T-Mobile films flashmob ad at Heathrow airport
Mass dancers to greet passengers arriving at Terminal 5, with edited three-minute advert to air on every channel on Friday
After choreographing a mass dance routine in London’s Liverpool Street station and a singalong in Trafalgar Square, T-Mobile’s latest flashmob commercial is being shot at Heathrow airport today.
Today’s shoot, which will be edited into a TV ad by Saatchi & Saatchi in less than 36 hours, involves more than 500 actors who will break into dance among travellers arriving on international flights at Heathrow’s Terminal 5.
The Heathrow shoot, which has been a closely guarded secret, will run from about 9.30am to about 9pm. The fake crowd – made up of actors playing taxi drivers, cabin crew, baggage handlers and members of the public – will burst into dance sequences throughout the day as an estimated 80,000 people pass through Terminal 5 on arrival in the UK.
A tracklist of songs designed to resonate with travellers returning home, including Mel Torme’s Comin’ Home Baby and Mark Morrison’s Return of the Mack, will be performed by singers supported by a “human orchestra” making the sounds of instruments including drums, cello and violins.
The logistics behind the filming have been immense, due to the sensitivities of shooting at an airport, with careful negotiations required with the airport owner BAA and British Airways, which operates from Terminal 5, as well as Costa Coffee. Sixteen hidden cameras will capture the scenes today.
“We have had to work extremely close with the key parties because the challenge clearly has been with security with us not only filming but having a network of hidden cameras somewhere as security conscious as an airport,” said Kelly Engstrom, senior advertising manager at T-Mobile. “It will be a hive of activity all the way through today.”
T-Mobile also claims the launch of the ad campaign on Friday night will be a TV first. A three-minute version of the commercial will take up the entire first break after 10pm on every major UK commercial TV channel – including ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, ITV2 and Sky1 – and more than 80 in total.
It will also run on sites including Facebook, YouTube and have a PR push via Twitter.
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