Secret Boston, LLC is an American social-media company. The company was founded in February 2010 by Michelle McCormack as a Facebook page and is currently an online and offline platform featuring Boston-related events, ideas, and people.

Fashion's Night Out

In 2011 and 2012, Secret Boston was the official producer of Fashion's Night Out Boston (FNO Boston) an annual retail event started by

Vogue Magazine ''Vogue'' (stylized in all caps), also known as American ''Vogue'', is a monthly fashion and lifestyle magazine that covers style news, including haute couture fashion, beauty, culture, living, and runway. It is part of the global collectio ...

in 2008 to encourage people to spend money and stimulate the economy after the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

. For the first time in over 15-years

Newbury Street Newbury Street is located in the Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts, Back Bay area of Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. It runs roughly east–west, from the Public Garden (Boston, Massachusetts), Boston Public ...

was closed to traffic so shoppers could celebrate in the street. Secret Boston's founder introduced Mayor

Thomas Menino Thomas Michael Menino (December 27, 1942 – October 30, 2014) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Boston, from 1993 to 2014. He was the city's longest-serving mayor. He was elected mayor in 1993 after first serving three mont ...

on a stage built in the middle of Newbury Street to officially kick off the event. Participating retailers included Tiffany,

Barneys Barneys New York is an American brand founded in 1923 by Barney Pressman that operated full-line department stores from 1923 until 2020. Authentic Brands Group acquired Barneys' intellectual property in 2019, and has licensed the brand to Saks ...

Copley Place Copley Place is a mixed-use complex of four office buildings, two hotels, and a shopping mall in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Construction began in 1980, which required air rights over the Massachusetts Tu ...

, Newbury Street Association, and

Faneuil Hall Faneuil Hall ( or ; previously ) is a marketplace and meeting hall near the waterfront and Government Center, Boston, Massachusetts, Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Opened in 1742, it was the site of several speeches ...

Before I Die Wall

In 2012, Secret Boston along with the Ames Hotel spearheaded the installation of Candy Chang's
Before I Die Wall
on The Rose Kennedy Greenway to kick off Fashion's Night Out Boston. The unveiling was hosted by Secret Boston's founder and

Ben Mezrich Ben Mezrich ( ; born February 7, 1969) is an American author. He has written well-known non-fiction books, including '' The Accidental Billionaires'' and '' The Antisocial Network'', which have been turned into the films ''The Social Network'' ...

the author of

The Social Network ''The Social Network'' is a 2010 American biographical drama film directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, based on the 2009 book '' The Accidental Billionaires'' by Ben Mezrich. It portrays the founding of social networkin ...

, the book about

Mark Zuckerberg Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born May 14, 1984) is an American businessman who co-founded the social media service Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms, of which he is the chairman, chief executive officer, and controlling sharehold ...

's creating

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

that was made into a movie by director

David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. Often described as one of the preeminent directors of his generation, David Fincher filmography, his films, of which most are psychological thrillers, have collectiv ...

RedBull Flugtag

In 2016,

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks created and owned by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With a market share of 43%, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2020, and the third most valuable soft drink brand, behind Coca-Cola and ...

invited the Secret Boston community to participate in " Flugtag" a DIY aircraft challenge that took place at the

Charles River The Charles River (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ), sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles, is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Hopkinton to Boston along a highly me ...

. Six Secret Boston teams participated in building an aircraft prototype. One team, SPHINXTOR won and was and invited to fly their craft at the main event.

COVID-19

In March/April 2020, Secret Boston hosted a "Social Distancing Sing-a-long". Each day, Secret Boston published a daily playlist on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

and every night at 7pm housebound Bostonians throughout the city took to their windows and balconies to sing the songs together

Controversies

In 2015, Secret Boston was accused of spreading a rumor that the band U2 would be playing at The Burren, a local Irish Bar in

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 81, ...

. Hundreds of people and every local news outlet showed up and waited hours on the street for U2 to arrive. At midnight, the crowd dispersed when U2 published a Tweet that they would not be showing up. The following day, Secret Boston was criticised for using social media to manipulate their community with an unfounded rumor in order to gain attention. In 2021, Secret Boston became embroiled in a conflict with an

Alibaba Ali Baba is a character from the folk tale "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves". Alibaba Group is a Chinese multinational internet technology company. Ali Baba or Alibaba may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * ''Ali Baba and the Forty T ...

backed European company called Fever who began using the "Secret Boston" name to sell tickets to Bostonians who believed they were buying the tickets from Secret Boston. On June 4, 2021

Boston Magazine ''Boston'' (also called "''Boston'' magazine" or referred to by the nickname "BoMag") is a regional monthly magazine concerning life in the Greater Boston area, which has been in publication since 1962. History Metrocorp Publishing, a Philade ...

published an article "The “Real” Secret Boston Is Spending $250,000 to Go to War with the Other One". As of now, the companies are in litigation.

References

{{reflist American companies established in 2010 Social media companies