This little video has been getting huge online airplay since it was uploaded on January 15, 2008. 300,000 people have already watched it! The ad is the latest installment from T-Mobile’s “Life Is For Sharing” campaign and features a spontaneous dance that takes over Liverpool Station in London. These types of ads fit in my “authenticity is irrelevant” category, meaning that I don’t care if the whole thing (including bystanders) was staged, it was fun to watch and I was happy to go along for the ride. Anything involving dancing gets a thumbs up from me.
I thought it was awesome, and apparently, a lot of people agreed:
I love the part where the woman says that she started her day in a bad mood and now she’s happier. Isn’t that was a great brand experience is really all about? Making an emotional connection with someone? I hope this is the beginning of the next evolution of advertising where people just have more fun with the brand.
To be honest, I think that with an increasing amount of people using the internet to research and compare prices, the only thing left for organizations to do is to create an emotional connection to pull consumers in, instead of just pushing information all the time. Trust us, when we want to compare prices we will come to you. We know where you are!
T-mobile has been really good at portraying the funny and playful side of its brand. Here is one of my favorites:
Best line ever: Well, maybe you should have uglier friends. HA!
This reminded me of the ImprovEverywhere team that did a similar feat where 207 people froze in place simultaneously for five minutes at Grand Central Station in New York. Well done, folks!
Thanks for the story. I had not seen the video before now. I will have to share now with everyone. Thanks,
Joe
It’s a fun video to watch, and clearly authenticity is not important. My problem with the commercial is it empties the meaning of flash mobs as a medium of culture jamming. Flash mobs used to have subversive meaning, and this just takes away from that.
I’ve recently started a blog for a course I have on blogging, so I’ve posted more about it here: http://paulsham.blogspot.com/2009/01/media-end-of-flash-mobs.html
Sorry for the self-promotion. Hehe.
Love the tmobile ads. Now I want to see the rest. Good to see a wireless company that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
FYI, it’s Liverpool Street Station, not Liverpool Station. Also, I have long felt that life needs more spontaneous dance interludes, especially on the platforms at Yonge and Bloor during rush hour.