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.