Perhaps there really is some sort of cultural brick wall between New York City and Canada or at least between Montreal’s National Bank marketing team and the rest of the entire world. In a laughably out of touch press release, the bank claims it is “once again on the cutting edge of advertising with a colourful new event: a flash mob, used to promote the Bank’s role as the presenting sponsor of the Rogers Cup tennis tournament.” Colorful new event? Hello? Flash Mobs came and went three years ago, my Canadian friends. It’s 2006 this year, not 2003. If calling a three year old trendlet cutting edge weren’t bad enough, the bank isn’t even conducting a flash mob. All it’s doing is unleashing 40 young women dressed in tennis apparel who will roam the streets of Montreal during rush hour August 9 passing out tickets to a tennis match at the Rogers Cup August 12 to 20. Idiots. That’s not a flash mob. That’s street marketing.
Even more outrageously laughable is this quote from National Bank Senior manager of Marketing Johanne Denneny who said, “The Human Marketing approach is a fast-growing trend in major European and Asian cities. It involves gathering a group of people to perform similar actions in order to create a powerful visual effect. By using this approach, the Bank is reaffirming its reputation for avant-garde advertising strategies.” Fast-growing trend? How about long-dead, insignificant, forgotten bliplet that lasted for less than a New York Minute? Someone needs to run up there and flip the calendar to 2006 for Ms. Denneny.
