COMM 150: Macy's, regional brands and a "random act of culture"

Macy's has had mixed success with its efforts to establish itself as a national brand. In Chicago, people still want to bring back Marshall Field's five years after the name was changed to Macy's. But Macy's scored a public relations coup this fall in downtown Philadelphia when the Opera Company of Philadelphia and members of 32 local choirs joined in a “Random Act of Culture” (funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation) in the center city Macy's, formerly Wanamaker's department store and for many years a Philadelphia icon. Dressed as shoppers, they burst into Handel's "Messiah" in what seemed to be a random outpouring of song but must have been very well rehearsed. Here's the first story in the Philadelphia Inquirer and here's a follow-up on how the YouTube video went viral. The video, in case you haven't seen it or would like to see it again, follows: