Fake Facebook Event Fools Limp Bizkit Fans
Last month, on April 20, hundreds of Limp Bizkit fans showed up at a gas station. Why did they do this? Thanks to a fake Facebook event posting, they believed the band was planning a spur-of-the-moment show at a local Sunoco.
There were also fake tweets and bootleg t-shirts created to add to the prank. Fred Durst and the Dayton Police Department even issued a statement that the gas station show was a fake, but that didn’t stop the mass of fans showing up. Some fans knew that the whole thing was a joke, but others were genuinely disappointed.
The fake event even got so big that it spurred other fake Facebook concert postings. BLUNT Magazine searched the depths of Facebook to find some of them. One of them advertises “Smash Mouth Live! At Planned Parenthood”. Another claims that Rage Against the Machine will be playing live at Travis County Jail in Austin, Texas. A third gets even more creative with “Taco Bell Presents Criss Angel MINDFREAK feat Papa Roach & Drowning Pool & Sasha Grey (solo set) & HIM hosted by Katt Williams & Guy Fieri”. This last one even advertises free quesalupas to the first 200 guests.
Many of the postings are quite obviously fake. They feature outlandish claims and situations. I really doubt that Metallica would play with Sum 41 at a Sonic Drive-In in Texas. Although in the past, well-known bands have thrown surprise shows at small and unlikely venues. For example, the Tragically Hip playing at a restaurant in Kensington Market between September 30 and October 2, 2012 and only announced it through Twitter an hour and a half before they went on stage. So really, the original Limp Bizkit event doesn’t seem too impossible.
If you have ever or are ever duped by one of these fake Facebook events, don’t worry, because you’re not the only one!
Hi there. Reverend Joel here, the creator of the fake event for Rage Against the Machine. There’s a huge difference between my fake event and most of the other ones going around… authenticity. Most of the events are pretty outlandish… but the one I created could have possibly been real. A political rock group performing at the county jail of the capitol the biggest red state in the union? Totally believable. Kanye playing Fred’s Fish Fry? Not. NIN at HEB? Not.
Thanks for your thoughts. I’ve enjoyed the 15 minutes of fame I’ve gotten from this fake event. It wasn’t supposed to go viral like it did. I only figured it would be a good chuckle to a few of the friends I sent invites to.
Have a nice day!