You know the quote …. “Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me”.
Yup, still holds true. BUT, what if you AcCEPT being fooled? Certainly the financial markets (and politics) count on people being able to be fooled. Could it be that some people actually WANT to be fooled? It appears that may be true.
This comes to mind with last week’s announcement that the Fyre Festival II is “a go.”
So what’s the Fyre Festival? Remember back about six years, the first Fyre Festival was the biggest party on the planet to NOT happen. The first event was to be held (well, it was kinda held) on a Bahamian island with big name musical performers and an insane party atmosphere. Splashy, sexy and enticing videos got party-goers to shell out big bucks to attend. It was a total disaster. No party, no housing, no food, no musical acts, no……anything. The promoter spent time in jail for fraud, the TV show American Greed covered it (as did Netflix and Hulu) and that was that.
Well, not quite. Fyre meme sensation Andy King is again teaming up with fraudster, and Fyre creator, Billy McFarland for……Fyre Festival II. Why? It’s for redemption(??). Right.
And……..AND…….the first round of 100 tickets sold within hours of going live, retailing each for $500. This fab party has to be real, right? Well, again, not quite. So far there is no date for the event, no location (it’s in the Caribbean maybe somewhere), no musical acts and no other details. Fool me twice? This could be way too easy.
But, not to take away someone wanting to have fun, you can still get in. Tickets will be released in waves and at increasing price points, encouraging would-be festival-goers to get in early. The next 400 tickets, supposedly going on sale “soon,” will cost $799, the subsequent 100 $1,199, the next 50 $1,799, and so on. The final listed ticket tier, “pre-sale last chance,” will cost $7,999, according to the website. FOMO (fear of missing out)?
Remember, if you didn’t get in on the first Fyre Festival this opportunity would not technically be considered being fooled twice. Too bad Bernie Madoff didn’t have an opportunity for a redemption Ponzi scheme.
Consider all this when you get your financial advice from TikTok. Party on.
