Flash Mobs

For the past couple of months I have had a burning desire to be part of a huge Flash Mob, and no I don’t mean streaking in public, I originally thought that’s what Flash Mobs did. I mean learning a dance that hundreds of people learn, all coming together in a public area and performing it to people who wouldn’t expect it.  After seeing numerous YouTube clips of the world’s biggest Flash Mobs, I just feel that one can get very creative with it, it’s beautiful and not to mention where Flash Mobs go so do the media. They have also recently included Flash Mob showcases in movies like Friends with Benefits and series like Modern Family.

Flash Mobs are huge overseas, people take it very seriously, the dances are timed to perfection, and many people are willing to participate in it. The T-Mobile Flash Mob that was done in England is probably one of the most well-known Flash Mobs in the world. This is a great example of how to get creative using other forms to promote your brand. Plus YouTube allows you to advertise to the world for free, you just have to make sure your idea is original and your number of hits will spin out of control.  

The Flash Mob Craze has unfortunately not caught on in South Africa; there are some failed attempts at it though like the Flash Mob that was done in Port Elizabeth but at least we tried:

And here is a similar version that was done in America:

I believe a Flash Mob is a brilliant way to unite people, and South Africa has the ability to create something quite unique with it especially when it comes to tourism. South Africa should have taken advantage of this unique form of entertainment to promote our big events, like the Soccer World Cup or the Seventh Wonder Campaign. The Waka Waka dance could have been learnt by all the South Africans and on the opening day the Soccer World Cup everyone across South Africa could have gather in the streets and did the dance, we would have got some major publicity and it would have encourage more people from across the world to come and visit our special country.

People might find that taking part in a Flash Mob could be quite difficult or take up a lot of time but with the power of social media and video chats, something like this can go viral in a second. People can learn dances, plan performance dates and organise music over the internet.

I think the best places to do a Flash Mob would be: 

• At a concert; everyone could learn a dance to a specific song of the artist, maybe some cool hand movements, and then the crowd can do it together at the concert. I think the artist would feel very welcome and it would create an awesome atmosphere.
• At a popular tourist destination like the Waterfront or in a crowded area like Canal Walk or Cape Town City Centre. Companies can make use of flash mobs to promote their brands, Vodacom could have encouraged thousands of people to learn a dance and at the end of the dance everyone could have taken off their shirts to reveal a red T-shirt with the Vodacom logo on to promote that they are changing their colour to red.
• Flash Mobs can even be used to encourage people to raise funds for a specific cause, singing and learning a song which is associated with the specific charity organisation.

Everyone wants to be part of something bigger than themselves, and this is a great way to make that possible.