Recently, Orange opened their big Pilot Store in Milton Keynes, which features, among other things, a really big interactive screen, right at the entrance.

Being a mobile phone network, Orange likes to promote togetherness. They say “Together we can do more”. So, you might wonder, how does one unite this notion of camaraderie with the screen?

Well. With The Mother of all interactive Mexican Waves, of course. Here’s the deal:

1. Customer goes into the Orange store

2. Using the chosen handset, the Sales assistant takes a video of them doing a ‘Wave’

3. Sales assistant MMS’s or emails it to the store

4. And, bingo, they’re part of the wave

Then every time someone walks past the big wall, a sensor triggers the wave so you’re kind of waved in and out of the store.

Not only do you get the chance to do a one-man Mexican Wave - who wouldn’t - you also get to see how the phone you want to buy actually works. There’s a problem with traditional phone shops: you only get to see the phone behind the sales façade. That often doesn’t show you how good it really is, or how the multitude of fancy apps work. What the Mexican Wave does is get rid of alienating brand-gloss and replaces it with the real people that come through the store.