Ravi Dalchand really, really believes in his product.
The senior brand manager at Bissell Canada demonstrates the effectiveness of the new Bissell Symphony All-in-One hard floor cleaner (it vacuums and steams at the same time!) by using it to scrub the floor of a subway station in Toronto.
But then the stunt, devised by KBS+, gets even wilder. Check it out here:
The eww! factor is awfully high (in a way, it's reminiscent of Extended Stay Motels' notorious licking ad from 2008), although the subway stop doesn't look quite as dirty as some—and for good reason.
It turns out the video was filmed at Bay Lower Station, which has long been closed off to the public and is used primarily for training and filming movies, TV episodes and commercials. So, while Dalchand does eat off a genuine subway platform, which can't be hygienic under any circumstances, it's not quite the same as doing so in an in-service station.
Plus, as the Huffington Post points out, the onlookers were almost certainly actors who may well have been in on the gag.
Still, the core of the stunt is real, and certainly memorable—even if you have to take it with a grain of salt (and in this case, a dash of oregano and pepper as well).
CREDITS
Client: Bissell
Agency: KBS+, Toronto
Chief Creative Officers: Matt Hassell, Gary Watson
Creative Director: Raul Garcia
Art Directors: Jessica Toye, Raul Garcia
Copywriter: Alex Bird
Account Director: Hanh Vo
Account Executive: Megan Chown
Agency Producer: Margaret Callaghan
General Manager: Craig Emmerson
Senior Brand Manager: Ravi Delchand
Production Company: Circle
Executive Producer: Karen Tameanko
Director: Jeffrey Zablotny
Line Producers: Elizabeth Findlay, Amanda Field
Postproduction Company: Married to Giants
Executive Producer: Denise Shearer
Editor: Monica Remba
Assistant Editor: Alain Elliott
Online Artist: Trevor Corrigan
Online Assistant: Preeti Torul
Color, Visual Effects: Alter Ego
Colorist: Tricia Hagoriles