When it comes to holiday surprises, it seems like everything’s been done before. Quite frankly, I’m a bit over the holiday excitement with the upcoming New Year, but when I came across this video, I knew I had to share. If it could impress a cynic like me – it will definitely be something you’ll want to see for yourself.
Recorded nearly eight years ago, this is a classic viral video— one I’m clearly learning of late in the game. Regardless, however, classics are made for a reason, and this incredible performance has been viewed more than 50 million times. That’s how incredible and joyful it is.
You see, back in 2010, Alphabet Photography, a Canadian photography service in Niagara Falls, Canada, wanted to give their customers a special holiday greeting. Recruiting the help of Chorus Niagara, a 100-voice symphony, founder Jennifer Blakeley worked tirelessly to come up with a surprise. And heard hard work brainstorming really paid off because this is a viral hit.
Disguised as regular shoppers in a food court, members of the chorus sneakily planted themselves amidst an unsuspecting crowd.
It’s sometime in mid-November, so the food court is packed with people attending to their holiday errands. As they go about their business, buying and eating their food, a woman holding a cell phone suddenly stands.
Suddenly, the woman begins singing the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah.
Her voice is incredible— but people look at her strangely, not understanding what’s going on. Soon, however, another man gets up on a food court chair and continues the song. Now, the unsuspecting shoppers are even more confused than they were before.
As the piece goes on, seemingly innocent shoppers (and a man dressed as a janitor) emerge from the crowd, adding to the layers of the melody.
By this time, the shoppers have realized what they’re witnessing, and many have even grabbed their cameras to record. It’s a flash mob! The whole point is that you’ll never know when or where one would pop up (except for the people involved, obviously) and they pulled it off marvelously!
The singers are people of all ages and walks of life. According to the Chorus Niagara website, their members range from ages 18 to 80— and you see nearly every sector taking part in this event. What a fun way to give holiday shoppers a fun and cheerful surprise during a stressful and busy season.
When Alphabet Photography released the video, the footage immediately went viral.
In fact, one month later, in an article for Adweek, Megan O’Neill described the video as “the most popular flash mob of all time” due to its record-breaking numbers. That’s quite the impressive feat since there have been so many flash mobs since their inception. Jennifer Blakeley told PR Newswire:
“Never in our wildest imagination did we think our Christmas video would create so much buzz and attention all across the world.”
“It’s an absolute honor to lay claim to the world’s most-watched Flash Mob of all time.”
The video was featured by hundreds of major media outlets, including CNN, Good Morning America, The View, Inside Edition, eTalk, and ABC World News, PR Newswire reported. By one year later, the number of views continued to grow.
At one point, Blakeley even received recognition from Prince Charles himself.
She recalled: “Prince Charles approached our UK distributor back in April at a craft show and immediately recognized our company as the one responsible for producing the Christmas Food Court Flash Mob.”
“When Royalty recognizes a video you’ve uploaded to YouTube, that’s when you know you’ve done something right.”
As mentioned, Blakeley’s video currently stands at more than 55 million views.
“The best flash mob ever BY FARRR!”
“This piece always fills me with joy and brings me to tears, and this version is spectacular.”
“Amazing, almost 52 million views, and it still never gets old … A wonderful piece, wonderful sound, and a wonderful message.”
Watch the video below! Would you have loved to have witnessed this in person? I know I would have!
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
