Flash mobs in transportation terminals are already passé. Flash mobs created by ad agencies are lamer still. But putting a flash mob together in Beirut’s airport, in March 2011? That’s a ballsy advertising strategy.
M&C Saatchi filmed this witty homage (and/or ultra-derivative rejoinder) to the flash-mob video a rival ad agency produced in 2009, for T-Mobile, at Liverpool Street station. (Click our Venn link, above, to see the T-Mobile ad.) The Lebanese dancers incorporate some local moves and hip wiggles, which are sexier than anything the British dancers managed. But what’s really remarkable is the way that M&C Saatchi’s video, which ostensibly records a totally random (albeit totally manufactured) event, rubs up against more spontaneous happenings in today’s Middle East.
Editor’s note: A few subscribers had trouble downloading the MP3 in Monday’s VSL. We’ve reposted the track HERE and apologize for the inconvenience!
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