"The Harlem Shake" - Don't let the silliness fool you.

Is the “The Harlem Shake” some sort of indescribable turning point
in media?  What is the precedence?  You can call it silly, or funny, or
whatever else you’d like, but, rest assured, the engine behind The Harlem Shake is worthy of consideration.  Think about this; This little dance movement is much much bigger, both in participation and in reach than YOUR MOVIE, or YOUR MUSIC, or YOUR ART PROJECT.  And it’s not just for the little indies, this thing blows away the big boys as well; ie: The Hollywood Machine in terms action.

Think about that for a second.  Advertisers spend millions of dollars trying to get you involved with whatever it is they selling.  When was the last time a seemingly spontaneous participatory movement occurred at this level.  It takes time, effort, creativity and resources for people to join in.  And join in they do, for free.  

Remember the days when some item of fashion, or car, or dialogue from a movie made its place into the public sphere with lasting effect?  It was probably a very long, long time ago.  

So, whether you “like” The Harlem Shake or not, it’s a piece of conscious harmonizing that is almost impossible to buy with money.  Professional advertisers living in the old model can write it off, but, they’ll be writing off their own existence if they don’t consider the new models and how it affects the world we are living in today, not 40 years ago.  

And I understand that this is very short lived, but so is everything else these days.