Best Buy Invaded By Blue Shirt Improv Artists

deviantphil writes "About 80 Improv Everywhere agents invaded their local Best Buy store wearing blue shirts and Khakis. Eventually they were asked to leave, but not before capturing some great photos and video." From the article: "Security guards and managers started talking to each other frantically on their walkie-talkies and headsets. 'Thomas Crown Affair! Thomas Crown Affair!,' one employee shouted. They were worried that were using our fake uniforms to stage some type of elaborate heist. 'I want every available employee out on the floor RIGHT NOW!'" Their inspired cellphone symphony from this February is also well worth checking out.

Comments

Thrown out?

[Average_Joe_Sixpack]

What a waste ... they were probably more helpful than the regular employees

Wow

[inexion]

These people rock, I heard a story about them a while back on NPR on This American Life http://207.70.82.73/pages/descriptions/05/286.html

Manager called 911

[geekoid]

Jeez, she should be fined.

"Is this an emergency?"
"Dear lord YES! there are people wearing Blue Shirt and Khakis! KAHKIS!!!"

Re:Manager called 911

[Ariane 6]

That's the thing. They weren't "impersonating" anyone. They were just wearing clothes that happened to be quite similar to the employee uniform. If you RTFA, you'd find that NONE of them EVER said that they worked there.

If Best Buy doesn't like it, they can make a "No blue shirts and Khakis" policy. Barring that, they have no recourse.

Re:Manager called 911

[collectivescott]

Uh, if the cops bothered to show up they aren't going to fine you for calling. They really don't do that unless it's a prank. Hell, something like 1/3rd of their calls are basically nothing: loud noise, suspicious person. However, having the cops present isn't a bad idea; You never know when a confrontation might occur. Perhaps some manager freaking out about losing control of the situation loses his cool or something. It could happen.

The most interesting thing about the whole affair is the insight that it provides into people's thoughts. When something sufficiently strange is going on, people get completely confused and frustrated that they don't understand your motives. Because of this misunderstanding, they tend to assume the worst. At one point they were speculating that it was some elaborate heist. "Thomas Crown Affair", funny, but at the same time fitting, given what the employees knew. Although with 80 people I might rip off a better target than Best Buy - maybe a bank or something.

I also got a kick out of the human resources woman going undercover to take snap shots of those involved. Don't they have security cameras? Still, I can understand her feeling the need to do something, so that later she can explain it and not look lazy. There's a reason why the managers freaked out the most - they're used to having control. A regular employee just shrugs his shoulders and laughs. And as usual, the cops freak out the most and try to intimidate the guy with the camera.

I think the part that resonated with me the most was when a manager claimed that filming in Best Buy violated her "civil rights". Perhaps they were at the fringes of the law by partially concealing their cameras, but the right to privacy is not guarenteed in an essentially public place. And while it may be against Best Buy policy, unless you commit an actual crime in the legal sense, all they can do is ask you to leave.

However, I do think that at some point they should have just explained the whole thing rather than leave on such bad terms. They freaked people out and then left in an arrogant huff, that shows a basic lack of curtesy. On the whole, the act and documentation offer interesting insights into society, true performance art.

Re:Manager called 911

[ceoyoyo]

They were? Here's the legal requirement for a fraud charge in the US of A:

Fraud must be proved by showing that the defendant's actions involved five separate elements: (1) a false statement of a material fact, (2) knowledge on the part of the defendant that the statement is untrue, (3) intent on the part of the defendant to deceive the alleged victim, (4) justifiable reliance by the alleged victim on the statement, and (5) injury to the alleged victim as a result.

They were specifically told NOT to claim they were employees, but rather state they were not, if asked. #1 down. #2 is meaningless without #1. #3, perhaps. #4 - again, no statement. #5 - injury? Give me a break.

So... out of the five required points there is a maybe on 1. Prosecutor, you have wasted the court's time. I find you in contempt.

Re:Manager called 911

[NMerriam]

she lost control of her store at the time she didnt know what was going on, they never called her in advance and told her what was going to happen

So let me get this straight, if 60 people want to go to a store in Manhattan they should call in advance for a reservation? This giant, 2-story Best Buy has never had more than 60 people in the store before?

How did the manager "lose control"? 60 people showed up and hung out at the store for a while. They weren't claiming to be employees, they weren't robbing the place, they weren't trashing the place, they weren't running up and down the aisles naked and screaming, they were just standing around.

If it unnerved her so much, she should have used her managerial authority to walk up to them one at a time with a security guard and say "Sir, I'm the store manager and you need to leave right now, please walk this way." If they refuse, then they're trespassing. The only times they *asked* (note the word ASKED) someone to leave and he sought to clarify, it was made 100% clear that he was NOT being TOLD to leave, only asked.

Re:Manager called 911

[Main Gauche]

"In California, If a security person detains you, you can Sue, and will probably win."

That's nothing. On Slashdot, you can make claims that lie somewhere between false and ambiguous, and will probably get modded +4 Interesting.

NYUD.net Karma Whoring Link

[un1xl0ser]

http://www.improveverywhere.com.nyud.net:8080/miss ion_view.php?mission_id=57

The Uniform

[texaport]

Twenty years ago it was nearly an artform at some after-work hangouts, for ladies to guess where a guy worked:
navy pinstripe suits indicated a bank, doublebreasted suits meant insurance, charcoal gray suits were brokerages.

Today it is trivial for 21-25 year old women; red shirt is a computer superstore, blue shirt is big box retailer, and
white shirts with a yellow smiley face means WalMartians...

Re:The Uniform

[mh101]

I'd think wearing a red shirt would mean don't bother dating me, I'll be dead shortly.

I understand the Best Buy response

[Anonymous Coward]

I can appreciate the humor but I also understand why the Best Buy folks were freaked out by it.

One time when I was working in the UC San Diego college bookstore back in the 1980's, a bunch of activists came in with cameras to film everybody and the inside of the store. They were eventually escorted out by Campus Security, but it really unnerved some people, because we weren't sure who they were or what they were going to do with film they shot. There was talk that the activists were going to identify us and attack us another time away from the store to get back at the "establishment" and those of us who were helping the "establishment".

So I understand why the Best Buy folks might be a bit unnerved by this event. I suspect if I was an employee, I would have been also.

It's funny indeed

[citking]

To all of the people who complain about the stunts, the immaturity, the panic, the idiotic ideas...lighten up!

I hate to generalize (Ok, I love it, but pretend for a second I don't) but our society today needs some humor. We hear "terrorist this" and "gas prices that" and "x troops killed today in Iraq by insurgents..." every day. We seem so drenched in sadness and tragedy sometimes we forget what we are: free!

As long as a flash mob/stunt doesn't injure innocent bystanders and cause undue distress to officials I don't see the harm. The way that these people carry out "missions" with their "agents" is harmless. I admit that there is no screening process and no, I wouldn't want to be a manager on duty that day at Best Buy. But these stunts are things that you can look back upon 2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months, or 2 years later and grin. We need humor! I give my props to the people who have the audacity to go out there, do something very strange while surreptitiously documenting it, and post it for the rest of us to enjoy later! Way to go!

In a world filld with bad news, depressing ideas, and bad people, it's enlightening to smile at the deeds of others without having read it on Fark or the Darwin Awards.

I know I enjoyed the missions (the pantsless ones are priceless!) and I think that they have a great way of making people laugh. If you don't enjoy, that's fine. I don't get British humor and I hate Monty Python. Some humor isn't for everybody. But lighten up!

Unreported

[Zepalesque]

Unreported were 5 red-shirt clad improv artists at the same event. Unfortunately they all were all killed by a freak car accident in the parking lot ;)

Works at the supermarket too

[kbob88]

Try wearing khaki pants, a white button down shirt, and a tie next time you shop at the supermarket. I used to have to wear that at work, and we'd often go to the Jewel supermarket deli counter for lunch. Usually I'd get mistaken for a store manager at least once per visit.

Eventually I stopped trying to tell little old ladies that I didn't work there. I had gotten to know the store well enough that it was easier to just tell them where their item was...