This latest Toshiba campaign is more science experiment than traditional commercial, as Grey London head 98,268 feet above the Earth's surface for new spot Space Chair.
Following on from last year's Toshiba Timesculpture, which broke the record for largest number of cameras used in a shoot, this latest project from Grey London aims even higher - quite literally. Determined to earn a second entry in the Guinness Book of World Records, for new ad Space Chair the agency set out to create a new record for the world's highest commercial - by sending a chair up into the outer atmosphere.
"We felt that for Toshiba, the advertising needed to be as innovative as the brand," explains creative director Andy Amadeo, "so we decided to do a demonstration of their brand ethos." To tackle the aerial challenge, agency producer James Covill approached DP Haris Zambarloukos - of Enduring Love and Mamma Mia fame - to research what cameras could survive the extreme conditions that would be faced on their journey to the outer atmosphere.
"And by co-incidence," says Covill, "these tiny, state-of-the-art HD Toshiba cameras were recommended to us, which are used for military surveillance or endoscopic surgery." Needing a helping hand to get the project off the ground, the agency teamed up with Hungry Man EP Matt Buels and recruited US space flight experts JP Aerospace to conduct the experiment.
In the lead-up to the shoot, special lightweight rigs kitted out with GPS were constructed to carry the cameras and chair. Out in the Nevada desert, the rig was attached to an atmospheric balloon, which then transported it up into the outer atmosphere. Rising almost 20 miles, the rig took 83 minutes to reach its maximum height, and endured temperatures of almost minus 90 degrees. And once the atmospheric balloons burst it was only a speedy 24 minutes until it landed back in the desert and was tracked down by the crew - who had no idea what the footage would look like.
"There was no way of testing it, so we didn't know what we were going to get," describes Buels. "It wasn't like a regular commercial but more like an event that was being documented, because it was all real - it wasn't the normal craft of filmmaking."
Fortunately the footage captured has made for a spectacular and stomach-turning commercial, as viewers are treated to dazzling scenes of the chair's ascent into the ether. And to extend the experiment's appeal and drive traffic online, Grey London have also created an online innovation hub, where visitors can find out more about the event and the products.
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