Have flash mobs been overused to the point of becoming at best ineffectual and at worst, pointless? Yes. Has their place in pop culture opened them up to satire and ridicule. Absolutely. And AT&T does it well in their latest ad demonstrating what can happen if you don't get the latest news at the speed of 4G.
The ad itself starts out looking very much like one of the very first wildly popular flash mob videos, with a crowd in central station waiting for the clock to hit the appointed time. The clock hits 12 and one guys whips off his trench coat and enthusiastically goes into his dance routine. It soon becomes painfully obvious that he's the only one dancing. Others in trench coats among the crowd look at him with annoyance. He's scooped their event. Shortly after that the message that the flash mob time changed to 12:30. How much fun can we have at flash mob/slow phone guy's expense?
This is just another in a series of good spots they've done featuring either the 3G person getting the message late or the 4G person being in on the joke ahead of everyone else. While I really don't believe the lag time between 3G and 4G is that great, the spots do a good job of taking one key attribute and highlighting it well.
AT&T – Flash Mob
Thanks to Bethany who sent us this suggestion via twitter. If you'd like to make a suggestion for Ad of the Week, just drop us a line here in the comment section, Or on twitter. Or Facebook. Or via email to info@yaffe.com. However you like.
Mike McClure, Exec Creative Director & interpretive flash dancer
Where was this commercial filmed?
Rosie:
It looks like it was filmed in Union Station New York. Whether it was actually filmed there or just made to look like it, I don’t know.
Mike
It was obviously filmed at Grand Central.
Thanks Bob. Yes, I meant to say Grand Central Station, not Union Station.
Mike
Why does he yell “we are”? Is that from something?
JoAnna:
Not that I know of. I think it’s just the start of whatever cheer or song they were going to do for whatever product/event they were doing the flash mob for.
Mike