Flashmobs: The good, the bad and the ugly

JUST when you thought it was safe to go out in public, another coordinated attack. Here are the best and worst flashmobs. But mainly worst.

Frank Chung

@franks_chung

2 min read

October 22, 2014 - 1:17PM

Is it time to retire the flashmob?

JUST when you thought it was safe to go out in public …

Australians are being urged to stay vigilant for any signs of groups of people massing suspiciously in public places in an apparently pre-planned manner.

No, it’s not a terrorist attack. It’s a flashmob.

As you can see from the graph below, interest in flashmobs started in 2009 after T Mobile’s viral dance routine at Liverpool Street Station, peaked around May 2011, and has been steadily declining ever since.

Google Trends knows what’s up.

While the world has largely moved on, the threat has not been completely eliminated.

ING Direct is behind the latest incident — earlier this month, it struck Sydney’s CBD with an “oldies rave” featuring 59-year-old German DJ Christian Horsters, aka DJ Der Guten Laune.

“We just really wanted to highlight that for many of us, super seems a long way away, but it really does pay to start thinking about your super in a considered way from an early age,” said John Arnott, executive director of customer at ING Direct, speaking to news.com.au from an undisclosed location.

“We wanted to bring that concept to life in a semi-humorous way. There were some elderly characters pulling out some pretty funky moves.”

Mr Horsters was able to quit his office job after shooting to viral video fame. He now makes a living playing one or two gigs a week and spends the rest of his time working with a food rescue organisation similar to OzHarvest.

ING would not disclose how much he was paid for the Sydney job. “It’s not a lot of money but it’s quite good,” he said. “And I don’t need much money anyway, so that is a combination that works well. My life makes much more sense than it did before.”

Advertising expert and Gruen Transfer panellist Adam Ferrier says the days of people passing on flashmob videos are long gone.

“They’ve had their day. They feel like a hackneyed marketing technique unless there’s something new and interesting about them,” he said.

“With most trends, the quicker they rise, the quicker they fall. Flashmobs grew very quickly after T Mobile in 2009 and have fallen off since then.”

But he says they can work, if the idea is good. “I applaud people who are doing innovative marketing no matter what its form, and if the content’s good people will pass it on, whether it’s a flashmob or not,” he said.

So before we retire the flashmob once and for all, here is an abridged history.

THE GOOD

Review:Classical music. Minimal dancing. Acceptable flashmob.