The words “red swimsuit” doesn’t trigger you, you probably haven’t been on Instagram in the past few days. Bless your soul, you’re one of the lucky ones.
But if you’re like the rest of us unlucky peasants that got caught up in the craze of it all (or at least couldn’t scroll through your feed without seeing Sunny Co Clothing’s swimsuit reposted on all your friends’ Instas), you probably want to gouge your eyes out at the thought of seeing the photo again.
Well sorry, here’s the pic!
The swimwear company did a special promotion on May 3, offering free swimsuits to whoever reposted the photo and tagged @sunnycoclothing. All you’d have to do is pay shipping and handling, which is pretty cool considering the suit costs about $65 dollars. The deal is so good that it seems unreal!
LOL, about that.
The promo ended up getting a LOT more publicity than the company imagined, garnering 339,800 likes and thousands of shares. Suddenly the idea of giving out $65 suits for free probably doesn’t sound like a great idea.
While they originally promised “EVERYONE” who reposted the picture a free new swimsuit, they eventually rescinded the original offer, claiming they “reserve the right to cap the promotion if deemed necessary.”
But the mayhem didn’t end there. Apparently when some customers got the promo code and tried to order their free swimsuits, the site actually charged them the full amount, despite claiming they were only paying for the shipping.
The suit also sold out almost immediately, leaving tons of people without their free swimsuit and completely pissed
Basically, it’s the Fyre Fest of social media, except this time the rest of us poor people got scammed, too. It’s a lot less funny now, isn’t it?
Well, OK, some people found it funny.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTp_uyxg1L-/?taken-by=clairebby_
https://twitter.com/Vuuhsace/status/859977031466995712
Those memes though.
Sneak peek summer '17 pic.twitter.com/TATZUjbYv7
— Brett Walsh (@wrettbalsh) May 3, 2017
Girls this summer pulling up to the pool with their free "SunnyCoClothing" swimsuit pic.twitter.com/hNeXWNpslD
— Karim (@karimtbe) May 3, 2017
Showing up to the beach and you and everyone else is wearing their new "sunnycoclothing" swimsuit pic.twitter.com/lXUPP6wFGr
— Bobby Ay (@bobbyayy37) May 3, 2017
https://twitter.com/glockjawz/status/859841423322918913
The company’s founders are two dudes who are seniors at the University of Arizona, so there’s a big chance they had no idea what they were getting into with this promo. A spokesperson said the company is sorting things out to ensure everyone is happy. I am skeptical.
Honestly, the only thing that saved me from being one of the unlucky participants was the fact that the photo didn’t fit my Insta theme, and it’s something I will thank God for every day. 
