The Power Of Flashmobbing - Ctrl.Alt.Shift

Yep, that's my ugly, shameless mug doing the promotional vid for our Ctrl.Alt.Shift Fairtrade banana campaign. Fun times! After our crazy banana flashmob attack on Tescos (exposing their unfair banana trade), I took to the streets of London with Ctrl.Alt.Shift to throw the concept of flashmobbing to the people. Is to something cool? Something powerful, effective and memorable? Or just plane stupid...? Here's the response:

Vox Pops: Flashmobbing
Ctrl.Alt.Shift rustled some feathers this week, invading the premises of Tesco outlets around the country with a synchronised Fairtrade banana flashmob - the mission was to expose how the shameless economic giants refuse to sell solely fair trade bananas.

With all the ruckus of Ctrl.Alt.Shifters simultaneously running around handing out Sainbury's Fairtrade bananas to Tesco's unsuspecting customers, it was stunt that delivered a hard laugh and an even harder message, as each Fairtrade banana was tagged with: "Tesco's banana workers are paid less than half a living wage. Don't buy bananas unless they're Fairtrade."



Now we hope the lasting impact of the flashmob will be that more and more people will boycott unfair trade products – but was it the most rational and effective way of making a statement?



The popularity of flashmobs is growing - there are at least 500 Facebook groups for flashmobs, but not everyone is a fan. Deputy Chief Constable Andy Trotter of the British Transport Police (BTP) called flashmobsters "inconsiderate to commuters." This follows the closure of Liverpool Street Station in February this year, when about 12,000 people took part in a Facebook-driven flashmob event. Now the BTP are tracking FB groups in hopes to shut flashmobs down in advance... so you people best keep it on the d-low.

A great inconvenience they say. Then again, consider the impact of the T-Mobile dance flashmob, again in Liverpool Street that got bypassers and viewers alike up and body-popping along with the 1000 dancers shaking their thang. Or recall the 4000 people who turned up for the silent rave flashmob in Victoria station who will remember it as a fun and crazy day. But where do our youth stand on the matter of flashmob fever?

We took to the streets to ask the following questions:

Do flashmobs work?
Are they the best way for our disgruntled youth to get their point across?
What's more important to consider, the inconvenience to others caught in the commotion, the fun, or the cause of the flashmob? (And should police be shutting them down?)
Would you ever take part in a flashmob (such as Ctrl.lt.Shift's banana stunt)?

Chris, 21:
"There's no real point in flashmobs is there? I don't understand what they achieve, although I suppose it depends on the cause behind the flashmob, but a lot of them are not based on anything - it's just random nothingness. I think they can be a good way of getting our youth to do something, if you can get them to do something positive while still making it fun you're on to a winner. The cause is surely the most important part of the flashmob, but I suppose fun and originality both play a part in getting the point across to people who may not always be as interested. I don't think the police should be able to lock them off, it's freedom of speech. And sure, I would be happy to take part in a flashmob with Ctrl.Alt.Shift."

Read the full article with all the other comments here