MASTERCARD | ABRACADABRA: FROM FAN TO FEATURED | 2025
Lady Gaga's new music video featured fans playing themselves / MASTERCARD "ABRACADABRA: FROM FAN TO FEATURED"
Mastercard turned the music video for Lady Gaga's first new single in five years into the world's biggest audition. The star of the show wasn't Gaga — it was her fans.
The problem
"Abracadabra," from Lady Gaga's album MAYHEM, was a highly anticipated release after a five-year wait for new music. It debuted during a commercial slot at the Grammy Awards. Rather than simply airing the song, Mastercard built a way to pull fans into the campaign itself.
The insight
Music culture used to be shaped top-down by record labels and TV networks. But for Gen Z, dancing and expressing yourself is itself an act of love for an artist. So the thinking was: why not flip fans from watching to dancing — and actually appearing on screen?
The idea
Mastercard teamed up with choreographer Parris Goebel to run a dance audition. Fans posted videos of themselves performing the choreography on social media, and Gaga herself, along with creators, kept liking and commenting on their posts. In the end, 32 chosen fans actually appeared in a "fan version" of the Abracadabra video, recreating the original shot for shot.
What happened
The campaign won Gold in Fan Engagement/Community Building and Bronze in Social & Creator at Cannes Lions 2025. It went on to win further awards at The One Show, the Clio Awards, and the PRWeek Global Awards.
Afterthought
What makes this work is that fans weren't turned into a spectacle — they were walked straight into the story through the shared language of choreography. Actually appearing in your favorite artist's new music video sounds like a dream, but here it really happened.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Gold 2025
