Pillow fight flash mob

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A pillow fight that took place in Lausanne, in front of the courthouse

A downtown Toronto pillow fight flash mob.

A pillow fight flash mob is a culture jam that has emerged from the social phenomenon of flash mobbing. The flash mob version of massive pillow fights is distinguished by the fact that nearly all of the promotion is Internet-based. These events occur around the world, some taking the name Pillow Fight Club after the London pillow fight group.

The trend owes much to uses of modern communications technologies, including decentralised personal networking, known as smartmobbing. Word of the events spreads primarily via digital means, usually on the internet via email, chat rooms and text messaging which result in seemingly spontaneous mass gatherings. Pillows are sometimes hidden and at the exact pre-arranged time or the sound of a whistle, the pillow fighters pull out their pillows and commence pillow fighting. The pillow fights can last from a few minutes to several hours.

[edit] Origins

While ordinary pillow fights have existed for as long as there have been pillows, the difference here is that these events are massive in scale, occur in public and are promoted primarily via the Internet. Many massive pillow fights have been organized for in an effort to break Guinness World Records. Others have been organized by university students around the world for fun. Pillow fight club was founded by Ben Cummins also founder of Mobile Clubbing. Since Pillow Fight Club's first massive event (17:40, 6th Oct 2004, outside St. Paul's Cathedral) large gatherings of pillow fights seem to have become much more common.^{[citation needed]}