Revlon, the American multinational cosmetics, skin care, fragrance and personal care company came up with this ‘LOVE IS ON’ advertising idea in Times Square. At the corner of 43rd St and 7th Ave. there's a huge high-def billboard featuring the Revlon ‘KISS CAM’. It was one of the most popular spots in Times Square. The area is a pedestrian mall, very tourist friendly, so foot traffic was intense. So this is how it worked. Revlon would showcase their products for about 10 minutes or so. Then the ‘KISS CAM’ would come on zooming on the crowd gathered below in front of the billboard. It would flash ‘LOVE IS ON ... SHOW US HOW YOU LOVE ... 3, 2, 1 ... KISS NOW’. Snapshot of the people below, including the loving and kissing couples, taken and shown on the big screen. A great deal of fun especially for the tourists who would either take selfies, but mostly taking a picture of the big screen showing how they loved and kissed in Times Square in The Big Apple. And then they could post it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat or whatever social media venue rocked their boat.
For many days I had a great deal of fun watching my fellow world citizens, posing, loving, kissing, being amused or, rarely, ignoring the the whole thing. The vast majority loved it. I saw people from every corner of the world, from the very young to the senior citizen, huddled together in anticipation, in a small space getting ready for the … 3, 2, 1 … KISS NOW moment. Sometimes the group was on the small side. Other times there was a huge crowd competing for the perfect spot so the camera would focus on them. Being a New Yorker who is used to folks bumping into other people without much thought of saying ‘excuse me’ or ‘sorry’ (mostly in the very crowded sidewalk of midtown Manhattan that is), I was very, very impressed how well everybody got along in the tightly packed crowd. I didn’t see any pushing or shoving or nasty looks. Everybody got along so well, it was amazing. Seeing themselves live on the big screen, most people I saw lost their guard and inhibitions and acted out in all sorts of funny and crazy ways. As you will see from the images below, from all the world citizens that I saw, who do you think took the top spot for being the most excited, animated and fun loving ‘SHOW US YOUR LOVE’ group? The Italians!!