News

EXCLUSIVE: Ten stages flash mob stunt to promote So You Think You Can Dance

Network Ten has taken inspiration from flash mobs and staged an impromptu dance performance in a food court to promote the launch of So You Think You Can Dance Australia.  


The performance was uploaded to YouTube over the weekend. The video first features one dancer, who bumps into a cleaner, who turns out to be another one of the dancers, and then joins in the process before there are eventually ten performers while the crowd looks on.

The stunt – which takes place in Sydney’s Pitt Street Mall – will inevitably draw comparisons with the recent T-mobile dance flash mob at a railway station in the UK. However, Christmas decorations in the background confirm that the performance, which was shot four with hidden cameras, took place before T-Mobile’s much bigger budget effort was executed in the UK.

Maria Michael, Ten’s executive producer for digital video, told Mumbrella: “We worked with the marketing deparrtment to come up with it. They had a bit of a rehearsal, then went for it. It was right at the start of the year. All the customers in the video were real.” She said that network marketing manager Grant Gillies was one of the key people in the project.

She added: “It hasn’t been in the press yet but we are getting a lot of views and that’s the point of doing something viral.”

Meanwhile, Network Ten has launched its own You Tube channel for the programme, among the first contest-based local initiatives to do.

The channel is inviting viewers to upload videos of themselves dancing , with the best ones having the opportunity to win $10,0000.

The T-Mobile version from the UK:

ADVERTISEMENT

Get the latest media and marketing industry news (and views) direct to your inbox.

Sign up to the free Mumbrella newsletter now.

 

SUBSCRIBE

Sign up to our free daily update to get the latest in media and marketing.