How Lysol’s ‘Air-Aoke’ XR Experience Visualised Over 1 Million Germs

Lysol’s newest innovation, Lysol Air Sanitizer, kills 99.9% of airborne viruses and bacteria. So, to show the product in action, the cleaning brand brought a pop-up karaoke activation to Atlanta’s Music Midtown festival, fitted with tech that visualises the thousands of virus and bacteria-filled droplets that can be produced from a minute of singing.

Created with McCann New York, the one-of-a-kind, interactive experience was inspired by immersive art exhibits and gave music lovers a chance to get behind the mic and discover the power of the new sanitizer spray. 

The brand also enlisted actress, producer and singer Christina Milian, to take on the 'Air-aoke' at the festival and educate consumers about germ-prevention. And as part of the social-forward strategy on TikTok and Instagram, the brand also partnered with musician SidClusive to create a unique backing track for other creators to duet with. 

LBB’s Ben Conway chatted with McCann New York’s creative directors Vinny Garbellano and Mark Forsman to find out more.

LBB> 'Air-aoke' is such a great multi-sensory idea! How did this come about? What was the brief like from Lysol?   

Vinny> We wanted consumers to realise that we are all spewing particles all the time, not just when we are sneezing and coughing. Lysol Air Sanitizer is for anyone and everyone who sings, cheers, laughs… breathes. So when our strategy team found the stat that ‘one minute of singing produces 1,000 virus and bacteria particles in the air’, it took us to a less expected (and way more fun) place. 'Air-aoke', a true torture test, was born.

LBB> How did you develop the idea for a physical activation at Atlanta’s Music Midtown? What were some of the key challenges in creating the experiential aspect at the festival? 

Mark> First, we knew we wanted to create a karaoke booth for consumers to sing particles into the air. Then we partnered with [event production experts] Encore to bring this to life at the right music festival. Since everyone there was already in a music mindset, we were able to work around the biggest challenge: getting people to actually participate in the 'Air-aoke' experience.

LBB> The digital experience is inspired by immersive art exhibits – what technology went into bringing this to life? Tell us a bit about how the 'Air-aoke' booth works! 

Mark> We partnered with [XR studio] Groove Jones to bring the tech side to life. There were three projectors in each room and a Microsoft Kinect [motion sense device] that tracked movement. The Kinect data was then processed in a couple of ways. We tracked people’s mouth movements to showcase virus and bacteria being spewed inside the room, while also turning their appearance into a silhouette that was shown on the screen in the front.

LBB> How did the festival-goers react to the 'Air-aoke'? Do you have any stats/data you can share from the event? 

Vinny> The crowd loved getting a chance to sing their favourite song from artists at the event. There was a line to get in the entire time and we were able to get 500+ people through with over 1.4 million virus and bacteria particles spewed – and most importantly, killed. It was great for them but hearing Pink’s ‘Raise your Glass’ 117 times in a weekend was something we didn’t anticipate.

LBB> What was the hardest challenge you faced on this campaign, and how did you overcome it?  

Vinny> There’s a thousand challenges to bring anything like this to life, but the one surprising one was fire ants. Piedmont Park had a surprising amount of them and during the build… ouch.

LBB> Lysol seems to be up for some fairly outlandish and playful ideas - i.e developing the world’s stinkiest sock! What’s the brand’s general approach to marketing, and how do you engage it with these bolder, less traditional ideas? 

Mark> Lysol has a role in popular culture now due to the pandemic. There’s a lot of work that we do to help them maintain their place in the market, but as any great partner knows, it’s ideas like these that can expand the way consumers think about their brand. 

In this case, they knew a totally new kind of product required a totally new kind of approach. And we all wanted to showcase the need for this product without resorting to fear-mongering, so the location and approach helped us bring it to life in a relevant but fun way.