Reply #64: Worth posting some of that:

[Hannah Bell]

Crowd Crazing

(updated 20th February 2006)

Keywords: Overcrowding, simulating people, simulating crowds


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Crowd crazing is the term used when a promoter markets/hypes a product or offer in order to create a large, excited crowd. It is a VERY dangerous practice and has resulted in many deaths around the world. We are specifically concerned about this practice when it is a DELIBERATE strategy to create unmanageable Crowd Dynamics.

2001 (December 18th)

Free Christmas Gift Distribution Creates Crush And Death. Four people died, including three children, when a poorly planned and managed government sponsored Christmas gift giveaway program for children went awry in Aracaju, Brazil. Forty to forty-five thousand people showed up at a public building for the holiday event, approximately the crowd size anticipated. Tens of thousands of people waiting to receive their free gifts were caught in a craze when one of the main gates opened triggering a surge and crush, according to local news reports. In spite of the deaths, government authorities continued the distribution of toys, after order was restored.

etc. (more cases)

It also disproves the assertion that there's something peculiarly american (selfish, greedy, consumerist) about the case.