

VICTORIA MARTINEZ

News Editor

The last time I was part of a pillow fight, I was in elementary school.

My next pillow fight will likely be at the farmers’ market on Saturday afternoon.

William Joseph Communications, the same company behind the William Joseph Case Competition that marketing students get involved in yearly, is organizing the flash-mob style event as part of their yearlong oddball holiday calendar.

The calendar selects some pre-existing weird thing, and makes it an event in cities where they have offices. Those cities are Saskatoon, Calgary and Las Vegas, and given this month’s choice of holiday, Las Vegas seems like it might be the place to be.

“In Vegas it will be plus 30; they’ll be wearing shorts,” said William Joseph CEO Ryan Townend.

There are already 200 people signed up to attend the pillow fight flash mob in Vegas, according to Townend, and he says the city might have the largest turnout of the three.

But as a University of Saskatchewan commerce grad, he’s happy to see the reaction in Saskatoon.

“The people in Saskatoon are jumping on board and owning this event,” he said.

If Facebook numbers can be trusted, Saskatoon is poised to challenge Vegas in the pillow fight popularity: at time of print, 180 people had signed up on the Saskatoon event page.

Townend insists that the pillow fight will be a success, and is for a good cause to boot. Sheraton Suites will be donating one pillow or blanket to the YWCA for everyone who attends the Calgary part of the event.

“You just have to show up at the farmers’ market,” he said, with your own pillow and possibly a costume. The organizers hope to see participants of all ages join in, from siblings with a bone to pick to adults with a nostalgic side.

The pillow fight coincides with International Pillow Fight Day on April 2. The original event came out of Urban Playgrounds, which tries to set up all-ages free events in public spaces “leaving more public and more social cities in its wake,” according to the international pillow fight website.

The idea is to replace some consumption-only activities, like watching TV, with active participatory activities, and then link those to social tools by way of photos, videos and other online media.

On a less philosophical note, Townend added, “A flash mob is just sort of neat, you know? A random breaking out in a commercial space is kind of a cool thing.”

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image: Flickr