A US city is claiming a world record after managing to fill a Lip Dub video with 5,000 people in a bid to hit back at an article which said it is "dying".
In January 2011, Newsweek posted an article from its MainStreet authors in which it outlined the ten cities in the US considered to be on their last legs.
Grand Rapids in Michigan is one of the cities included in the unfortunate list.
"Michigan dominates much of this list, with several cities experiencing significant declines in population as the state suffered high unemployment rates and above average foreclosures in recent years due mainly to the collapse of the auto industry."
Outraged at the city's inclusion in the list, a group of residents, business groups and tourism bosses got together to see what they could do to retaliate - coming up with the following Lip Dub video (miming to an existing song - in this case Don McLean's American Pie), filmed in the city using thousands of residents and workers and at dozens of landmarks.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPjjZCO67WI
The clip was produced using $40,000 worth of donations from 29 local sponsors including the the city's Grand Plaza Hotel, a helicopter company, the university, a hospital and, err, Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
Uploaded to YouTube on 26 May 2011, almost 800,000 people have viewed the video in just a few days. Other standout stats include 100,000+ Facebook "likes", 9th most watched clip on YouTube anywhere in the world on 28 May and 12,000 YouTube likes (but almost 300 dislikes!).
Also, expect coverage in countless blogs and mainstream media sites and TV when the holiday weekend ends.
There is even a "Making Of" clip on YouTube, courtesy of the local radio station.
Director and exec producer Rob Bliss:
"We disagreed strongly [with the article], and wanted to create a video that encompasses the passion and energy we all feel is growing exponentially, in this great city. We felt Don McLean's American Pie, a song about death, was in the end, triumphant and filled to the brim with life and hope."