I’m intrigued by the various ways people go about entertaining themselves, and in some cases entertaining others. Over the weekend, I stumbled upon the video that showcases what I mean…
I’m not talking about the crowd who head off for a fly-fishing weekend, or the cyclist freaks you see on the road at 5:15am on a Sunday morning, about the same distance through their weekend ride as you are through your Caramelized Onion and Cheese Steers burger. No I’m talking about completely random activities that through the connectedness of modern digital media, are directly mobilizing thousands of people, and entertaining millions more around the world..
Take a gander over to www.improveverywhere.com and browse through a few of the clips that they have posted. Their tagline is “we cause scenes” and they kind of organise and execute flashmobs on a highly creative and grand scale.. The video that I found shows one of their later stunts, and has attracted over 15million views on youtube..
Aside from being a highly entertaining video, it also got me thinking a little.. In a world that is constantly bombarding us with messages, messages that we as consumers are getting increasingly adept at avoiding or filtering, is this kind of stunt the next logical step for advertising communication to take? Stopping people in their tracks long enough to deliver your message, hopefully in a fun and slightly tongue-in-cheek way? Or is the lack of message or agenda the essence of what makes these events what they are? Is this just people having fun in a world that many a time can be just a little bit too serious?? I look forward to your thoughts..