Thousands of people from across Mexico gathered for the 15th birthday party of Rubi Ibarra on Monday after a video invitation to the event went viral on social media.
Rubi's birthday party became popular soon after a local event photographer posted the video invite on his Facebook page, where the girl's father described the event as a down-home birthday party with food, local bands and horse races.
The video showed Rubi's father Crescencio wearing a cowboy hat and describing the party and the prizes before announcing that "everyone is cordially invited." The event became an international affair after over a million people accepted the invitation saying that they would attend it.
Reports state that Rubi's family members had to make a path for her to pass through all the photographers and reporters taking pictures of her, so that she could reach the Mass organised for her in a field in San Luis Potosi. At her birthday venue, there was a large billboard saying "Welcome to my 15th birthday party" with Rubi's picture on the tents.
The girl's birthday event become such a hit that the Mexican airline Interjet even published a promotion offering a 30 percent discounts on flights heading to San Luis Potosi with a slogan saying, "Are you going to Rubi's party?"
"What happened with Rubi is an interesting example of how the internet amplifies and makes hyper-transparent people's personal lives and how traditional media look for stories on social networks to bring in new audiences who they have been losing," Sergio Octavio Contreras, a communications professor at Mexico's La Salle Bajio University, told the Associated Press.
However, it was later made clear that the invitation was not for everyone. Rubi's mother explained the entire situation stating that her husband had only been referring to everyone in the neighbouring communities in the video, and not the world. The video became such a huge hit on YouTube that the father even received sponsorship offers for the birthday party from various companies.
