Lady Gaga‘s ‘Shallow’ has hit the top spot on the Billboard Top 100 thanks to some crafty work from some of her die-hard fans.
Executing an elaborate fake Starbucks promotional campaign to scam the A Star Is Born single all the way to number one, the singer’s ‘Little Monsters’ created and started circulating a convincing photoshopped advert for the coffee chain. The ad promised a free drink voucher to Twitter users who posted a screenshot of themselves streaming the song.
Instructed to add the hashtag “#Shallowbucks,” fans answered the call and began circulating the photo.
I'm listening to #shallow by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper! @Starbucks
Starbucks is celebrating Lady Gaga’s Oscar win with a promotion for a free drink of choice simply post a screenshot of yourself listening to “Shallow” with the hashtag, #SHALLOWBUCKS for a free drink of choice pic.twitter.com/xbBkm5DFlh
— Kaylee Gaga (@kayleedeangaga) March 1, 2019
There were even fake DMs sent by those in on the scam from a Starbucks check-marked account confirming the voucher and fake shots of the deal advertised on Starbucks’ mobile app.
omfg got my free drink #ShallowBucks pic.twitter.com/RD5AFdasVK
— never really over sis ✊? (@katyneverover) March 1, 2019
guys check your starbucks app! its quicker! #SHALLOWBUCKS pic.twitter.com/N31FazpHz0
— ᴮᴿᴬᴺᴰᴼᴺ (@BRAND0NXCX) March 1, 2019
YOU GUYS IT WORKED! I JUST GOT MY FREE DRINK #StreamShallow #SHALLOWBUCKS pic.twitter.com/MSMVqtcNQg
— sebastian ? (@xebastianrey) March 1, 2019
Continuing to finesse the lie, Gaga stans even went as far as to visit Starbucks to purchase allegedly free frappucinos, to confirm to skeptics that #Shallowbucks was a real thing.
First shared on Thursday (Feb 28), the #Shallowbucks scam had a good run before the company confirmed the promotion was fake.
#Shallowgate was eventually claimed by an 18-year-old Gaga fan named Nico. They told Buzzfeed: “Well since rumors of ‘Shallow’ possibly going number one on Billboard started I knew I had to do something to help her out with sales and streams but I didn’t know just what to do at first. Then one day when I was going home from school I passed by a Starbucks and got the idea last minute lol.
I got #SHALLOWBUCKS trending ??
— nico ? (@fkanico) March 1, 2019
Nico wanted to find some way to help ‘Shallow’ up the charts, after learning it had a possibility of getting to number one, according to Buzzfeed.
The A Star Is Born soundtrack recently jumped back to number one on the Top 200 albums chart, after Gaga and Bradley Cooper performed ‘Shallow’ at the Oscars.
The track won the award for Best Original Song at the Hollywood awards ceremony. In an impassioned speech, Gaga told viewers at home: “If you have a dream, fight for it.”