Flea Market Montgomery

Flea Market Montgomery is a 73,000 square-foot, flea market in Montgomery, Alabama, which advertises itself as being "just like a mini-mall." [cite web |date=2006-11-30 |publisher=YouTube |url=http://youtube.com/watch?v=FJ3oHpup-pk |title=Fleamarket Montgomery] The market is owned by local businessman Sammy Stephens. [cite news |work=Montgomery Advertiser |title=Montgomery, Ala., Job-A-Thon Works for Many |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-17173714_ITM |first=Deidra M. |last=Lemons |date=2004-05-05]

Popular commercial

The flea market gained fame in early 2007 thanks to a music video advertisement produced by owner Sammy Stephens and his subsequent appearances on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show".cite news |title=Alabama flea market owner turns into YouTube phenomenon |url=http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/jun/30/alabama-flea-market-owner-turns-youtube-phenomenon/ |publisher="Associated Press" / "Knoxville News Sentinel" |date=2007-06-30 |first=Kate |last=Brumback] cite news |title=Local ad man sets new beat for 'Ellen' |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-28783262_ITM |work=Montgomery Advertiser |date=2006-12-01 |first=Cyril Josh |last=Barker] [cite pressrelease |url=http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/FLMM5719/mycustompage0001.htm |title=Official Sammy Stephens Online] This advertising was in the form of a rap-style commercial which spread through the internet via YouTube, BoingBoing and similar sites. This video and related materials use the slogan, "It's just like a mini mall." Stephens appears in the advertisement, showing off the living room, bedroom, and dinette sets.cite news |title=A Look Behind Local Commercials, Pt. 1: Russell "Cashman" Oliver |url=http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_24595.aspx |publisher= "CityNews" | |date= July 9, 2008| author = Shawne McKeown ]

The now-popularized song that takes precedence over Stephen's aforementioned advertisement has been reworked by several musicians, such as Shaun Groves as well as the band Big Tex and The Blazin' Pintos [cite web |url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9jQQikQpCc |publisher=YouTube |title=Live performance of "Flea Market Montgomery Jam" by Big Tex and The Blazin' Pintos] . The flea market, and its owner, were also featured in the twelfth episode of Family Force 5's webisode series "The Really Real Show".

Cultural impact

The spread of the video turned Flea Market Montgomery into a tourist destination, especially among college students. [cite news |work=Montgomery Advertiser |title=Flea market turns into hot spring break destination |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-30036243_ITM |first=Darryn |last=Simmons |date=2007-03-18] Capitalizing on the popularity of the advertisements, Sammy Stephens subsequently began selling a variety of flea market-related merchandise, ranging from t-shirts to mobile phone ringtones. [cite web |url=http://www.fleatones.com/ |publisher=Sammy Stephens Flea Market |title=Storefront]

Ownership

In 2000, Stephens began selling at Flea Market Montgomery with toys in three rented booths.cite news |work=Montgomery Advertiser |title=Sammy Stephens: Just like a celebrity |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-30364316_ITM |first=Darryn |last=Simmons |date=2007-04-20] Whenever another vendor would leave a booth, Stephens would take it over. Within a few years, Stephens had purchased the entire market. Before buying the market, Stephens had been a local disc jockey as "The Candyman" on WMGY and WXVI and provided songwriting to other local singers and rappers. He graduated from high school in 1975.fact|date=January 2008

References

External links

* [http://www.sammystephensonline.com/ Sammy Stephens Online: The Official Website of Sammy Stephens]
* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=FJ3oHpup-pk YouTube: Flea Market Montgomery]
* [http://www.boingboing.net/2007/02/14/supremely_bad_tv_ad_.html BoingBoing: Flea Market Montgomery]
* [http://www.metro.co.uk/yourmetro/article.html?in_article_id=37732&in_page_id=6 Metro: Viral Video Charts Worst Commercial Ever]