Flash Mobs

This past weekend in Mexico City on Michael Jackson's birthday, August 29Th, 13,000 people celebrated by simultaneously recreating his video "Thriller" breaking the Guinness Book world record. The event was significant in that it broke a world record, but Flash Mobs, as the assembly of people in public for a brief time to perform an act are called, are occurring commonly around the world. In fact on the same day as the tribute to Michael Jackson was happening one similar was going on in London.

Bill Wasick a senior editor at Harper's magazine is largely credited with creating Flash Mobs in 2003 with an email sent that was similar to this one:

Date: Tue, 27 May 2003 17:46:01 -0700 (PDT)

From: The Mob Project themobproject@yahoo.com

Subject: MOB #1
To: themobproject@yahoo.com

You are invited to take part in MOB, the project that creates an inexplicable mob of people in New York City for 10 minutes or less. Please forward this to other people you know who might like to join . . .

And the result was something special:

On Tuesday, June 19, 2003, at precisely 7:27 p.m., approximately 150 individuals gathered in the rug department of Macy’s midtown location in Manhattan. In orderly fashion, they surrounded a $10,000 Persian-style carpet. The mob explained that they were together, lived in a communal warehouse in Long Island City, and were in the market for a Love Rug. At exactly 7:37 p.m. the mob dispersed — sans rug — and as they exited the department store, they went their separate ways. Completely flummoxed, the department’s chubby salesman in an off-the-In rack beige suit stood there, massaging his jowls and wondering: What the hell was that?

So How did Bill do it? In an interview from L.A. Weekly in 2004 He explain in practical terms?

Practically speaking, how did it start?

I created a Yahoo account —Â themobproject@yahoo.com — and worked up an e-mail message. The subject head was “MOB #1.” I wasn’t sure if there was going to be a MOB #2, but I figured it would make people more likely to come if they thought it was part of some ongoing project.
I was to be extremely specific about what people were supposed to do. You were supposed to synchronize your watch, because I realized that to make it work for less than 10 minutes, people would have to be on time or the whole thing would be messed up. I mean, people in New York can be 10 minutes late just on the basis of having their watches set differently. So I told everyone to synchronize their watches to a specific government time site.
I e-mailed the invitation to myself, then forwarded it from my own account to about 50 people. I also arranged with a couple of my friends who are performers to send it to their e-mail lists. I had no idea how many people would actually come.

The Michael Jackson Flash Mob could be considered a branded mob. Very organic because there was no sponsored advertising, but it shows how much attention brand advocates can make when they come together.