Could the Met Gala be affecting your social media ads?

Ah, the Met Gala, that glittering bastion of haute couture and celebrity excess, where tickets go for the small fortune of $75,000 a pop. This year, under the opulent theme of "The Garden of Time" (inspired by JG Ballard's tale of aristocrats and time-traveling flowers), it seems the gala did more than showcase high fashion—it may also be wreaking havoc on your social media ad spend.

Soon after celebs paraded in outfits worth the GDP of a small island nation, some marketers noticed a peculiar uptick in their cost per click across platforms like TikTok and Meta. Coincidence? Perhaps not.

Let's delve into the irony of the gala's theme. "The Garden of Time" tells of a wealthy family staving off the commoner masses by manipulating time with magical flowers, only to find their estate crumble when the last flower to push back time?is plucked. Author Jinwoo Park on TikTok @jinwoopark0721 interpreted this as "the aristocracy destroying everything after hoarding it so that the common people don't get to have any of it." He?goes on to say?that the event and its ostentatious representation of privilege and wealth is a dystopian representation of this short story. It's unclear if the joke's on us, the commoners who?watch?the gala, or the celebrities who are now facing backlash who attended. I'll get to?more?about that in a minute.

Meanwhile, the world churns on with real issues. As celebrities strutted, news broke of developments in Gaza, contrasting sharply with the gala's extravagance and sparking outrage. NPR writes that the Met Gala "took place at around the same time as thousands of Palestinians were?being forced?to flee Rafah at less than 24 hours notice as Israeli troops took control of the Gaza territory's border crossing with Egypt, fanned the glowing embers into full-on flames." This blend of?opulence?at a time of crisis fueled a wildfire of hashtag activism, including gems like #celebrityblocklist, #celebrityblock2024, and the delightfully ironic #letthemeatcake, inspired by influencer Haley Baylee's unfortunate choice of words while cosplaying as Marie Antoinette at the event.

For marketers, the surge in traffic to celebrity pages, largely driven by users eager to block them, is posing a significant challenge. This unexpected behavior is confusing the algorithms that handle our ads. Suddenly, visiting a page to block it sends mixed signals, suggesting interest where there is none. This has disrupted ad targeting, especially for campaigns using lookalike audiences based on these celebrity interactions.

Harlie, a digital marketing director on TikTok (@thisisharlie), likened the phenomenon to the Boston Tea Party—a revolt against the algorithmic monarchy of social media ads. In a since-deleted post, she notes that even a cat-loving Floridian blocking Tom Brady could end up?being targeted?with?ads?for TB12, Gatorade, and other sports-related products.?While that may seem trivial, for those spending money on ads, seeing the price of their cost-per-click rate (CPC) skyrocket can cause panic. (Note: She deleted her older video because she made comments how to make the celebrity block out worse for celebs and their products, but it was something that could get people into trouble and she cites that at the beginning of this video linked.)

If you've noticed your ad?spend?climbing without a corresponding increase in conversions, it's a clear sign to take control and reassess your targeting strategies. But don't just start jabbing at buttons hoping for a quick fix. It's a tricky garden to navigate, and you might just find yourself picking the last time flower.?Strategic reassessment is key here.

The Met Gala, a?night of fashion and fantasy, may indeed be influencing more than just style trends and instead stirring the very algorithms that guide our digital ad spaces. Whether this is a case of life imitating art or algorithms misunderstanding human intent, one thing is clear: in the realm of digital marketing, not all that glitters is gold.