TBWA\Hakuhodo's Quietest Concert Ever

Electrolux Japan and TBWA\Hakuhodo are continuing their quest to demonstrate the silent power of their new vacuum cleaner. Their latest piece of content, ‘43dB Symphony’, has been created to demonstrate just how quiet the 43 decibel 'ergothree' vacuum cleaner is. The film is a follow-up to "Play! The quietest suction power", which featured three dancers using the ergothree to make music in an art gallery.

The idea was to create the quietest orchestra ever. The challenge was simple yet tough: 'Can an orchestra play "Carmen" without exceeding 43dB, the noise level of ergothree?'

Given the fact that 43 decibels is roughly the volume of whispering and the normal level for such a piece of music is around 90 decibels, the agency had to recruit a highly skilled orchestra to rise to the challenge. The audience too had to be higly disciplined as even the smallest sound such as a creaking chair or throat clearing would nudge the recording above the 43 decibel level. 

Semi-professional Waseda University Orchestra took on this challenge. The project involved several careful rehearsals and the shoot required many takes before achieving a pitch (and volume) perfect performance. 

Client    Electrolux Japan
Brand    Electrolux / ergothree
Title    43dB Symphony
Agency    TBWA HAKUHODO
    
Credits    
Creative Director    Satoshi Chikayama
Interactive Planner    Masashi Matsukura
Art Director    Katsuhiro Shimizu
Copywriter    Takeshi Ogasahara
Strategic Planner    Yuichiro Horie, Shohei Hashimoto
Account Director    Kei Kaneko, Ayako Kano, Kei Takahashi
Web Production    Yusuke Koike, Kazuyuki Takeda (IMG SRC)
Film Director    Takeshi Kogahara
Director of Photography    Masashi Nakahara
Musical Performance    Waseda Symphony Orchestra
Sound Measurement    Nittobo Acoustic Enginering
Producer    Keisuke Mizusako, Mana Hisamatsu (AOI Pro.)
Production Manager    Tetsuro Iwama, Makoto Tominaga (AOI Pro.)