Daft Punk flash mob

Aren't flash mobs so over already?  But this flash mob for Pirelli in the UK does have a touch of Daft Punk:

During F1 Grand Prix at Mondo, these helmeted professional dancers performed their "dance attack" to Breakbot's "Fantasy." 

TOMS human piano

Oh good, it's not another flash mob.  Sometimes it's okay to just be a commercial, especially when the concept is as playful as this:

The trouble with some of these flash mobs is the dance sequences do not have a natural link to the product.  This TOMS spot has their shoes as the central focus as dancers kick with their piano pants leggings.  The fact it isn't entirely a flash-mob is good, because flash mobs need to stop.

Bikini time

Summer's coming so here are a couple bikini ads.

Flash mobs are getting pretty old now, but this one actually works for Pac Sun.  This one is appropriate for the swimwear brand as people at the Grove in Los Angeles gathered to strip and dance to Passion Pit's rendition of La Roux's "I'm Not Your Toy" and Young the Giant's "My Body" to create the mashup "My Body's Not Your Toy."

Dress Irresponsibly.

This is an ad is for La Senza swimwear UK.  It's kind of hokey in a good way, like 80s music video hokey.  A gaggle of bikini-clad girls storm a nudist beach to the sounds of the Naked and the Famous.  Those judge-y nudist shake their heads in disapproval as these sexy ladies ruin their beach day by showing up with ...clothing.  The audacity.  

When the lifeguard tries to wrangle up these bikini gals that are upsetting the nudists, and these trouble-making girls pin him to ground and douse him with oil in an orgy-esque manner. 

There are embedded links to "See More Nudists!" [No thank you.]  "To meet the lifeguard" and to "Meet the girls!"

 

 

Be Bold.

Flash mob joy

I'm fairly sick of flash mobs at this point, but this one caught my eye because it has the elements that made flash mobs so great in the first place:

Not that this this routine stunningly choreographed.  It's pretty clumsy actually.  It begins with the head teacher of Bell Baxter in Scotland scanning the assembly room as the intro of YMCA begins blaring.  It seems like any other ordinary day with their ordinarily stern head teacher searching for potential student shenanigans.  

But what occurs is kind of magical.  He erupts into a dance routine which genuinely shocks the student population.  The head teacher is joined by faculty and others for a dance routine that makes the student population crack up.  It was unexpected and it was spectacle that was enjoyed.

I redact my former statement. Flash mobs need to stop.

This "flash mob" for Wells Fargo never really reveals the fact that this dance was orchestrated by the banking giant, and it just comes off as a bunch of street performers. Which is cool, giving the experience an air of authenticity.  Just another ordinary day in Times Square: 

It begins with a bucket drummers, which is always entertaining, and soon other garbage drummers join along, creating a wall of bucket percussive sound.  Dancers join in and they get a couple of breakdancers to join in, and the whole spectacle maintains a sense of realism to the whole street performer vibe.  

But the thing that gets me is song choice.  One Singular Sensation?  Is it because they are in the Big Apple and they gotta do an homage to A Chorus Line?  It just seems kind of lame to me.  The song selection taste levels are not appropriate to the spectacular they are building up to. 

In the end, they never mention it's for Wells Fargo, which is fine.  But what does a dance routine have to do with your checking account?  Is this supposed to inspire me to open a savings account? 

Speaking of lame, here's one from the Second Baptist Church in Houston, Texas: 

Well, I gotta give them a few points for trying to be "hip" and "cool" with a flash mob for the congregation.  First off, this is NOT a flash mob.  They have an entire field cleared out for this ... aerobics class.  [Step-touch-step-touch and grapevine...]  There's nothing really surprising about this "flash mob."  Um...there is a professional camera guy in the shot.  And when there are more people dancing than there are watching, that is not a flash mob.  It's a flash-cult.

The "Dance Your Shoes Off" dancers donated a pair of new shoes for missionary people to give to the needy, which is a good thing.  This aspect of social good is completely ignored in this video.  By subtly tying in this idea, it would have made the video stronger in its statement and a lot less creepy to watch. 

I'm not sick of flash mobs quite yet

More people should just bust out dancing in real life.  

Here is a flash-mob from Bucharest for Lipton Ice Tea.  In WTF situations like these, flash mobs are better in populated areas when people least suspect it.  

The thing about this particular flash-mob is that there is such a DIY-non-professional-dancer esthetic to it, which comes off as more genuine and real.  Fortunately this dance is tied to a product that can be easily given away as samples.  Free food!  Yes, let's dance!

This flash mob for American Airlines in Los Angeles, on the other hand, while being extremely polished, looks too staged; thus, fake.  And in the eyes of the internets: a fail.  And there really isn't much of a connection to flying to this dance routine.  It opens up with a father and daughter and I guess they're "in on it."  It adds some sort of story element to the dance, but isn't necessary considering no one was really watching them in the beginning to make the connection it's part of the dance.*

*[Oh you're not seeing the long-term, when it goes VIRAL they'll see it all in action]**

**[[Trust me, this is not going to go VIRAL.]]

It seemed like the majority of the people in that plaza were there to do the dance.  The dorky dance includes these professional dancers "flying," so the handful of people that were watching might have riddled it out that it was for an airline.  The only moment there was brand identification was at the end when they lifted up suitcases to form the American Airlines logo.  Which only benefits the people in the high-rises, and the four people on the ground have no idea it was for AA.* 

*If they were even watching to begin with.