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Best Buy Invaded By Blue Shirt Improv Artists
Posted by
Zonk
on Fri May 05, 2006 06:42 PM
from the actual-wisdom-of-the-crowds dept.
from the actual-wisdom-of-the-crowds dept.
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.
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Best Buy Invaded By Blue Shirt Improv Artists
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Thrown out? (Score:5, Insightful)
Is this isn't News for Nerds ... (Score:4, Funny)
(http://www.komar.org/hulk/)
Well done Improv'ers ...
My mother sent me two Geek Squad shirts... (Score:5, Interesting)
Wow (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Wow (Score:4, Insightful)
(http://slashdot.org/)
I think the leader of this group isn't very aware of himself emotionally/psychologically. He's too comfortable manipulating people. These kinds of "performances" seem to come from having difficulty in asserting boundaries and allowing other people to assert their boundaries. He's not very empathetic and expects people to have the emotions he imposes on them and he even expects them to like it and is unreceptive if they don't.
This touches on the fascination with Andy Kaufmann. Fans were interested in him for manipulating the emotions of other people with his pranks, but when they show up and he manipulates them by reading from a boring book, all of a sudden they're angry. "It's fine if he doesn't respect other people's boundaries but he better respect mine."
I'm not saying these types of performances are unethical, but at least acknowlege them for what they are.
Pranks that don't take into account the emotions of their targets are about exploiting other people for your own amusement. I don't look up to people who deny this. It just makes them more self-centered in my eyes.
Manager called 911 (Score:5, Funny)
(http://slashdot.org/ | Last Journal: Thursday February 21 2002, @04:37PM)
"Is this an emergency?"
"Dear lord YES! there are people wearing Blue Shirt and Khakis! KAHKIS!!!"
Re:Manager called 911 (Score:4, Interesting)
(http://slashdot.org/ | Last Journal: Thursday February 21 2002, @04:37PM)
Of course you have to ask to leave, and they imply that you can't ask.
Re:Manager called 911 (Score:5, Funny)
That's nothing. On Slashdot, you can make claims that lie somewhere between false and ambiguous, and will probably get modded +4 Interesting.
Re:Manager called 911 (Score:5, Interesting)
They get freaked out when people show up, act oddly, and video tape stuff.
The manager *was* a total douche though: "You're violating my civil rights by filming in my store!".
Re:Manager called 911 (Score:5, Interesting)
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 (Score:5, Insightful)
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-Unlimited laws (Score:4, Informative)
(http://slashdot.org/ | Last Journal: Friday September 02 2005, @01:43AM)
For a store to kick people out during business hours, the people have to be formally notified that they're no longer welcome, whether this be by verbal or written notice is up to the owner or his representative(the manager or employees).
If you withdraw your permission, the person you're kicking out is still allowed to collect his or her possessions and leave in an orderly fashion (IE not running, but not lingering).
Re:Manager called 911 (Score:4, Insightful)
(http://slashdot.org/ | Last Journal: Thursday February 21 2002, @04:37PM)
No one claimed to be an employee.
"Best Buy didn't have enough real staff to throw out 80 people and keep the store running at the same time"
Still not a 911 emergency.
" it was confusing the customers "
And this is an emergency, how?
"and it's her responsibility to prevent that from happening"
Still not an emergency.
She should have called the desk sargent and asked for a patrol.
My beef was calling '911', not having the police there.
Your not one of those people that think 911 is just a convient way to help you for any ol' thing, are you? I hope not, I hate those people.
Finally:
Get a sense of humor.
Re:Ask them to leave... (Score:5, Insightful)
(http://slashdot.org/ | Last Journal: Friday September 02 2005, @01:43AM)
"Excuse me Sir, you have to leave now" would have worked. Still, any of the 'performers' who refused could have been hauled into court for trespassing.
Re:Manager called 911 (Score:5, Insightful)
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 (Score:4, Insightful)
1. Call the police - store managers in a large retail chain should have the proper orientation/training to know the procedure that is best in their jurisdiction. In Vancouver here, I believe the procedure is to call 911 and someone will triage the call and dispatch the appropriate response. Calling the police is the appropriate response because you really don't know the intentions of the "invaders". Employee and/or customer saftey or company property could be at risk.
2. Make some sort of an announcement using the store PA system advising customers and staff not to approach anyone dressed as a BB employee unless they have a Best Buy ID badge or what ever ID is used by BB. This is a judgement call - as it draws attention to the issue, but if I believed customer safety was an issue, it would be important to advise customers not to assume that people dressed in blue/khaki are not necessarily BB employees. If you didn't do this, and someone got hurt, I could be liable.
3. Assemble a security team + any available assistant managers. Give them explicit instructions that there role is to diffuse, not inflame the situation. They are to politely but firmly inform the "invaders" that the store is private property, their presence there is a privalege not a right and is now confusing customers and disrupting business and they have to leave immediately. There is no need to get personal, angry or physical, I would just ask them to leave. If they don't, have them arrested for trespassing.
There is a judgement call here. If I thought they were going to resist and put staff, customers or property at risk, I might give the instructions but wait until the police arrive. You can test the resolve of the group by simply asking several of them to leave. If they go peacefully - continue until you have the store under control. If anyone resists, assign a security dude to simply shadow them until the police arrive.
At no point is there any need to panic.
Re:Manager called 911 (Score:5, Insightful)
(http://www.artboy.org/)
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 (Score:4, Informative)
(http://www.berylliumsphere.com/security_mentor | Last Journal: Wednesday January 31 2007, @09:13PM)
NYUD.net Karma Whoring Link (Score:5, Informative)
Additional info/video links (Score:5, Informative)
same group... (Score:4, Interesting)
Spike (Score:3, Funny)
(http://www.lunenburg.org/)
The Uniform (Score:5, Interesting)
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 (Score:5, Funny)
I understand the Best Buy response (Score:5, Insightful)
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 (Score:5, Insightful)
(http://www.citking.net/)
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 [fark.com] or the Darwin Awards [darwinawards.com].
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 (Score:5, Funny)
Works at the supermarket too (Score:5, Funny)
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...
Dice (Score:2)
Please, allow me to quote Dice Clay.
"You fucking geek."
ok, this is a bit of sad commentary: (Score:5, Insightful)
(Last Journal: Monday January 02 2006, @01:32PM)
Are people really that scared of single adult males, now? Because it probably wasn't to do with his appearance...
Hysterical. (Score:5, Funny)
(Last Journal: Thursday July 12, @12:30PM)
"Do you work here?" he asks.
"No, I don't."
He starts looking at vacuum cleaners, not knowing where to start.
"What are you looking for?" I ask.
"I need a vacuum cleaner," he says. "I have a Dirt Devil. It works really well, very powerful machine," I say.
"A Dirt Devil. Dirt Devil, OK."
A real employee approaches.
"May I help you sir?" the employee asks.
"Yes, I'd like to buy a Dirt Devil," the man responds."
I sold my first vacuum cleaner. Damn, it feels good.
Walmart (Score:3, Funny)
(http://www.kidindustries.net/)
A few times, going into Walmart wearing my "Your Company's Computer Guy" [jinx.com] shirt, I was asked for assistance, because of the way Walmart employees wear those vest-like things. Sure, it's a totally different shade of blue, and a different style, but that didn't stop them.
And yes, I did help them even though they realized mid-question that I don't work there.
Reminds me of... (Score:2, Interesting)
(http://slashdot.org/)
Bravo! (Score:3, Funny)
It's too bad they didn't really clown around a bit, act like cockroaches, walk into walls, curl up on the floor and go to sleep, do a little dance; perhaps The Robot etc..
Flash 8 Videos? Brilliant. (Score:2)
(http://www.spreadfir...s&id=958&t=1)
On Dialing 911 (Score:1)
All in all, just because it isn't a case of life and death apparantly doesnt mean it isnt a 911 situation I guess. And to those wondering I don't live in some podunk little town. I live about 20 miles west of Chicago. So it's not like the station only has 911 and no other number or dispatch.
"People in uniform" attitude (Score:3, Insightful)
I once had a temp job at a hospital loading dock. Horrible, crummy job, but it was a job. So all the people on the loading dock wore brown polyester pants, white shirts, and black shoes. So, my second day, I wore brown polyester pants, a white shirt, and black shoes. I was reprimanded for "wearing a dock uniform", paid for a half day, and asked not to return.
A different situation: There was a Greek Festival, where all the food service people were wearing black pants or skirts, white shirts and a black hat. My girlfriend and I happened to both be wearing black pants, white shirts, and we each had a black hat, all coincidentally (we didn't even know about the festival, just chanced upon it), and so we just sort of hung out for a while and all the workers treated us like we were hosts not patrons. We ate and drank for free and hung out while everybody partied after the festival was over.
Anyway, if you wear a blue shirt to Best Buy I'm sure they can throw you out if the laws of your state allow it, "for any reason", but not just because you wore a blue shirt, unless they eject *everyone* wearing a blue shirt (not just you.)
The band of pranksters could test this by being not just a bunch of clowns, but some organization whose uniform is *also* well-established as blue shirts and khakis, go in the store with legitimate business, and get kicked out for no reason other than their attire, they might be able to force the store manager to explain to a judge why he considered a shirt and khakis to be inappropriate attire, or whatever was his bais calling the police was.
But in this case, it is clear that the group was intentionally creating a disturbance, and that it was not terribly difficult to get a police officer to agree. If a reasonable person believes your intent is to disturb the peace (which it clearly was) then I hope it was enough fun to be worth the potential legal hassle.
Hilarious (Score:2)
Brings back memories of Fry's... (Score:2)
(http://www.tabula-rasa3d.net/ | Last Journal: Tuesday September 04, @08:43AM)
Recently I visited Fry's Electronics in thier new store several months ago (well, new for me. I live in NYC now, and hadn't yet been to the store on Auto Mall parkway in Fremont). A customer approached and actually asked "I know you don't work here, but can you tell me if this will work in my computer?"
Yeah, I miss those days...
I fail to see the humor in this (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, you aren't exactly doing something "illegal", but your intention is obviously to make life harder for other people, which in my book counts as "immoral" (at least as long as these "other people" haven't done anything wrong towards you!)
I find the whole episode comparable to someone who have gotten hold of some disappearing ink [penguinmagic.com], spray it on random peoples shirts, and then write a web-page about it where they talk about how angry some people became because of this, even though it was just an innocent gag.
I'm sorry, but if some random person sprayed my shirt with disappearing ink, I would not find it funny. And if some random crowd of people had agreed to enter my store with clothes similar to the uniform of my employees, I wouldn't find it funny either. Now, had the random person in either case, been someone I knew and trusted, I might have reacted otherwise, but this depends a bit more upon the situation. When doing practical jokes, it's a fine line between what's funny and what's just cruel.
Oh, by the way, I killed your dog just to see how you'd react. But don't worry, here's a new one...
My Idea (Score:1)
If I were the BB manager.. (Score:2)
1) Announce the following on the Best Buy intercom (if there is no store wide intercom, they should really invest in one):
"Dear Best Buy customers and employees, there seems to be an elaborate social engineering prank occurring in the store. It's not a coincidence that there are many people in the store wearing blue polo shirts without best buy tags and khaki pants. If they do not have a best buy tag do not ask them questions about products or store policies."
Well, I'm inspired (Score:2)
(Last Journal: Friday September 01 2006, @04:53PM)
are we living in a police state? (Score:1)
(Last Journal: Wednesday September 27 2006, @03:09PM)
are getting called for every little problem.
are we, as a society, that afraid that we are demanding
a police state to exist?
These People Suck (Score:1)
Re:news? (Score:3, Funny)
What a coincidence! (Score:4, Funny)
(http://slashdot.org/ | Last Journal: Thursday February 21 2002, @04:37PM)
Re:Policy and Legislation (Score:1, Informative)
Re:news? (Score:3, Funny)
(http://coder.dk/ | Last Journal: Saturday April 15 2006, @09:12PM)
Re:Policy and Legislation (Score:3, Interesting)
(http://csilo.com/)
Persons impersonating store employees will be prosecuted for trespassing.
So, in the future I might have to bring multiple changes of clothes with me if I want to go shopping at multiple stores to make sure I don't get confused with the employees? What about those clothing stores that make their employees wear the clothes they sell in the store? Will there be a sign out front "No customer may wear Old Navy clothing inside the store."?
Anyway, when I worked at Best Buy there was probably a few times I noticed a customer walk in wearing khakis and a blue or black or yellow polo. It seems to be a pretty common clothing ensemble.
Re:Philisophical analogy (Score:2)
(http://slashdot.org/ | Last Journal: Thursday February 21 2002, @04:37PM)
And by definition, clowns aren't funny.
To quote Cmdr. Vimes:
"If it was funny, clowns wouldn't be doing it." Cmdr. Vimes, Diskworld by Terry Prachet
Re:news? (Score:2)
(http://slashdot.org/ | Last Journal: Thursday February 21 2002, @04:37PM)
ALWAY been that way. That is their business. Don't like it? Leave.
Re:Philisophical analogy (Score:2)
(http://www.artboy.org/)
But yes, if you want to go to Best Buy in a clown costume, feel free. It will certainly bring a smile to many people's face!
Re:Policy and Legislation (Score:1)
Re:Hmm... (Score:1, Offtopic)
(http://neilmcallister.com/)
Re:hostage taking (MOD PARENT DOWN) (Score:1)
People SHOULD be able to get away with stuff like this without criminal charges.
It's a sad country when two kids get into a fight, one says "I'm gonna kill you!" in the heat of the fight, and that kid gets expelled, where the other gets a 5-day suspension (or nothing at all, and then sues the other kid he was fighting.) It's sad when every single thing that can be tried as possible terrorism is tried as terrorism.
I'm going to go to the other side of the extreme here. It shouldn't be illegal unless the terrorist act is actually committed. "Attempted" crimes PERIOD are bullshit. Attempted murder, attempted burglary, etc, etc. Don't charge 'em unless they actuall get in and the person's dead or the stuff's stolen.
We need MORE of these stunts... not fewer (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:hostage taking (Score:4, Insightful)
(Last Journal: Wednesday December 07 2005, @07:15PM)
You know what age we live in? We live in an age where some pathetic mouthbreathing pantswetters are so fucking scared that they want a fascist, rigidly coontrolled police state to prevent the terrifying prospect of a bunch of people showing up wearing the same color shirt.
Re:hostage taking (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:New Dress code policy (Score:2)
(http://www.mac-consultant.com/ | Last Journal: Tuesday April 02 2002, @08:30PM)
Re:hostage taking (Score:1)
*US Government/Bush/CNN/Military
Ironically, it was Bush who said shortly after 9/11 to live as normal--as to prevent the "terrorists" from winning.
Re:hostage taking (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Thomas Crowne Affair (Score:2)
(http://www.tgwbd.org/)
The movie with Brosnan and Russo isn't the original Thomas Crowne Affair. The original is with Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway.
This is, however, one of the few movies where I liked the newer one a lot better than the older one. The old one was a straight up late 60s action flick. The new one was a very intelligent movie (with only a passing resemblence to the original).
Hot Topic (Score:2)
(http://www.pobox.com/~meta/ | Last Journal: Sunday February 29 2004, @09:19AM)
Imagine if Hot Topic did that.
(If you go to Hot Topic you'll find that staff and customers are almost indistinguishable. Yet they don't seem to have any kind of problem with it.)
Re:New Dress code policy (Score:2)
At the 2000 Gay Pride in Atlanta, officials were hassling people who had any kind beer company advertising other than Coors. That was in supposedly public Piedmont park.
Re:The reason the manager said her civil rights... (Score:2)
I like to ask people what they think of the Washington Redskins or Atlanta Braves. And what would they think of the Washington Blackskins or Atlanta Zulus (with corrasponding 'war whoop' and foam spears).