
To produce the new promotional video "Europe United," a team of Samsung and SX Media employees raced through 10 European cities in 10 days. They paused in each for just long enough to stop people in prime locations (among them, the Pont Neuf in Paris, the Gherkin in London, and the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin) and persuade them to dance. It was tougher than expected. In Barcelona, the crew spent an overcast afternoon pacing up and down the beach and almost gave up.
"People were self-conscious, especially as it was daylight," said Tom Bannister, CEO of SX Media. "About a third of the people we asked did it, and it took a lot of encouragement." A new Samsung phone—given to each dancer who made the final cut—helped sweeten the deal.
In the video posted below, Franky Rizardo's "Funky Music" provides an upbeat soundtrack for the good-natured (even giggling) participants who tap their toes, moonwalk, shimmy, and bounce like no one's watching. Apart from a jig under Galway Bridge, the moves have an almost surprising universality.
"Being European myself, I still find it strange that Europe is now one entity with so many different people, nationalities, and identities," said Bannister. "We wanted to see whether we could find common threads, and I think the video will show that we did."
RELATED: He gets paid to dance around the world.
User reviews and comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions.
Interesting - maybe modern western european means something? Or western european values? Or is it just european culture that is so linked. I suppose our means of communication mean that we are able to create our subcultures over broad spaces.
Posted By katy on November 21, 2007, 3:46 PM