Get on Instagram right now and seek out Marissa Casey Fuchs, otherwise known as Fashion Ambitionist.
She’s currently three days deep into the most extra proposal set up by her soon-to-be-fiance, Gabriel Grossman, and is livestreaming every minute of it to her Instagram stories. And that’s not even the best bit.
Because before Marissa had any idea what Gabriel was planning, before this wild social media adventure began, the idea had been pitched to marketing agencies and brands as a chance for them to get involved. Gabriel - or Gabe, as Marissa affectionately refers to him - had devised a whole deck to entice brands to monetise their special moment and get their products or services featured in their stories which would be watched by her followers.
'This summer, Marissa of @FashionAmbitionist will be pulled into a surprise adventure created by the center of her life, Gabriel,' reads one of the slides in the presentation.
'We’re pleased to offer your brand the opportunity to align with this momentous occasion and the beautiful cities she will be visiting along the way.'
What follows is an intensely precise timetable of surprises, dinners, flights and, of course, a filming schedule to capture every moment for the ‘gram. We don’t know whether to laugh, cry or despair at the state of the world.
Apparently, Marissa was completely unaware the proposal was happening and had no part in creating and pitching the idea - despite it being under her blog name, Fashion Ambitionist. We’re still not sure whether to believe that or not, but either way we can’t keep our eyes away from the absurdness of it all.
Advertising executive Bryan Pederson who was presented with the deck before the Instagram stunt began doesn’t buy that Marissa had no clue. 'Either her fiancé has been intimately involved in every single aspect of her business and influencer marketing career and knows every detail of her influencer partnerships, or she has had some input into that pitch deck,' he told The Atlantic. 'There’s no way a friend or potential fiancé would know how to put together a pitch deck with that detail.'
It all kicked off on Tuesday when Marissa turned up for a seemingly normal meeting at Goop in New York, where she works as a brand partnerships director, and her colleagues played her a pre-recorded video of Gabe asking her to follow him on an 'extraordinary adventure' that would 'incorporate everything important to her - love, adventure, travel, fashion, friends and family'. Nearly this exact wording is used in the pitch presentation, by the way.
Since then the influencer has been led on a treasure hunt across from the Hamptons to Miami, with lavish gifts, clothes, a glam squad and a night at a luxury hotel at every turn. At the time of writing, she’s currently preparing for an overnight flight to Paris. While Marissa has been tagging brands and posting products in these stories - which have gained her an extra 25,000 followers so far - it’s not clear whether any of the companies paid for their appearance. There’s no #ad or #spon or even #gifted in sight.
The couple do have their own hashtags though, with the official name of the stunt being #RielLove (Get it? GabeRIEL?). Another tag, #whereisgabe, has also been spawned after Marissa was filmed collapsing on the floor when she was surprised with a flywheel (fancy spinning) class full of her best pals and asking after her Gabriel. Trust us, it’s worth the watch.
According to the meticulous schedule, the actual proposal is supposed happen outside the Louvre on Friday 21st June at 2:45pm, complete with a flash mob.
After that, Gabe has planned in “alone time” with Marissa followed by a family dinner at Monsieur Bleu. Well, that’s if she says yes..