A&E Uses Flash Mob In Viral Video To Promote Hammer Time Show

When you think of MC Hammer in the 1990′s, you will think of U Can’t Touch This, flashy pants, 2Pac, Death Row Records, etc. Almost two decades later, MC Hammer has made an image of himself as being big in the tech scene. MC Hammer started a company called Dance Jam, he is one of the most followed Twitter users, and he even has an iPhone application called Hammer Time. Since A&E is starting a program called Hammertime, they were looking for creative ways to promote the show. The TV network decided to go with the promotional power of viral videos.

A&E set up an event where a group of about 100 flash mob dancers would run into a trendy fashion store and wear the same parachute pants that MC Hammer is known for in the U Can’t Touch This music video. The dancers emulated the U Can’t Touch This dance for about a minute and then run out of the store. Flash mob videos were recently used to advertise T-Mobile UK recently.

The Hammer Time reality TV show will also revolve around dancing and singing. MC Hammer’s DanceJam web company has about $8.42 million in funding from Ron Conway, Michael Arrington, Alex Algard, Michael Tanne, Geoff Ralston, Alex Welch, Ariel Poler, Rustic Canyon Partners, and Softbank Capital.