Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when they sing for you?
From the top of the Space Needle to the alleys of Pioneer Square to the infield at Safeco Field, members of the Seattle Police Department pulled out all the lip-syncing stops as they answered a challenge in a viral video craze sweeping departments across the country.
Set to “Downtown,” the 2015 song from Seattle hip hop stars Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, the video debuted in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. On Seattle PD’s Facebook page, the video had more than 1.7 million views by Wednesday afternoon.
It was all made in response to a challenge from the Norfolk (Va.) Police Department, who made their own video set to Bruno Mars’s “Uptown Funk.” As The New York Times noted in a story this week, the “videos come as police departments increasingly use social media to step up their public relations efforts and try to repair their image after years of anger and protests over police brutality and fatal shootings of black people by officers.”
“A huge thank you to the people of Seattle,” read a message from Seattle PD on the video post. “Without you, none of this would have been possible.”
Indeed, plenty of folks in and out of uniform show up throughout the 5-minute production, including some Seattle celebs.
Nintendo President Reggie Fils-Aimé is shown playing a Nintendo Labo piano; former SuperSonics great Lenny Wilkens gives a thumbs up from a balcony; Seattle Mariners pitcher and Seahawks Hall of Famer Walter Jones toss fish at Pike Place Market; Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and new Police Chief Carmen Best hitch scooter rides; the University of Washington’s Husky mascot dances all over; and more.
Seattle PD has passed the challenge along to the Metropolitan Police Service of the United Kingdom.
