A refreshing variation of the flashmob. It’s in French, but you probably get it. Lots of fun

oh to be Fabien..

www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0HqjwPbAuw

Love it or hate it, the ‘Flash Mob’ is surely something we’ll be remembering as one of the most talked about ad strategies in 2009. Although flash mobbing’s roots lie in more humanistic theatres; performance art, social expression and - how ironically - corporate antagonism, as with all interesting ideas, advertisers invariably will borrow or steal them for their own means. Some with more success than others.

From my memory, Lastminute.com in 2008 with their ‘Flash-Opera‘ mob viral was the first ‘large’ brand in the UK that used the mob as branding tool. I thought it was good. Certainly at the time felt pretty fresh - and had a lot of relevance to the message. Unlike the much more obese T-Mobile flash mob in Liverpool Street Station - whose tagline still escapes me even after having blogged about this before….bringing people together? life is precious? life is people..? Trident chewing gum also had one, with their Beyonce flash mob in Piccadilly Circus to promote their new ‘unwrapped’ gum.  Tenuous at best.

So, where do we go next with this? Creatively speaking, a lot of people dancing/singing in one place does have the possibility of becoming a bit stale after a while..

Cue Daffy’s.

From AdAge:

Moviegoers got more than they bargained for on Friday night, when dancers streamed onto the stage at New York City’s Ziegfeld Theatre just prior to a showing of “Amelia.” For three and a half minutes, ten dancers performed what Screenvision says is a first-of-its-kind live in-cinema ad. The “Fitting Dance” was accompanied by images on the movie screen behind the dancers. Only near the end was it revealed that patrons had been watching a lengthy ad for Daffy’s.

Capture the inherent unexpectedness of a flash mob, stick it in a public place where you really wouldn’t expect it.. and whilst you’re at it mash the event up with an actual ad playing on a large screen. This is what Daffy’s did. ‘Flad’ mob?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L3MCXEM8fE

I had no idea what Daffy’s was. After some sniffing about (nice website btw), I get the feeling they’re like a funner version of GAP with the economic sensibilities of H&M - in which case something like this for them works well. It’s well thought out, well executed and the idea that they have lots of choice at an affordable price comes through fairly well. I’d like to see them continue this whole dancing thing as branding tool - it feels right. Dancing and clothes… dancing and everyday clothes….. Ah. S**t. Been done before.

It’s as if an old GAP ad reworked itself in 3D, learnt now to mix electro and had a friday night out in Hoxton.

Still, enjoyable nonetheless.

clip.

So I was wondering aimlessly back from town, when I came across a disposable camera tied to a bench with a note on it.

Unfortunately the film had run out so yours truly couldn’t take any pictures but after some sniffing around on Facebook, turns out the owner of the disposable camera is a young illustration student called Rachel Lowe. “The Secret Live of Benches” is the name of one of her final year projects – check out her blog here to see some of her pics. Cheeky grins, lunch boxes and tattoos aplenty.

“I tie a disposable camera to a London bench. You take the pictures. I develop them. Voila”

http://www.secretlivesofbenches.blogspot.com/

Not only is it horribly cute, but I like the simplicity of it. I like that it’s collaborative.

I’ll be the first to admit, I know very little when it comes to ‘conventional’ canvas bound art. I’ve never been able to fully appreciate it and as a result I can’t stay for long in an art gallery without getting a touch restless. But when it’s experiential, as a collective and on mass..it feels a little more accessible and engaging. And it does seem to get people talking.

On a more extravagant tip, Antony Gormley’s ‘One And Other’ project in Trafalgar Square has been running since June. There’s a live stream on the website – a plethora of oddities, eccentrics and vagabonds on display if you have the patience. Apparently there are in the region of 34000 applicants, all pining to get up by Nelson and flaunt, yet there are only 2400 places left until the exhibit closes in a few days. Popular indeed.

Even in ad land, the use of the collective has proven to be a trendy mechanism – case in point being T-Mobile’s infamous flash mob campaign at Liverpool Street Station and their recent sponsorship of Oprah’s 24th Season Opening a few months ago. Reaction? The Liverpool Street Station dance has had over 14 million views on Youtube (not quite Boyle – but definitely a lot) and Oprah is more popular than water.

Collaboration? I’m sold.

Clip.