Flash Mobs Engage in Guerrilla Absurdity
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Are you tired of your job? Sitting at a desk maybe all day, hammering meaningless stuff into a keyboard? Well, someone out there wants to boost your life with a little absurdity, a little mystery, a little je ne sais quois, a little challenge to the 9:00 to 5:00 consumerist culture. And as CNN's Jeanne Moos reports, you can be a part of it if and only if they ask you to be.</s>JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what happens when several hundred New Yorkers join the mob, and we don't mean "The Sopranos."</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was nuts. I don't even know what happened.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of a sudden, we were like mobbed, and they were all worshipping a dinosaur.</s>MOOS: This was mob number six. You can sum it up in two words.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exquisitely meaningless.</s>MOOS: Pardon the grainy pictures but, this assignment called for covert coverage. Invitations to join the mob arrive by e-mail. Mob members are instructed to assemble at several bars. We went to the one at Howard Johnson's in Times Square where we awaited our marching orders. (on camera): Is it your first?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah. Is it your first?</s>MOOS: It's my first. (voice-over): At 7:00 p.m., someone passed out written instructions. (on camera): We're supposed to go to Toys "R" Us. (voice-over): The mob exited. (on camera): Have you ever seen a place clear out so fast?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happened? It must be free food at another bar.</s>MOOS (voice-over): Actually it was a giant dinosaur two blocks away at Toys "R" Us. The mob arrived without warning. At 7:20, the instructions said, drop to your knees. Whenever the dinosaurs roars, moan and cower behind outstretched hands. Regular shoppers appeared befuddled.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was really weird.</s>MOOS: Flash mobs have been popping up in various European and U.S. cities. In New York, they've materialized at a shoe store, a hotel, even at Macy's rug department, where a mob asked sales personnel for a love rug. A mob showed up in Central Park and made bird noises. No one admits publicly to being in charge. (on camera): Any mob organizers here that we can talk to in any way, like? (voice-over): At Toys "R" Us, security had no time to mobilize. In a matter of moments, the mob got up and dispersed, leaving folks scratching their heads.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why?</s>MOOS: Mobsters declared it the best mob ever.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A big mind game for everybody.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just doing something stupid is quite funny.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just a bit too passe now. There are so many people there.</s>MOOS: Can you believe this guy is complaining that the mob was too mobbed? Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.