The devil works hard, as the saying goes, but Lady Gaga stans work harder. Not content with their icon winning an Oscar, and collectively making sure we all forget about the ARTPOP era, now Gaga’s most beloved fans may have helped scam Shallow — the undisputed bop of A Star Is Born — to No. 1.
As Billboard reports, the song has hit the top spot after a surge on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week from No. 21. This will no doubt have been helped by its Oscar win for Best Original Song, but over on Twitter the Little Monsters have been working on a guerrilla marketing campaign of their own.
Mocked-up posters and screenshots which promised people could win, among other things, Spotify premium and free Starbucks drinks by streaming Shallow, began circulating last week with the hashtag #SHALLOWBUCKS and soon were spreading quicker than the Momo challenge.
Starbucks have since confirmed the promotion isn’t real. But Shallow is No. 1, so mission accomplished? The origins of the scam seem to originate from Twitter user @fkanico, who Buzzfeed News reached out for comment. “Yes omg I started it,” he told them in a Twitter direct message, “but if Starbucks asks I know NOTHING!”
The top spot was until now Ariana Grande’s, whose 7 Rings held the position for the past five weeks. Shallow is Gaga’s fourth No. 1 — her first being back in the heady days of 2011 with Born This Way. It’s also Bradley Cooper’s first No. 1 ever! Our generous queen gave this young unknown his first taste of success!