instagram has been under serious accumulation lately due to just how fake it is with it’s “fitness models” and “inspiring couples”. Can we really expect that these people have lives that are always reminiscent of their beautiful and seemingly perfect photos that they post onto Instagram? Of course, when you stop to think about it, it’s easy to realize that no one really has that perfect of a life. However, when you are scrolling through your news feed and see picture after picture of “perfect couples” and “luxury lifestyles”, you can subconsciously start to get a little down.

Fyre Festival is a perfect example of a company that is feeding into this problem that is facing us today. Fyre Festival is a gathering of individuals and musical acts on a private island that used to belong to Pablo Escobar. Is this already sounding like something out of a video game or a movie? When you sign onto the official website for this festival, you are bombarded by an autoplay video that shows you girl after girl with amazing bodies in sexy swimsuits. The video is made to seem like these are just the average girls that you will see on the island during this festival vacation. If you stopped for a second to think that these are some of the sexiest girls in the world, well then you are right.

When it comes down to the actual musical performers, not much has been announced. Back in January, it was announced that G.O.O.D. Music was going to headline the festival. G.O.O.D. Music is Kanye West’s label that has artists such as John Legend, Big Sean, Pusha T, Tyga, and Desiigner. It is unclear if Kanye himself would perform, as he hasn’t performed since cancelling the remainder of his Saint Pablo Tour back in November.

Fyre hired some of the most successful and attractive high profile models in the world to “test out” the vacation experience. When these models signed their release forms, it’s probably without a doubt that they knew they would be the face of this vacation style festival that costs anywhere from $950-$3,500.

FYRE FESTIVAL PROMO VIDEO:

When these models came home, they were happy to post pictures from their vacation to their collective tens of millions of Instagram followers. This seems pretty annoying, but is it really illegal? According to recent FTC Guidelines, all of these models were technically breaking the law. These models clearly needed to state that they were paid by FYRE Festival to post these pictures and promote their upcoming event. Not one of the models took the time to mention that they were paid a pretty penny and a free vacation in the Bahamas for their unbiased review of this island retreat.

Is this a topic worth talking about because some fashion models were breaking FTC Guidelines? This is not really why consumers are having an issue right now with FYRE Festival. FTC Guidelines are disregarded on a daily basis by both brands and influencers. The bigger issue at hand here is that Fyre Festival is trying to paint a false picture of what this island getaway is really going to be like. When you take a group of the most attractive models in the world and try to pass them off as a random selection of concertgoers at your festival, people start feeling lied to. This massive social media posting spree from some of the most attractive models in the world is starting to feel like a bit of trickery.

I feel really bad for the people who show up at this event after paying close to $4,000 and are underwhelmed by their vacation. I guess that’s what they get for being tricked by false advertising. In a final response to the blatantly false advertising going on from Fyre festival, I will leave you with some Eminem lyrics from the song, Stan. “I’m not mad, I just don’t like being lied to.”

UPDATE – 48 Hours before FYRE FESTIVAL gates were set to open:

 


May 2017:
Leaked FYRE Festival Pitch Beyond Parod | Vanity Fair
Fyre Festival: A Timeline of Disaster | SPIN


August 2017:
FYRE FESTIVAL: ANATOMY OF A MILLENNIAL MARKETING FIASCO WAITING TO HAPPEN


October 2018: 
Fyre Festival ‘Serial Fraudster’ Faces 6 Years, $26M Forfeiture
Fyre Festival Organizer Billy McFarland Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison

December 2018:
Netflix Acquires Fyre Festival Doc, Sets January Release

2019:
New Republic: Fyre Festival Was a Huge Scam. Is Netflix’s Fyre Documentary a Scam, Too?
Vulture: Article




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