Does it happen to the best of us?

One of the most effective types of advertising is customer reviews. New or potential customers are more likely to purchase a product if someone who has purchased and tried the product left their feedback. For this reason, companies such as Amazon and others will ask its consumers to rate purchased items and leave a review. What happens when those reviews are no longer authentic or they are self-motivated and people are instead paid to vouch for a product? Business owners want the best return on investments so they often pay social media influencers and celebrities who have a large following to endorse their product/s. When people are being paid to review a product that is expected to result in profit for the company deception run rampant.

In 2017 Billy McFarland organized a festival called Fyre Fest which was projected to occur once a year for five years in the Bahamas. Festival attendees were sold the dream of having a festival on a private island in the Bahamas with luxury accommodations and gourmet cuisine. It was said that celebrity influencer Kendall Jenner was paid a whopping $250,000 for her Instagram post regarding the launch of ticket sales. Bella Hadid and many other celebrities/ influencers took part in promoting the event, tickets were all sold out despite the high cost. Not one of the influencers/celebrities disclosed at the time that they were either receiving money or promised accommodations for their posts. Thousands of festival attendees flew into the Bahamas only to discover that they were lied to and scammed out of their money for an event that never happened.

I will be using Bowen’s ethical guidelines for using social media to further critique the actions of those involved in the Fyre Festival:

• Be fair and prudent: When you look at the chain of events that occurred no one acted responsible or with fairness to the people who were most vulnerable. The festival organizers lied to the people who promoted their event who then lied to the people who invested their money into an experience that never happened.
• Avoid deception: Organizers knew that they were not prepared to fulfill their promises yet they made every effort to deceive the people.
• Maintain dignity and respect: Absolutely no respect or clear communication was given to the people involved. When they arrived and realized that they were lied to, the organizers still tried to cover up the mess that they created.
• Eschew secrecy: The Fyre Fest organizers eschew all the information regarding the festival from attendees even when they knew in advance that they could not deliver on what was promised.
• Is it reversible?: What happened with Fyre Fest is not reversible. People may be able to get their money back but they will never be able to get their time back or understand how they could allow themselves to be deceived on this magnitude. If I was in their position I would have been absolutely livid.
• Be transparent: None of the influencers who promoted this event were transparent about the benefits or monetary gain for their social media posts.
• Clearly identify: There was no clear indication that the post created by Kendall Jenner was personal or from the organization. The persuasive language used could have indicated either option.
• Rational analysis: For some people, I believe that Kendall’s post about the event gave it credibility. Thinking why would someone of her stature involve herself in something highly questionable. On the other hand, someone else might instantly assume not to fully trust the posts because celebrities often get paid to promote things on social media that they cannot fully vouch for with integrity.
• Emphasize clarity: Clarity of sponsorship or paid content was not emphasized.
• Disclose: The post that Kendall made on her Instagram had all the accurate information needed however the festival organizers did not openly disclose the issues that they were experiencing with paid attendees instead they tried to scam them out of more money.
• Verify sources and data: Not applicable in this situation.
• Establish responsibility: I believe that the social media post message was done with responsibility. Truthfully they had no idea that the organizers were deceptive.
• Examine intention: The posts were not made in goodwill alone as celebrities and influencers gained something in exchange for their promotion of the festival.
• Encourage the good: The message was meant to connect those who enjoyed music and a good time.
• Consistency builds trust: The past consistency of the influencers gained the trust of the public that resulted in a sold-out event.

In conclusion, the deception from the organization that trickled down was unacceptable. No one cared to verify the integrity of the organization and therefore blindly endorsed an event that proved to be deceptive. Some of the influencers later gave a public apology for the deception and expressed their lack of awareness. Ethical care was not given to the most vulnerable, all because money was involved. I understand that no one is immune to deception however, we should exercise due diligence to verify the integrity of the things we endorse in order to protect others and keep our integrity intact.

Kleinman, Z. (2019, January 22). Has Fyre Festival burned influencers?. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/46945662

Bowen, S. (2013). Using classic social media cases to distill ethical guidelines for digital engagement. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 28, 119–133.

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