To be sure, it seemed like an odd choice of music for the 500 marketers, agency execs and Hollywood producers as they settled in their chairs for the start of the Digitas NewFront event during Internet Week.
The sound system blared the "The Revolution will not be Televised," a 70's rant against commercialism and the media by the late Gil Scott-Heron.
Welcoming the audience after the song was Mark Beeching, the Worldwide Chief Creative Officer. He picked the song as the event's kick-off.
We asked him about the unusual choice. He said the selection of the song was made before the recent passing of Scott-Heron. In fact, he says he had hoped that the poet/singer, known to some as the father of rap, would speak at the event.
He explains the choice of the song as a dramatic demonstration of the transformation of media and marketing by Facebook and other social tools. He says now, the revolution is the media.
To drive home that point, the first panel at the conference was the Egytian filmmaker/revolutionary Amr Salama who was a key figure in organizing the revolution in Egypt along former State Department official PJ Crawley, and Time magazine's ME Richard Stengel. (We have interviews with Salama and Crowley which we will publish in a few days.)
It would have been fascinating if Gil Scott-Heron was there. Below is video made up of images with the original recording.
Andy Plesser
