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Whether you think flash mobs are postmodern or not, and there is much debate over it, the different ways that flash mobs are used can also be post modern or modern. A company using the idea of a flashmob to sell their product is a typically modern idea used my advertising and marketing agencies. On the other hand, a company such as T-Mobile participating in the flash mobs phenomenon is more postmodern. Their flash mobs are large, quirky and people of all ages and sizes can participate. They don't leave a bad commercial-after taste in your mouth, but instead, make you want to share what you just observed. Just as the T Mobile commercial says: Life is for sharing, and like normal flashmob, they are creating something to share. Post modernity is sometimes referred to as a reply to modernity, and these T Mobile flash mobs could be a reply to the modern way of using flash mobs, saying "hey look, we can play too without tarnishing the essence of the original!"

Flashmob richtet Chaos in Supermarkt an [Video file]. (2009, October 1). Retrieved from YouTube.com database. This video depicts German supermarket workers staging a protest using a Flash Mob. In order to convey their wish to get free wages and better working conditions, the union members filled shopping carts full of products and left them in the aisles. They then passed out cards that stated what they desired from their employees. This is a great example of postmodernity because a group of people is taking something (Flash Mobs) and using it in a completely different way than it was intended. Flash Mobs were originally intended, or at least viewed as something fun and chaotic. They were by no means considered a serious form of expression when it came to real concerns. However, by turning a Flash Mob into a form of protest, the people involved are challenging official seriousness. There is no longer the modern solemnity of intention and purpose. These postmodern protests utilize unconventional means to get their messages across.