The news that Lady Gaga’s new single, Perfect Illusion, would debut on Friday elicited excited responses from her fans. But in between the GIFs or declarations of “Yaaaaas Gaga” that flooded Twitter, some fans hatched a unique plan to help the song get more attention.
Gaga’s Little Monsters decided to create fake “soccer mom” accounts to tweet radio stations to show a high demand for the song. “You will be helping radio DJ’s all over the world think that the GP is actually living for the song, therefore playing it more often,” read a private post on GagaDaily, a fan site for the musician.
The post suggested to fans: “Make an account with a soccer mom selfie avatar, make your username something like ‘ilovemykids123’ and write a bio about how you have three kids and a husband.”
My sons keep on screaming "yaaas Gaga" i dont know what they mean but im excited!!! #PERFECTILLUSION
— Lisa Marie (@LisaMarie64love) September 6, 2016
The profiles were decked out with stock photos of parents. One account, dubbed Bethany Joan, used a photo of Kate Gosselin from the early days of the TLC show Jon & Kate Plus 8. The posts all mentioned how much their children loved Gaga’s music, with their formal and typo-filled tweets focused on parenting, religion, wine and things like making their sons waffles.
A few became rather morbid, like one by a user named Scarlett Rose. “My husband is dead. I don’t want to remarry. Buy Perfect Illusion on iTunes,” the account wrote. Another showed a photo of a woman in a neck brace who wrote that she crashed her minivan when she heard about the new single.
Rather than using their “stan” accounts – meaning super fan – to request the song, Gaga fans used the fake accounts because “radio hosts hate homosexuals and stan twitters, it’s a fact”, according to the post on GagaDaily.
@kiis1065 @ladygaga My daughter Kaylie already texted me about this! She's super pumped. This will be a must while we carpool to school :)
— Bethany Joan (@mamabethanyjoan) September 5, 2016
Since the story has been picked up by sites such as BuzzFeed and Paper Magazine – not to mention the fact that most of the accounts were conspicuously created this month – radio stations have already figured out who is really behind the tweets. “You don’t need to send the fake soccer mom tweets, @ladygaga fans, you already KNOW we got you! #PerfectIllusion,” Pittsburgh station 96.1 KISS wrote.
Gaga’s ardent fans have been anxiously awaiting a new single for a while. Artpop, the singer’s last album, came out three years ago, though she collaborated with Tony Bennett on Cheek to Cheek in 2014. She teased the song back in August, letting fans know they could expect to hear Perfect Illusion and see a music video sometime in September via mosaic-like posts on her Instagram. The thought of her album potentially dropping at any moment in September seemed to give some fans anxiety.
When it's September and you realize Lady Gaga can drop #PERFECTILLUSION any moment without warning pic.twitter.com/XJ0456VvMG
— Sam Stryker (@sbstryker) September 1, 2016
Perfect Illusion was produced by Gaga alongside Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, Mark Ronson and Blood Pop, according to Pitchfork.
It’s been a summer of big news for the Mother Monster, as she unveiled a cookbook with her father; confirmed a role in A Star is Born, Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut; and began filming the latest season of American Horror Story. Fans’ reaction to that news was similarly charismatic. “Keep your cookbook Lady Gaga, we need new album,” many tweeted.
@kiis1065 @ladygaga oh yes! My three kids love her! Will make driving them to school easier with this playing! ❤️😂
— Amy loves her family (@AmyLuvsHerKids) September 6, 2016
