It was only a matter of time before the suits turned Improv Everywhere’s famous “frozen” stunt in Grand Central Station

into what can only be described as a “mass ad:”

I don’t like it. But not because it’s a rip off. That happens all the time – in marketing, in advertising, in music, in technology. Even Shakespeare is alleged to have ripped off fellow writers. The airwaves of the commercial music industry is filled with re-sampled tracks. Hell, have the exercises I do at the gym are of those I saw other people doing.

Imitation may be the best form of flattery, but it’s also really, really convenient, and especially helpful when it’s 4:30 p.m. and all you’ve got down on paper is  white space the size of the Great Plains.

“Borrowing” is even a kinder word to use than imitation, so let’s roll with that. There is beauty is borrowing a concept and making it better, but I don’t think T-Mobile succeeded in doing so.

I don’t know if there was a tie-in to the brand on-site, or if this video was produced and then the company added “Life’s for Sharing” and its logo and then posted it on YouTube.

If the stunt was tied into a new 6G camera T-Mobile was bundling with featured phones, then well, that’s better. That makes more sense to me, because as you notice, a large percentage of people not in on the stunt pull out their camera phones.

That would be kind of cool.

But the stunt is just about T-Mobile. So really, what the company is saying is, “Creativity is awesome. We’re creative. We’re awesome. Use T-Mobile.”

That’s not good enough for me, because if you swap out T-Mobile for “Randy’s Burger Shack,” and pass out a few bacon double cheeseburgers at the Liverpool Street Station, you don’t lose anything.

Would Randy’s ad be any better? No? But keep in mind, Randy dropped out of college, drinks vodka out of plasic bottles and just put next month’s rent down on red. There’s less expected of him.

Creativity doesn’t just stop at the concept. It has to continue on through the delivery of that concept. Otherwise, the brand or product isn’t packaged quite right.

Now, if this ”mass ad” had been for a local dance studio, well, I would have loved it.

While on Facebook today, I found myself clicking on an ad (those that run along the right hand side) because it was my cup of tea, or perhaps more appropriately, my can of Red Bull. I remember thinking, “How the hell does Facebook know I love “Lykke Li?”

Then, without thinking, I clicked on “More Ads” and found myself legimately interested in eight of them.

“This is how effective advertising should be,” I thought.

Granted, Facebook doesn’t always get it right. No matter how hard it tries, it cannot succeed in convincing me that I am pregnant and confused. Maybe confused. But not pregnant.

I’ll step away from Facebook because this isn’t meant to be a comment on the social networking site’s advertising formula. It’s meant to be a comment on how advertising’s landscape is changing, as in, before there was dirt and now there is grass. And mountains. And babbling rivers.  And flocks of songbirds that sing Lykke Li.

I know, I know.  It can’t be changing that much, can it? I mean, call the 30-second spot a dinosaur, but at worst, it’s a durable one whose claws and teeth still allow it to rake in money. After all, many companies are more than willing to shell out $3 million for a Super Bowl ad.

Enter the filmercial, a “theatrical ad” much longer in length. Filmercials are usually posted on a company’s own website. This means that that although a small percentage of people viewing the filmercial may actually be looking for the product featured in it, 100% of the people are looking for the brand (at least those who viewed the video on the site – versus those who viewed it virally).

I can’t remember the last time I watched en entire 30-second ad without interruption. Oh, I may hear the opening dialogue, but that is always drowned out when I pick up my cell phone, stare down at my laptop, let the dogs out, or well, go to the bathroom.

Yet in the last two hours, I’ve watched two Nike filmercials, one featuring Lebron James

and one featuring Kobe Bryant

from start to finish. I didn’t do anything else. I just sat here. Watching. I screened three calls, ignored the sound of dogs paws against the door, and held it.

After finishing watching the Kobe filmercial, I couldn’t help but thinking, “I wonder if he could break a dinosaur’s legs.”