Turns Out the Golden Globes' Viral Fiji Water Girl Was No Accident

A lot has happened in the five days since Kelleth Cuthbert — a.k.a. the Fiji Water Girl — went viral. To recap, Fiji broke the Internet after its paid water-distributing model captivated audiences from her post on the award show's wildly high-profile red carpet. The striking brunette clad in a Fiji blue gown seemed to glow in pictures even behind such larger-than-life personalities as Lady Gaga. And while not everyone was amused by the marketing opportunity — notably the very vocal Jamie Lee Curtis — it was inarguably a huge exposure win for the brand.

But was it just a happy marketing accident? Hardly. It turns out the photos were actually a more intentional part of Fiji’s campaign than people might have previously thought.

In fact, Getty Images photographer Stefanie Keenan was there shooting on behalf of the brand, with the priority, “to get photos of celebrities holding or sipping Fiji Water, with or without straws,” according to a report in Business Insider. 

However, perhaps in part because it was actually a chillier evening in Los Angeles (as they go) few celebs were actually drinking the water, according to Getty as cited in the Business Insider report. 

"She was limited to a very small area of the carpet but came up with the idea to have a Fiji brand ambassador creep in to some shots," Getty VP of global entertainment Kirstin Benson told Business Insider in an email.

"The stars aligned, the ambassador was great at deadpan, people started picking it up online, and it caught on, leading to fantastic engagement for our client!”
To say the least.