Last month Yahoo! asked me to direct a prank video for their new Start Wearing Purple site. We created a seemingly spontaneous sing-a-long in a Manhattan elevator. As the elevator went down from the 6th floor, a new performer got on at each stop and started singing the same song. We decked out the elevator with hidden cameras and got some great reactions from unsuspecting riders. You can see videos of the other marks as well as behind-the-scenes footage on the Yahoo! site.
Classic!
That’s too awesome!
the ending with the purple shirt people topped this all off
OMG, that was absolutely genius!
I love when she literally whoops as the guitar player and drummer climb on…funny.
Beautiful! = D
The people wearing purple part was HILARIOUS. I did not expect that.
I have to admit, as much as I enjoyed this video, I’ve got a nagging feeling of dislike for this. This video should have a “marketing” tag, because that’s what this is. It’s not that I’m overly suspicious of viral marketing, but I am not happy to see any sort of marketing, period. I’m not going to call Charlie Todd a sellout, because, well, it’s pretty awesome that he can make a living doing things like this. I’ve got to admit that, despite my concerns over the branding of pranks. It’s a complicated issue for me.
Awesome, just awesome.
@hc
Totally agree, and I can see how this is complicated - in full disclosure I work in the group that commissioned this. We love Charlie’s work so much - I’ve literally been following Improv Everywhere since “Best Gig Ever” - and when we realized that we had a chance to work with Charlie, naturally we were pumped to do so (btw - http://improveverywhere.com/2004/10/24/best-gig-ever/ - still holds up four years later).
Charlie maintained total integrity - he said Improv Everywhere does not do pranks for companies. But if you can live with this, being something we do in partnership, and resist the need to say that this is an IE event, well - maybe we can work together on something that is clever and respect the spirit of the prank.
Anyway - not defending…just explaining. I am glad that you enjoyed the vid…:)
truly awesome, u have got to send me that song part of it kinda stuck in my head