Jan 20, 2019
The Big Fyrestorm: How Social Media Made and Destroyed Fyre Festival
You’ve probably heard about Fyre Festival ﹘ conceived as a luxury music festival in the Bahamas ﹘ by “visionary” Billy McFarland and rapper Ja Rule, which came to a very dramatic (and explosive) conclusion on the first day of the festival back in 2017. It’s the topic of fascinating Netflix documentary, FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, where we discover the exact role social media played in the hype ﹘ and subsequent downfall ﹘ of the festival.
When it comes to social media, it’s crucial in helping elevate your brand, building brand awareness, but also establishing trust and authority. Social proof and reviews are also crucial when customers look to buying products… In fact, 84% of people trust online reviews as much they trust their friends’.
Here are some interesting insights we learn from the illuminating Fyre Festival documentary, and what it says about launching (or running) a business in the age of social media and influencers ﹘ and when those worlds effectively collide (and implode) in a very public arena.
Billy McFarland: Creative Visionary or Professional Con Artist?
From his failed startups before him, it’s fair to say Billy McFarland is basically one step away from Charles Manson — in running a cult, I mean. Billy could, effectively, make anyone believe in him and his business ventures with cult-like fervour.
Case in point from the documentary: his team notices when they are low on funds, Billy had the “magical” ability to shake investors for more money.
To put it in perspective, Billy appears to have ZERO talent, ZERO work ethic and wants to live an Instagram-worthy lifestyle WITHOUT working for it. He’s a con artist that has probably studied How to Win Friends and Influence People. (I bet he has notes in a file on his Macbook somewhere.) Billy craved an “in” into the elite world of penthouse apartments, martinis and Maseratis, and what better way to do it than brand yourself as an entrepreneur? (I delve into this more in another point below.)
However, from a social media point of view, I am impressed by the 400 influencers posting the orange tile at the same time that Billy helped orchestrate with models, including Bella Hadid, Kendall Jenner and a slew of influencers. That was a smart social media strategy. (In fact, I’m going to borrow that.) But also equally as amazing is the festival was destroyed by one tweet of the “chef-inspired cuisine” served at the event: Kraft cheese slices with lettuce.
Lofty Ambitions: Comparing Fyre Festival to Woodstock
In the documentary, we hear event producer Andy King say he made several appeals to Billy to shut down the festival. But then, when his pleas fell on deaf ears, he compared Frye Festival to Woodstock. Yes, Woodstock!
Woodstock was during the time of free love, great social and political change and was aimed at the everyday, not at the elite. That’s why Fyre could NEVER be Woodstock. You take (predominantly white) rich kids and 200+ “influencers” (i.e. people with no other means of making an income as they have no skill or talent) and invite them to come to a private island where things are not what was promised. They are already entitled, so wait for them to go berserk. It almost sounds like a plot to a Hollywood film. Almost.
They aren’t there for the music. To celebrate the artist’s talent. To bask in the breaktaking Bahamian sunsets and ponder their very existence. Oh no, they are there because FOMO. They are there to flaunt their wealth. They are don’t care about their fellow humans. As one of the attendees said at the disaster zone that was the camp site, “we started ripping holes in tents and peeing on them because we didn’t want any neighbours.” That is what the festival was attracting. Not Woodstock. Not peace, love and music. It’s entitlement, FOMO and wealth.
The Team’s Unwavering (and Scarily Devoted) Belief in Billy
People are always showing you who they are. In Billy’s case, he is a failed “entrepreneur” with Magnesis. That was a crock of a company. A simple Google search reveals that, as we see in the documentary.
When you go into business, or take on a job, I think it’s also your responsibility to see WHO you are working for too. Why do all these people in Billy’s team keep trusting him? Is it sunk cost fallacy? Is it that he is a master manipulator? I think it’s a bit of both.
Billy appears to choose people who have personalities that won’t stand up to him — either younger people who don’t know any better who are hungry to prove themselves or people with a calm, non-dominant personality. Also a lot of them he wasn’t paying until the festival happened. So there’s that at play: “you won’t be paid the rest of what you’re owed until you do what I say.”
This is apparent from the direction Billy’s team receives to monitor the social media account. Days out from the event, festival-goers still haven’t received travel itinerary or accommodation confirmation, so they turn to Fyre’s Instagram account to vent their frustration and ask for help.
The Fyre team is told to delete any negative comments, and direct all customer complaints to an email address that (appears to be) unmanned, before being instructed to turn off the commenting feature altogether.
Lack of Women (and Diversity) on the Festival Team
In the documentary, you’ll notice how Billy carefully orchestrates his team and his lone woman investor (and one other woman we see, who is the product designer of the Fyre app) are kept in the dark. The lack of women on any of his team (and only white men plus Ja Rule) seems to be a strategic move and power play.
The only women we do see are the influencers and models, who frolic on the beach with pigs and sip exotic drinks. And in the documentary, when they’re ordered by Billy and Ja Rule to “jump in the water and we’ll come in after you,” they appear confused, as it’s clearly nighttime and they’ve stopped filming for the night. That’s the biggest indication of the way they treat people too.
In the words of a Navy SEAL, recounted by one of the Fyre team members, Mark: Fyre Festival was an “elephant of a clusterfuck”. And there’s no better way to describe it. But had the social media buzz that hyped it up NOT killed it, then this would have been the biggest party. And I would have had serious FOMO.It’s an occupational hazard, really.
With social media, people don’t want to leave negative reviews. They want to be happy. And that’s exactly what Fyre Festival missed ﹘ along with a mountain of other things ﹘ when creating “an experience and festival”. Oh, it was an experience all right. Just not a good one.
What Problem Can I Help You Solve in Your Business?
Can I help you better understand social media and how it can work for YOU? Or guide you through Messenger marketing and how to get on board for the infrastructure of the future?
Click here to see if we’re a good fit to work together.
When you click that link, it will take you to Facebook Messenger and fire up my Messenger bot, called Double A, who will ask you a couple of quick questions so I have the info right in front of me to work out how I can best help you!
