A Mexican girl’s dad was so excited by her upcoming 15th birthday that he invited “everyone” — and 1.2 million RSVP’d.
“Hello, how are you? We invite you this 26 of December to the 15th birthday party of our daughter, Rubi Ibarra Garcia,” Crescencio Ibarra says in a video posted on Facebook.
Crescencio is seen standing along with Rubi — clad in a faux leopard-skin dress and a rhinestone tiara on her head — and mom Anaelda as he delivers his invitation, which he had intended for friends and neighbors.
He then lists three bands that will play and announces that the winner of a horse race will win 10,000 pesos, or $490, at the festivities.
“Hereby, everyone is cordially invited,” he says, innocently.
And then — surprise! — it went viral, sparking countless memes and getting shared more than 800,000 times.
“My husband made the invitation, but to people who live in neighboring regions. I don’t know who copied it, but they posted it and it blew up, as if it were an invitation to the entire world,” Anaelda said, news.com.au reported.
Mexican airline Interjet published a promotion offering 30 percent discounts on flights to San Luis Potosi, under the slogan “Are you going to Rubi’s party?,” the paper reported.
Crescencio Ibarra told a TV station he had no clue why the masses have been drawn to his family’s event.
“We wanted to invite the people from the area, that’s all,” he said, before denying he had since uninvited all but personal acquaintances, the BBC reported.
The family will host the party in a field outside the village of La Joya, he said.
Local lawmaker Roberto Alejandro Segovia Hernandez told the BBC that police would be deployed to ensure safety in case huge numbers show up.
Anaelda, meanwhile, described her favorite meme.
“It’s the one about Donald Trump and [Mexican President] Enrique Peña Nieto coming to an agreement to allow undocumented Mexican migrants in the US to return to Mexico for Rubi’s party,” she said.