*notcot in design , 14:06

Charlie Todd Freezes Taco Bell- 06.26.08

freezeframe.jpgI’m mixed on how to feel ~ so watch it and share your opinions. Improv Everywhere ~ they get large groups together and go… take off their shirts in Abercrombie, carry DESKTOPS into Starbucks, wear blue shirts into Best Buy, and even froze time at Grand Central Station (embedded on next page in case you’ve missed it!)… and NOW… Taco Bell loved the concept so much, they hired Charlie Todd of Improv Everywhere to pull off the latest prank at the grand opening of the Taco Bell in Flushing. It’s hilarious watching the reactions of the people (video on next page!) - and a bit sad to watch that being frozen for a few seconds, there are people who are already poking at you, eating your food, and cutting you in line! So… thoughts? I think its great to see guys like Charlie getting paid to do what they are already doing so well! And great exposure to share the fun with people who may not be up on their internet memes… and nice to have some entertaining adverts… but i’m not sure, how do you guys feel about these corporate virals?

Here’s when Grand Central got frozen!

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14 Notes

It is interesting how easily people can qualify this kind of thing as ‘just a bit of paid work’. I think the argument about working for the man to stick it to the man is itself kind of bankrupt and symptomatic of how ‘not much is really sacred’. Not that i am shocked by people selling out, it has become a somewhat staple exercise for anyone who gets big enough to do so, no matter how counter-cultural, anti-corporate or subversive they appear.

On a different but associated note, another way in which it occurs to me that we have become so morally bereft is how little we hear a well constructed expletive these days, a la Henry Miller, I guess because it is so easy to find a cocksucker who is willing to sell their mother down the stream for their moment in the spotlight or their bit of property on the coast and that it is not worth the social lynching that you get for it.

----- sitnafup 25.09.08 18:47

Insanely brilliant!! :D

----- Andrew L 23.08.08 23:45

This is a thief!!!!
Somebody did it on Puerto rico but, this idea was cool for real, at baseball court at the begining of the game, player came introducing them selfs when somethig go wrong and all on court freezes, then apears a big banner whit something like, “dont wait more, internet bandwhit whit out freezes” this is funnier than some american idiots gettin freeze because taco bell-shits… thiefs!

----- starmanfunk 01.07.08 21:03

Kinda off-topic.
I think the youtube videos shouldn’t be on auto start, I often open a lot of tabs in one go and then having to figure out witch one has started playing can be a real pain…

----- Jesse 30.06.08 14:12

No, this is all wrong.

I’m happy that they’re getting work out of the great things they’ve done through Improv Everywhere, but they should have come up with something new, like synchronized eating or everyone saying ‘Mmmmm’ at the same time. Some things should just be left alone so that people remember the original for how great it was.

----- Graham 27.06.08 17:56

What I want to know is how many times they pulled that off throughout the day. The video was obviously edited from a couple attempts. You can see that from the man who is ‘standing in line’ in the beige button down shirt. At first he’s standing there with sunglasses in hand, and towards the end of the video he’s drinking through a straw.

Wasn’t the beauty of IE to have one-off events… kinda creepy to have corporations weaseling in to a beautifully funny organization.

----- Adrianna 27.06.08 08:56

Now the real question is, why are so many people eating at Taco Bell?!

----- Sara 27.06.08 07:07

i’ve gotta say, better that they went to Improv Everywhere and asked them to do it, than their ad agency or something just ripping off the idea, and doing it themselves. There’s nothing wrong with a balance of doing ‘paid for’ work and non-commercial stuff, its the paid for work which supports the other stuff more often than not.

----- matthew knight 27.06.08 04:09

honestly, i Don’t Think They’re Selling Out.
In order to sell out
you need to do something along the lines of
a cf
where you say something blatantly scripted
and do something blatantly scripted
to the point of lameness.

Basically, obtaining big money
through being TheHumanPuppet.
when you were originally
tops.

All ImEv is doing
is getting paid to do something
they were gonna do anyway.
That’s smart.
It’s like getting paid to
check notcot
or look through magazines.
Was gonna do it anyway.

----- eric. 27.06.08 01:37

i think it loses all it’s fun and spontaneity once the corporates get in on it. it’s a ‘nay’ for me.

----- nick mun 26.06.08 23:19

i bet they paid that dumb hipster like $1,000 and he pissed himself in glee

----- Hotwani 26.06.08 22:46

I have followed Improv Everywhere subversive activities for a long time and enjoy all their projects. In this case I feel it’s another instance great work being usurped by the corporate world. I’ve always thought I.E. was a “stick-it-to-the-man” kind of group. Have the sold out?

----- Blistr 26.06.08 18:25

improv everywhere are so nice! but i always thinked about they as a anarchy group, not as a corporate thing, kind a upset.

----- Juririm 26.06.08 16:40

whoa. that’s wild. i wish i could have seen that.

----- brittany. 26.06.08 15:59


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