In
1968 members of the
Yippie movement, led by
Abbie Hoffman and
Jerry Rubin, went to the visitors gallery of the
New York Stock Exchange and threw
money on the
brokers below.
The brokers scrambled and fought to get at the $1 bills.
"We didn't call the press," wrote Hoffman, "at that time we really had no notion of anything called a
media event." The press was quick to respond and by evening the event was reported around the world. Since then the
stock exchangee has spent $20,000 to enclose the gallery with bulletproof glass.
The images of the suited
men fighting for money has become a famous example of how a
guerrilla theater event can tap into the
popular conciousness to get an idea across. In 2001
adbusters has proposed repeating the event only this time world wide (though it questionable if it will ever have the same
amusing effect.)