This is one of the most incredible social phenomena what the 21st century has given us. At a time when it would seem that everyone is for himself, the unification of a huge mass of people and their organization for a common goal is simply a phenomenon. Some sociologists and psychologists believe that such a phenomenon as a flash mob can become one of the forms of mass human consciousness and an active form of protest, rally and other ways of expressing one’s position. But while scientists are thinking about how to write another scientific and psychological book and make money from it, we will remember the most unusual and best flash mobs in the world.
I got the feeling
Guinness Book of Records claims that the largest flash mob in the world was staged by the public at the opening of the 24th season of The Oprah Winfrey Show in Chicago in 2009. And since the concert was opened by the Black eyed peas, it was organized to their song I got the feeling.
It is believed that about 20 thousand people took part in this action. Just imagine how this entire large crowd suddenly begins to dance synchronously and perform the same movements. And it was choreographer Michael Gracie who organized this crowd and turned it into a single mechanism, which is how he earned himself worldwide fame.
Break dancing from pregnant women
Flash mob of pregnant women, who breakdance - This is probably the most unusual thing I've ever seen. But in this way, women from wealthy countries of the world are trying to draw attention to the problem of pregnancy in poor countries of the world, where women cannot receive proper medical care. The flash mob was mainly organized in London in 2008, but then spread to Berlin, Paris and even some cities in Canada.
Disappointment under the tree
Famous American TV presenter Jimmy Kimmel, a big fan of ironic jokes and sarcasm, this time decided to play the holy of holies of our lives - children. And he decided to dedicate his prank to the most anticipated and any holiday - Christmas. Parents were asked to arrange Christmas flash mob children's disappointments: about a week before the holiday, put gifts under the Christmas tree for children and film their reaction when they open the gifts.
So what would you think? Instead of jumping, laughing and rejoicing, all the children cried, screamed, threw gifts against the wall and cursed Santa Claus. And all because, instead of the expected toys and sweets, they received toilet paper, batteries, washcloths and other nonsense. All these videos were presented on the Internet. This is the cruel flash mob that American parents staged for their children on Christmas.
Flash mob of nudists-naturalists
Just a biblical scene: hundreds of naked Israelis enter the Dead Sea, a little more and it will part before them. But, no, this is just a protest action, the purpose of which was to draw attention to the unique natural phenomenon, which is in danger of extinction.
But nothing will do it better than 1200 naked people in one of the most religious countries in the world. This is exactly what I took as the idea Spencer Tunick, American photographer and organizer of this flash mob. Moreover, the flash mob was organized in such a way that the indignant authorities could not stop it. All the action took place on Saturday, when Jews are forbidden to use personal transport, and no public transport doesn't go there.
There was supposed to be a video here, but it turned out to be too explicit.
If your city has a metro and no complexes, then join this flash mob. Starting in 2002 in New York, people simply decided to amuse the public and go down the subway without pants (or without a skirt), while their behavior was completely natural and ordinary, as if nothing of the kind was happening. Everyone liked this action and since then, every year on January 12, people organize such a flash mob in more than 60 countries and cities.
It can be called the most fun and senseless in the world. It was invented not to draw attention to dangerous subways or to remind that African children have no cowards, but simply so that at least one day a year, instead of sad and impassive faces in the subway, you could see smiling and perplexed people . By the way, in 2013, Kyiv also took part in this flash mob, so if you want, then buy beautiful underwear and don’t forget to show it off this year.
Is something wrong? Give birth!
Do you think flash mobs are for young people? But no. And Moscow pensioners successfully proved this by organizing flash mob in Moscow. Wise of the World Therefore, they decided that it was time to bring modern and progressive youth to their senses and return everything to normal, so that women would not work, but would give birth, and men would successfully provide for them. And so armed with capes with the inscription “Is something wrong? Give birth!” more than 300 pensioners occupied Moscow metro. Of course, we all love it when pensioners, armed with huge bags, ride back and forth during rush hour, but Moscow old people decided to remind us young people that if we don’t raise the birth rate in the country, then soon only pensioners will remain. Three years have passed since then, we can only hope that they were heard and that in 2050 the future envisioned by pensioner-mobbers will not come true.
Just play dead
We were once given such wonderful advice if we suddenly met a huge bear in the forest. But the Swiss decided to use the same method, but for a slightly different reason. Thus, Greenpeace decided to recall the destructive consequences of nuclear weapons.
More than a hundred people of different ages, gender, financial status, race, orientation, and the like, gathered in small groups all over the city, and for no apparent reason they began to drop dead. I must say that it looked terrifying and people passing by were shocked and shocked. But this flash mob fulfilled its purpose; it attracted attention, albeit in such a strange way.
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On November 20, 1997, 1997 British people united in a human column and walked 30 meters. In memory of this event, the site has prepared a review of the most striking and massive flash mobs of the last decade.
Dance flash mob in the station building
Members of the Australian charitable organization pro-active lifestyle, in In 2010, they began a synchronized dance in the Sydney station building.
The sleepiest flash mob
And German mobbers from Baden-Baden, on the contrary, lay down en masse to rest. Under the slogan "Sleeping Beauty and Climate Policy" (Dornröschen Klimapolitik) 40 participants were located on the roadway. In this way, they intended to draw the attention of the “sleeping” authorities to environmental problems that caused serious climate change.
Flash mob in freeze-frame style
In March 2007, a funny flash mob was organized in one of the supermarkets in Manchester. Before time X, participants behaved like ordinary shoppers. The greater the surprise of sellers and bystanders when the mobbers immediately “went into freeze-frame mode.” The living statues had enough patience for 4 minutes. Not one of the approximately 50 participants stepped out of character early or spoiled the spectacle with an occasional sneeze or nervous chuckle.
Flash mob in freeze-frame style in a Manchester supermarket
Flash mob with elements of acrobatics from pregnant women
A year later in Paris, Berlin and a number of major cities Canada carried out a truly frightening action. Several hundred women later pregnant women gathered in the parks of big cities to perform breakdancing. Passers-by were shocked, to put it mildly. However, the brave dancers pursued more noble goals. Posing a serious threat to unborn babies acrobatic stunts symbolized the plight of women in third world countries, forced to give birth in unsterile conditions and without the help of a midwife.
Flash mob warning from Greenpeace
An even more shocking flash mob was planned and carried out by Swiss Greenpeace members. Several hundred people split into groups and dispersed throughout the most crowded places in the capital. Having previously joined the crowd and waited a couple of minutes, the participants of the action synchronously fell “dead”. The uninitiated fell into panic: among those “stricken by an unknown disease” there were many children and old people. A little more, and the witnesses themselves would have needed medical care. But Greenpeace only planned to say “no” to nuclear weapons.
Massive and shocking flash mob from Swiss Greenpeace activists
Flash mob with stripping on the Dead Sea coast
A serious flash mob without elements of a disaster movie is possible, the Israelis decided on September 14, 2012. And they stripped naked on the shores of the Dead Sea, wanting to remind their fellow citizens of the threat of the reservoir drying up. PR provided Spencer Tunick (Spencer Tunick) is an American photographer specializing in photographing “naked” flash mobs. The action deeply outraged the Israeli government and devout Jews. The latter were unable to intervene due to the fact that their cunning compatriots timed the action to coincide with Saturday - the day when Orthodox Jews are prohibited from using personal transport. As luck would have it, no buses go in this direction.
The most massive dance flash mob from Michael Jackson fans
A record-breaking flash mob in terms of the number of participants took place in 2009 in Mexico City. On August 29, 13,957 people celebrated their 51st birthday Michael Jackson, gathered for collective dance to his hit "Thriller".
The lead mobber was dressed in a recognizable costume of the pop legend, and part of the large support group chose a zombie outfit.
Walking invisible dogs on the streets of New York
2000 members of the New York art collective Improve Everywhere In 2009, they organized a mass walking of invisible dogs. One of the mobbers came across real deposits of children's toys that had gone out of sale - the so-called “collars for invisible dogs.”
The illusion of the presence of an invisible pet is created by the rigid base of the leash and muzzle. The most resourceful "dog owners" staged bad behavior of imaginary four-legged animals - from chasing cyclists to messing around in a garbage can.
Flash mob with a charge of positivity from Chelyabinsk
On September 14, 2008, residents of “harsh” Chelyabinsk smiled at the whole world. More than 9 thousand participants, dressed in bright yellow raincoats and baseball caps, came to Revolution Square and lined up in the shape of a smiley face. A positive sign with a diameter of 75 meters was even seen by an American satellite filming the area for google maps. Mobbers were driven by the desire to get into the Internet and the Guinness Book of Records. And also congratulate Dmitry Medvedev Happy 43rd birthday.
"Smiley" from Chelyabinsk residents - flash mob - "smile" to the whole world and Dm. Medvedev personally
All-female flash mob "Runaway Brides"
On June 5, 2013, another flash mob took place in Moscow and 12 other Russian cities. "Runaway Brides" from Cosmopolitan magazine. Contrary to the name, the participants did not leave their chosen ones on the wedding day and not forever. The girls simply went to a massive bachelorette party in their own or rented ones for the occasion.
Participants of the spectacular Russian flash mob "Runaway Brides"
In 2013, many interesting and unusual flash mobs took place around the world. In which they sang, danced, launched sky lanterns, “hanged” famous cultural figures and undressed... We have collected 10 of the most striking ones - from undressing in the subway to singing of British military personnel.
Flashmob is a fairly new phenomenon that appeared in 2002, after the publication of sociologist Howard Rheingold's book Smart Crowds: The Next Social Revolution. In it, the author predicted that people would use new communication technologies (Internet, mobile phones) for self-organization. In essence, this is true: a flash mob is a pre-planned mass action in which a large group of people appears in a public place, performs pre-agreed actions (according to the script) and then disperses.
On June 17, 2003, the first official flash mob took place. Its organizer at that time was editor-in-chief Harper's Magazine Bill Wasik. That flash mob was quite strange in description: approximately 200 people (according to other sources 150) gathered around one expensive carpet in the furniture department of the Macy's department store and began to tell the sellers that they lived together in a warehouse in a "suburban commune" on the outskirts of New York and came to buy the “Rug of Love”.
Musical flash mob from the British Army
British military musical group has the most large composition in England. Not so long ago, in September of this year, they organized a musical flash mob in Chamberlain Square in Birmingham. 60 musicians performed the classic “Sing, Sing, Sing” by Louis Prima.
Flash mob in memory of Nelson Mandela
Employees of the WoolworthsFood store paid tribute to the recently deceased President of South Africa and one of the most famous activists in the fight for human rights, Nelson Mandela, in an unusual and very beautiful way. The flash mob, called “Gospel Flash Mob,” is a song they prepared together with the Soweto church choir and sang right in the store on a weekday. The visitors were touched - they filmed it and clapped at the end.
Flash mob - launching sky lanterns
Synchronized launch of sky lanterns in the city of Miag-ao in the Philippines.
Flash mob “No pants on the subway”
The strange and funny flash mob “No Pants Subway Ride” has been taking place in many cities around the world for several years in a row. The idea of stripping down to their underpants in front of subway passengers arose in 2002 among seven daredevils from the art group ImprovEverywhere in New York. On January 13, 2013, the flash mob was repeated - more than four thousand women and men in their underwear rode in the New York subway. And around the world, in 25 countries, about 16 thousand people took part in this unusual event. The largest concentrations of participants in this flash mob can be seen in the metro of Mexico City, London, Madrid, Berlin, Helsinki, Washington and, of course, New York.
Flash mob from a musical group of the US Air Force
In December, in honor of the holidays, the United States Air Force musical group surprised visitors National Museum aviation and astronautics with an unexpected flash mob. Without any announcements or warnings, emerging from the crowd, they began to play classic"Joy To The World".
Flashmob “Do Not Kill Culture”
In October, a flash mob called “Don’t kill culture” took place in Rome. During this action, cultural activists hung a slogan in defense of culture on the Ponte Sant Angelo bridge, as well as silhouettes of “hanged” icons European culture– famous dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch, film actor and director Charlie Chaplin, writer and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, film director Piero Paolo Pasolini, artist Pablo Picasso, architect, “father of modernism” in Northern Europe Alvar Aalto, experimental scientist Maria Skłodowska-Curie, singer Maria Callas and writer Astrid Lindgren.
Flash mob at an employment service office in Spain
There are a lot of unemployment cases in Spain and the employment office is a very sad place. In January of this year, the musical group Carne Cruda decided to slightly diversify the lives of people forced to look for work, and held a musical flash mob in one of these offices. The video shows that they chose the Beatles song “Here Comes The Sun”.
Flash mob (read as flash mob, from the English flash mob - flash - flash; moment, instant; mob - crowd, translated as “flash of the crowd” or “instant crowd”) is a pre-planned mass action in which a large group of people ( mobbers) suddenly appear in a public place, for several minutes they perform pre-agreed actions of absurd content (scenario) and then at the same time quickly disperse in different directions, as if nothing had happened.
A flash mob is almost impossible without the Internet, because... It is through the Network that the preparation and coordination of actions takes place.
The first attempts to describe flash mob-like actions can be found in the books of science fiction writer Larry Niven, which were published back in the 60s of the last century. The idea of bringing people together, which the author wrote about, is very similar to a modern flash mob.
In October 2002, sociologist Howard Reingold’s book “The Smart Crowd: The Next Social Revolution” was published, in which the author wrote about the potential of a crowd that can gather in a couple of hours using modern digital technologies (e-mail, sms, etc.) . Many flashmobbers in the West consider him the “founding father” of the entire movement, but this is not entirely true. Firstly, Reingold wrote not about a flash mob, but about a smart mob - this is different concepts. Secondly, he did not set himself the goal of organizing any movement or community. This idea came to the creator of the website FlockSmart.com - a successful 28-year-old computer scientist from San Francisco, Rob Zazueta - after he read Reingold's book.
It is generally accepted that the first flashmobber action took place in June 2003 in New York, because the first attempt to create a flash mob failed, the police learned about the action scheduled for July 3, 2003. The organizers avoided this problem when holding the second flash mob, which took place on June 17, 2003. More than 100 people surrounded a huge Oriental rug in a Macy's store and began to assure the puzzled salespeople that they urgently needed a $10,000 “love rug” for their “community.” After this incident, “instant crowds” began appear in different parts of the world almost every day.
The first European flash mob was planned to be held in London, but its preparation dragged on for almost a month. Meanwhile, Rome organized and carried out its own action - it became the first in Europe. On July 24, about 200 people entered the bookstore and began asking the clerks for non-existent books for several minutes, then they applauded the store's patient employees and went off to “go about their business.”
The first Ukrainian flash mob took place on August 16, 2003. Kyiv mobbers planned to meet at the iron palm tree in the Globus on Maidan Nezalezhnosti, but information about the impending mob was leaked to the press and on television. Therefore, further preparations for the mob took place in strict secrecy. Participants up to last moment did not know what they had to do: they received instructions only 40 minutes before the start of the event. About 70 people bought a lollipop at the appointed hour and went to look at the windows. Then everyone crowded around the stall and began pestering the sellers with the question: “How many of these sweets do you need to eat to gain seven kilograms?”
The flash mob reached the Internet. The scenario is often the same: at the agreed time, mobbers enter the chat, say hello, remain mysteriously silent for several minutes, then politely say goodbye and leave. With enough mobbers, chat regulars get a slight shock.
1. Sweden, Stockholm. Flash mob in memory of Michael Jackson
2. Russia, Moscow. Another flash mob dedicated to Jackson. "Thriller", 08/29/2009
3. Russia, Moscow, flash mob in the Metropolis shopping center
4. Great Britain, Manchester, March 14, 2007. In the supermarket, about fifty people froze at the same time.
5. America, California. Ninja flash mob
6. “Naked flash mob of protest in Germany. Social flash mob against the introduction of “Undressing” scanners at airports.
7. Another “Naked Flash Mob” organized by Spencer Tunick on the eve of the gay pride parade in Sydney.
8. Flash mob “Ukraine, be silent!”, held on May 17, 2010. Participants protested against the Ukrainian authorities’ oppression of the people’s right to peaceful rallies, and in support of social activists in Russia, who are being persecuted by the authorities for peaceful protests.
9. Probably the most touching flash mob is “Free Hugs.” Official video
10. Free hugs in Moscow
11. Motor rally of the “Blue Bucket Society”
12. Dreamflash in Moscow
13. Pillow fight. New York, 2007
14. Zombie mob in Toronto, 2006
15. And here’s how the zombie mob went in Kyiv
16. Chernigov. Flash mob "Pillows"
17. Flash mob at a concert organized by Oprah Winfrey - the largest flash mob in the world. About 21,000 people took part in it. By the way, he is listed in the Guinness Book of Records
18. Spectacular flash mob in the hostel
19. Flash mob in the New York metro.
20. Traditional winter flash mob called No Pants Subway Ride. Hundreds of inhabitants New York, Atlanta and Los Angeles at the same time they go down to the subway, where they temporarily get rid of their pants and travel in their underwear.
21. Shocking Japanese flash mob
22. Switzerland. Flash mob of suicide bombers. Residents of Zurich witnessed unexpected death numerous participants of the event. Activists of the organization mingled with ordinary residents of the city, and then fell dead to the ground, thus depicting death due to a disaster from nuclear contamination.
23. Song flash mob in 156 countries
24. Flash mob with webcam
25. Israel. Very beautiful dance flash mob on the beach
26. Flash mob in a cafe
27. Ukraine, Kyiv. Book flash mob. More than 300 people read books at the same time, sitting on the dividing strip of the Maidan
28. Flash mob Water battle in the summer of 2010. in Moscow. Several hundred people came out to fight the heat, several hundred people armed with last word splashing equipment - bottles of water, water pistols and machine guns, as well as simply buckets and pans - in general, everything that can be splashed, poured and doused with.
29. Flash mob organized by Jamie Oliver
30. Flash mob with dancing pregnant women in London
Our rating includes hundreds of lonely Beyonces in Piccadilly Circus, gigantic emoticons and the Internet Bee-Challenge, which forced girls to flash their bare breasts. What collective ventures have settled in the neighborhood?
Who organized the first flash mob and how?
When sociologist Howard Reingold published Smart Crowds: The Next Social Revolution in 2002, he had no idea that the idea of using the Internet to organize oneself would become so popular. In the summer of 2003, Rob Zazueta, having developed flocksmart.com, decided to begin chronicling the “instant crowd” (this is how flash mob is translated from English).Although the first event, scheduled for June 3, was disrupted by the New York police, people liked the idea. On June 17, 2003, two hundred activists gathered at the exclusive Macy's carpet and told the sellers amazing story. A pitiful story about people living in a warehouse somewhere on the outskirts of New York and looking for the “rug of Love” shook the whole world. Very soon, flash mobs organized through LiveJournal took place in Moscow, Dnepropetrovsk, Kyiv, Odessa and St. Petersburg.
The planet was captured by flash mob euphoria. Competing in ingenuity and passing the baton to each other, active earthlings surprised their passive brothers who followed life through the media.
Top most famous flash mobs
In just a couple of months, the classic promotions, designed not to cause rejection or laughter, have had several subtypes. Socio-mobs engaged in political influence on the masses, advertising mobs - promoting the necessary goods and services, and extreme mobs - demonstrating hooligan “stuff”. The people began to collectively sing, dance, draw or simply smile. 
Optical illusion
15 pairs of twins, identical as two peas in a pod, staged a small psychological attack on the New York subway. Having perfected their movements to the smallest detail and dressed in identical outfits, the guys sat opposite each other in the carriages. Portraying ordinary passengers, they copied each other's movements down to the smallest detail. 
It is not surprising that their unlucky compartment neighbors, tired of looking at the simultaneously raised hands and turned over pages of newspapers, disembarked ahead of time.
The sea is agitated once...
In March 2007, 50 English flash mobbers said a little hello to the cameras providing security in one of the supermarkets in Manchester. At the pre-agreed time, the shopping activists froze in place, as if by magic. After standing for four minutes, the “sea figures” came to life and, as if nothing had happened, continued to move towards the cash register. 
It's amazing that ordinary people who found themselves in the same store did not notice anything remarkable.
Mr Mandela, you will not die this week
“Heroes never leave,” decided the employees of the Woolworthsfood store and honored the great fighter for human rights with an unusual flash mob. Right in the middle of the working day, they sang with the vociferous church choir and stopped working. The composition “Gospel Flash Mob”, performed out of tune but with soul, shocked the visitors to tears. It is no wonder that the memorable action was captured on video and caused a storm of applause.Company of lonely Beyonce
On April 20, 2009, the usual rhythm of the morning London rushing to work was disrupted by deafening music. To the rhythms of the hit “Single Ladies”, which broke all records on the radio charts, a whole hundred girls jumped out onto the square. The ladies, throwing off their raincoats and flaunting tight tights, twirled their bodies and swung their legs. All traffic in the area was paralyzed: pedestrians, cyclists and bus drivers gaped at the unusual performance. It turns out that this dance flash mob was intended to draw attention to the drawing of free tickets to the Beyonce concert and had a commercial basis. The world, sucked into a dizzying whirlpool of flash mobs, can only envy the scope and imagination inherent in our domestic mobbers.A smile will brighten the day
On September 14, 2008, residents of Dmitry Medvedev were captured by the QuickBird satellite and appeared on Google maps. 
Unfortunately, the weather that day was clearly not in good spirits: due to the piercing cold, the participants in the good-natured flash mob were forced to retreat home.
Pillow battles
The popularity of children's fun, which has grown into a classic flash mob, is on truly cosmic proportions. Activists, who have hidden pillows in their bosoms, begin real war. A fierce fight, drowning in fluff and feathers, can end in a matter of seconds or last for hours. Special clubs have been created for fans of pillow fights, and flash mobs, which are regularly held in Moscow, Ufa and St. Petersburg, are so noisy that they are not without arrests. 
Lower my bra
This virtual flash mob, which occupied the Odnoklassniki and VKontakte networks, is very much loved by the male half of Russian society. Ladies who are not particularly modest remove their bras from where they are supposed to be and put them over their eyes. So they replenish the population of the erotic swarm of large bees or dragonflies. Unfortunately or fortunately, 85% of girls who participated in online surveys reacted negatively to BeeChallenge. 
Flash mob participants managed to walk invisible dogs in Brooklyn and fall victim nuclear explosion in Switzerland. They sang for Oprah Winfrey and took off their pants on the subway. But what mass action was even more unusual? The father of the most evil collective event in history was American comedian Jimmy Kimmel. As part of his evening show, this unfortunate entertainer invited parents to give their children all sorts of unwanted nonsense for Christmas and capture their disappointment on video.
The Americans, inspired by the idea, wrapped everything they could find in colorful packaging: light bulbs and canned food, toilet paper and a stick of sausage. The children's dissatisfaction knew no bounds. Girls who received dolls instead fire truck, banged their heads against the wall, and the boys, who fished out the Barbie doll, swore at the innocent Santa in vain. Collective torture of immature psyches has become the leader of YouTube.
Not only flash mobs, but also other events are grandiose. There is an article on the uznayvse website about the biggest and grandest concerts.
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