MIELE DISHWASHERS QUIET AS A MOUSE
By Adnews Staff
German household and commercial appliance manufacture Miele Limited of Richmond Hill, Ontario had its radio advertisements pulled from the airwaves in Toronto and Vancouver one day after the spots were launched. Citing an unusual twist of circumstances, the stations said it was the sound of an operating Miele dishwasher that was the offensive element. The spots, created by Miele's ad agency, Campbell & Partners of Toronto, were so quite almost no sound at all could be heard over the airwaves. According to Jan Heck, vice president and general manager for Miele Canada, "what sounded like silence on radio is really an actual recording of the wash cycle of our dishwasher." However for a radio station, that's the equivalent of dead air and any more than about 3 seconds is enough, he added. The spots were produced in both 60 and 30-second versions. The sound of the Miele dishwasher or "near silence" was heard for 17 and 6 seconds, respectively. The company revised the ads to run a version that shortens the sound of the silent dishwasher rather than scrap the ads entirely. The new spots are scheduled to hit the airwaves today.