Let’s be real, we currently live in a world where Coachella has become more about outfits than who’s performing.
One YouTuber decided she’d fake her entire Coachella experience, after hearing people claim they weren’t looking forward to the popular American festival, and were only going for the Instagram photos.
Gabbie Hanna, the YouTuber in question, has 3.8 million followers online. She thought of the idea after seeing another internet star, Carolyn Stritch’s fake Disneyland trip just last year. Stritch proved to a tee, that you just can’t believe everything you see on social media. Mostly, because half the time it’s Photoshopped or filtered.
Hanna explained in her video: “I know a lot of people who go to Coachella. I talked to a lot of them and they weren’t looking forward to it,” after which she went on to say it takes weeks of outfit preparation to prepare for such an event.
“It feels like a lot of work for something you’re not enjoying,” she continues.
“There are a lot of people who go to Coachella who do not enjoy the experience just because they’re going for Instagram pictures and that to me feels stressful.”
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Alas, Hanna thought, what if she could ‘get the Coachella Instagram picture, without going to Coachella? Best of both worlds.’
Hanna went full steam ahead into her ‘Coachella mission’, packing like she was going to Coachella, and heading to her friend’s house to make it look like she was in an Airbnb. Her first hurdle came to being when she didn’t have the iconic festival wristband – a staple in just about every influencer’s festival snaps.
Hanna’s friend ended up printing a fake wristband from the internet, which looked shockingly real in photos. Hanna then got a friend, Kellan Hendry to Photoshop her pictures and make it look she was living it up at Coachella. Hanna updated her social media regularly, namely her Instagram stories, with followers totally falling for it.
While the digital world thought Hanna was partying away at the Indio festival, she was actually working out at a Palm Springs gym.
While she continued posting spruced up ‘Coachella’ photos, fans left comments like “Coachella Queen” and “I’m so jealous.”
Hanna said: “What I noticed was the sense of being at the ‘it’ place, and I guess that’s something I never really related with,”
“I do have a new appreciation and respect for it in general, just that sense of belonging and community that I always am kind of lacking,” she said. She then continued on to say she didn’t feel comfortable lying and that she found it interesting how easily people can get away with living a fake Instagram life.
She concludes by saying, “So much of it’s fake and that’s ok, I’m not shading anyone who does that on social media it is a viable career and looks and appearances are important when it comes to branding and your social presence but for an average viewer who’s just watching these things and aspiring for these things, just know that those things aren’t always as attainable as they seem.”
Watch Gabbie’s behind the scenes video of her ‘Coachella’ adventure:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pau_joGIhc0
