Only on the internet could a bankrupt airline collapse on Friday, and by Sunday, thousands of people are trying to crowdsource ownership of the company like it’s a fantasy football league.
But that’s exactly what’s happening after TikToker and voice actor Hunter Peterson accidentally launched one of the funniest and weirdest viral movements of the year: trying to buy Spirit Airlines.
And somehow people are VERY into it.
After Spirit abruptly shut down operations on May 2 following years of financial disaster, bankruptcy problems, and a failed $500 million bailout effort, Peterson posted a joke video pitching the idea of “Spirit 2.0,” a community-owned airline run by regular people similar to how the Green Bay Packers are publicly owned.
Classic internet bit. Funny concept. Everybody laughs. End of story.
Except then the internet decided:
“…Wait. What if we actually did it?”
Peterson launched LetsBuySpirit.com mostly as a meme, and within less than 36 hours, the site reportedly attracted around 40,000 pledge submissions totaling more than $26 million before the website eventually crashed from traffic.
Which may be the most Spirit Airlines ending possible. Even the rescue website couldn’t stay operational.
