I am crazy about flash mobs. Ever since I heard about the phenomena I wanted to be part of it and then I was constantly trying to convince my clients (when i was doing my PR job for Lowe Public Relations in Bucharest) of the awareness of such an event. I guess Eastern Europe is not yet ready for this kind of crazy happenings but there are some big cities all over Europe that do it and do it good.
For those of you who are not familiar with the concept, a flash mob is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief time, then quickly disperse. Usually the people are notified by e-mail or social networks where to be, at what time and what they have to do.
In fact, this kind of event is not new at all. It is in a way a form of performance art and it works like a political demonstration but with totally different goals. The first flash mob dates from 2003 when Bill Wasik, senior editor of Harper's Magazine, convinced more than 100 people to go to the 9th floor rug department of Macy's, gathering around an expensive rug. Anyone approached by a sales assistant was advised to say that the gatherers lived together in a warehouse in New York, that they were shopping for a "love rug", and that they made all their purchase decisions as a group. Then followed: 200 people flooded the lobby and mezzanine of the Hyatt hotel in synchronized applause for about 15 seconds, and a shoe boutique in SoHo that was invaded by participants pretending to be tourists on a bus trip.
Starting as an action made just for fun, it became a PR&advertising tool, a bit overused but still very entertaining. It is pretty clear that T-mobile has an on going flash mob based advertising strategy.
A lot of people today wish to be part of a flash mob. My friend who lives in London is almost crying now for not being in the right time at the right moment, 3 days ago, when T-Mobile hosted a huge karaoke session in Trafalgar Square. The footage from the event will be used in the new T-Mobile TV ad.
Most notable was worldwide pillow fight day in March 2008. Over 25 cities around the globe participated in the first "international flash mob", which was the world's largest flash mob to date but I can't decide whether my favorite is Frozen in Grand Central or the T-Mobile dance.
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Hey there--I'm Bill Wasik's publicist for his forthcoming book AND THEN THERE'S THIS: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture. Would you like a copy and consider writing it up on your blog? He decides a chapter to his experience with the flash mobs--where he got the idea, what each one in NYC was, why he thinks they're so successful.
You can read more about Bill's viral experiments and ideas on viral culture on www.billwasik.com.
If you'd like a copy, just email me at lindsay.prevette@us.penguingroup.com with your address.
Best,
Lindsay
Delia, in Slovenia we had such a thing - last year :) On the main street in Ljubljana (Slovenska cesta) - more than 200 people gathered to cross the street when the red light was on, and wait when the green lighten up. Drivers were sooo suprised. it was really funny! :)
Oh, great! sounds like a lot of fun. Unfortunately in Bucharest people are not open to participating in such events. Glad to hear that in Ljubljana they do.
really sorry to disappoint you delia, but for how long now have u been outside your country?
http://www.adgabber.com/profiles/blogs/546804:BlogPost:101666
Oh, you got me all wrong. I couldn't be disappointed in seeing successful flash mobs in Bucharest but more than happy. I know about all the initiatives of flash mob in Bucharest and I was emphasizing on the fact that, as you also said, people hardly know what a flash mob is, this is not applied as an advertising/PR tool, and people are skeptical about it-they don’t understand the reason to participate in such an event.
So, your initiative is great. Just that you can’t compare 13.500 people in Trafalgar Square/London with 30 in Bucharest at the pillow fight or with the “Vreau in clasa a 9” flash mob on the 15 of April this year. I was there….together with 10 other people…
In the end, I think it is a problem of mentality and lack of “international” education.
For the 9th of November 2009, 20 years after the fall down of the berlin wall there is a big flash mob planed in Berlin. Along a 46km long line the wall will remade my human beeings. Look for: http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/Stadtleben-Mauer-Flashmob;art125,2806611
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