The Met Gala is the FOMO-inducing, annual fete thrown by the Met Museum’s Costume Institute. This year’s theme was “Camp: Notes on Fashion,” and the celebrities went all-in on the idea of pretending to read Susan Sontag’s seminal essay on fashion. Since *takes off bifocal Snapchat Spectacles, looks around* none of us were invited, we had to watch the festivities unfold on social media.
While Lady Gaga, Lizzo, Cardi B, and Billy Porter were all on hand, the real star of the event, according to an analysis of social media engagement, was a rising young star making a big splash in its red carpet debut.
According to Talkwalker, a social listening and analytics company, out of the Met Gala’s 5.8 million mentions and 26.9 million engagements, the top trending celebrity on social media was a pigeon.
Yes, a tweet of a pigeon landing on the red carpet stole the entire show. A lowly New York street tough enjoyed more social media chatter than Harry Styles, Zendaya, Priyanka Chopra, Serena Williams, Janet Mock, Jared Leto (who used his own head as a handbag), and even Katy Perry (who dressed like both a chandelier and a hamburger).
None of them could compete with a New York pigeon on social media.
A tweet about the highfalutin, high-flying bird garnered 109,500 shares and likes, far outstripping its next closest competitor, which was a throwback tweet remembering the Zac Posen dress that Claire Danes wore to the gala in 2016. That got only 89,100 shares and likes, followed by Lady Gaga’s four outfit changes, which got 82,300 shares and likes.
Of course, no one saw Lady Gaga and the pigeon at the same time, so perhaps that pigeon was actually Lady Gaga’s fifth costume change.
Anyway, next year, the Met’s Costume Institute should make the theme pigeon, because clearly the audience loves pigeons. After all, if that lowly pigeon can make it to the Met Gala, so can any of us!
fuck it upppp #MetGala pic.twitter.com/UQQPWPgfbr
— luciaa (@spoookybitch) May 6, 2019
Recognize your brand’s excellence by applying to this year’s Brands That Matter Awards before the early-rate deadline, May 3.
