Burning Man, an annual gathering in the Nevada desert that celebrates self-expression, creates a world without branding. But for the remaining 51 weeks of the year, the event's attendees -- called Burners -- burn their cash like any other consumer.
Here’s a vision of what Burning Man would look like if the brands Burners love followed them to the playa. The brands depicted here have a higher affinity among fans of Burning Man than the general population, according to implicit and explicit check-in data from the Foursquare and Swarm apps, and analysis of
Decommodification is the third principle of Burning Man, so these companies and brands will never appear on the playa. Buying goods or services for money is banned there, as are product placements and advertisements. Attendees are supposed to cover up the logos on everything they bring.
Here's what we found: Burning Man attendees are 12 times more likely to visit Blue Bottle Coffee than the average person, according to Foursquare. They’re nine times more likely to go to the Alamo Drafthouse, six times more likely to eat at Sweetgreen and visit WeWork co-working spaces, and four times more likely to go to REI.
According to ListenFirst, Twitter users who follow the official Burning Man account are more likely than the general population to follow EDM artists like deadmau5 and diplo. They follow other festivals, including SXSW, Tomorrowland and Ultra, along with the street artist Banksy and the quirky arts blog Laughing Squid.
