Fyre Festival Failure and the Strength of Celebrity Endorsements
Link: https://www.complex.com/music/2019/11/ja-rule-legally-cleared-in-fyre-festival-lawsuit
This article discusses the ruling which recently came out for the case against rapper Ja Rule (Jeffery Atkins) involving a failed music festival, Fyre Festival, back in 2017. Fyre Festival was a fraudulent luxury music festival, for which attendees paid thousands of dollars to attend. The festival was endorsed by many high-profile celebrities, including Hailey Baldwin, Emily Ratajkowski, Kendall Jenner, and Bella Hadid; many of whom did not disclose that they were being paid for their endorsements. Upon arrival, attendees were met with inadequate food, water, medical services, and housing, eventually leading to a postponement then cancellation of the concert.
Rule was one of the founders of the festival, along with Billy McFarland, who was sentenced to jail time and charged a $26 million fine for his actions in the festival scam. After an appeal, Judge Kevin Castel dismissed the claim against Rule, deciding that there was insufficient evidence to show that Rule had known about McFarland’s illegal activity.
The ability of this festival to generate as much revenue as it did informs our discussion on the power of popularity to influence buying decisions. The number of attendees offered both direct and information-based benefits to ticket buyers. However, it also adds a new element of the discrepancies between the influence different users have on the power effect. Celebrities heighten both information-based and direct benefits of attendance, which was likely a strong factor in the festival’s ability to sell so many tickets despite lacking any other reputable evidence that the festival would be a success. The fact that celebrities failed to disclose the payment they were given for their disclosure ensured this.
The ruling on Rule displays a belief in innocent ignorance. Going forward however, there remains this question of the responsibility of endorsers and promoters to investigate the companies they promote before they do and ensure truthful and ethical statements. At the very least, it seems that the public and government have decided it is unacceptable to receive payment for endorsements without giving access to viewers of this ulterior motive.