Flopchella

Written by SHARON LOBO

TWITTER DISCOURSE HAS recently focused on the lack of attention that Coachella has recieved this year. It was not that long ago that Coachella was seen as the epitome of pop culture and attendance was on everyone’s bucket list. As a Public Relations student I have thought a lot about how their promo strategies are not what they once were and how that directly affects public opinion. Coachella cultivated a life of its own with their headliners, fashion, and celebrity sightings. The 2022 installment of Coachella demonstrated this culture in an almost downgraded

To start off, I think Coachella benefited a lot from people’s FOMO from seeing the people who attended and how they made sure that you saw absolutely everything happening for every second of the festival. Frequent celebrity sightings also gave the event a certain allure. Something about seeing your favorite celebrity hanging out with their friends made it an experience that the public wanted to physically witness, so I believe a lot of the traffic from the public into the festival was due to this. The problem Coachella has faced recently is that they are inviting more influencers, and fewer high-profile celebrities are showing out at the festival. I would argue that inviting influencers is actually the clever thing to do considering TikTok has become one of the most consumable content platforms. The problem is that the wrong influencers are going, and people make a joke out of them instead of treating them with the same novelty as other celebrities. Of course this reflects badly on the festival because it has lost that edge people were intrigued by in the first place.

Coachella essentially created a genre of fashion all of its own, but this has recently changed. The boho desert aesthetic has been replaced by the flamboyant Y2K fashion that influencers have claimed. The style change is being ridiculed because the festival setting does not match up with current fashion trends. Online criticism is targeting the fashion differences between influencers and celebrities at this year’s Coachella, noting that influencers are trying too hard for a festival that is not worth trying that hard for anymore.

Coachella benefits from capitalism like any other big business does. It is incredibly overpriced for the experience. They generate value for their festival that is far greater than its worth in reality. And as within any capitalistic society, people fall for it and will consume the product. The exclusivity Coachella has created within the festival grounds makes the experience less than enjoyable to a regular festival goer. Simply put, if you do nott have clout or wealth you will not get into any areas or experiences that you see online that most likely drew you to go in the first place.

Coachella is at its core a music festival, but that notion is almost secondary to the outrageous outfits and Instagram photos generated by the event. Coachella began in 1999 as an anti-pop festival meant to highlight the underground music scene. It is hard to believe it turned into the absolute opposite since then.

Perhaps it was necessary for longevity; however, now I think it is time for another shift. Is it really that different from any other festival? I really do not think it is. Festivals such as ACL and Lollapalooza often have lineups just as good as Coachella, but they do not get the same traction that Coachella does. Coachella is extremely fabricated, and people are beginning to realize this. Coachella is losing its appeal. The social awareness that is happening has to do a lot with Coachella’s deterioration. People are realizing that things are not great just because they’re popular. Coachella has long passed its golden era.

FLOPCHELLA FLOPCHELLA FLOPCHELLA