For a few sweet hours this week, South Bay fans of the Con Azucar coffeehouse were whooping it up over a Facebook post that appeared to show Bad Bunny ordering java and sitting on the much-Instagrammed swing at one of their San Jose shops.
Ah, but excitement can be fleeting in the treacherous era of AI, and the cafe’s clever marketing team admitted the Puerto Rican music star hadn’t actually been here.
But a visit had seemed plausible. After all, Bad Bunny is the most talked-about celebrity here this Super Bowl week, eclipsing interest in Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots players, as both music and sports fans await his “will it be controversial?” halftime show Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
A closer look of the photos, however, reveals that he’s wearing one earring in one photograph and two in another. And those shadows look weird. And he’s outfitted in a sleek all-white suit that looks more appropriate for an awards ceremony than a coffee run. (When he cleaned up at the Grammys last Sunday, he was wearing a sleek custom tuxedo by the designer Schiaparelli.)
The management did word their social media post oh so carefully. “Not saying Bad Bunny came to our coffee shop during Super Bowl week. … but we are saying he has excellent taste.”
They added: “Should we drop a ‘Benito Brew’ or is that too much power?” in reference to Mr. Bunny’s real first name.
The Latin trap king has been at the center of controversy since he was selected as the halftime entertainer for Super Bowl LX: Even as many of Bad Bunny’s fellow Americans cheered the choice, the conservative group Turning Point USA lined up an alternative halftime show featuring Kid Rock.
By midday Thursday, the downtown Con Azucar was no longer abuzz about a “visit.” Still, one customer ordering a cold brew couldn’t resist joking, “I got to breathe in the same air as Bad Bunny!”
And he may well show up some day. The owners confirmed that they are indeed playing around with ideas for a new drink honoring the musician.