As any good improvisation artist knows, a "happening" is when a group of people plan and execute an action, i.e. singing dancing, slow-mo-ing, etc., in front of an unsuspecting group of people in a crowded place. The action is usually harmless and is mostly enjoyed for the surprise element. The bewilderment of the unsuspecting crowd is usually the pay-off.
A recent T-Mobile advertisement called "Welcome Back" incorporated a happening in a crowded airport. Though the ad was kind of long, it was entertaining enough to hold the viewer's attention. Professional singers, who looked like average people waiting for flights, began singing together. They would find an unsuspecting person who fit the theme of a particular song. For instance, in one scene, a group of men leave an arrival terminal. A group of singers run up to them an began singing "The boys are back in town." At another point, as a couple reunites, a woman sing "At Last" by Etta James while another singer sings the violin part of the song. Which was another interesting thing about the video, there were NO actual instruments used to create the background music, instead, vocalist used their talents to make the sounds of drum, violins and guitars. The singers also used hand motions to pretend to play the instrument they were impersonating.
The final song the vocalists sing is "Welcome Home." The T-Mobile tie-in is that many people in the crowd are filming the happening with their smart phones and the camera gets close-ups of those with T-Mobile phones. The text on the screen says, "Life is for sharing." The end of the commercial is the very recognizable T-Mobile jingle. It is a powerful message about how we view the world differently with our phone technology. Its also powerful because the ad displays this with no words, just song.
