The amplified whisper
Auto Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) has gone mainstream, and some are describing it as a marketing dream which will transform advertising. Others say its just whispering into the microphone.
ASMR is variously described as a feeling of static, or tingling sensation that begins at the back of the head and works its way down the skin. Others call it low grade euphoria, and some get carried away and call it a head orgasm. Maybe its just goose-bumps. Whatever it is, it has become the thing that media companies just have to talk about since the whispering advert shown on US channels during this year's Superbowl.
This technique isn't so new. Over the years we've seen many ads which, for example, focus on the hiss of opening a beer bottle, and the glug and gurgle of liquid as it pours into the glass. Then there was the Secret Escapes TV adverts which date back to 2012 and which feature a woman whispering confidentially to the viewer about the best-kept secrets in luxury travel. What perhaps makes these adverts stand out is the absence of backing music which we have become so used to, the eye-contact (a technique well-known to the porn industry), and the suggestion of intimacy with an attractive woman. Dove Chocolate (known as the Galaxy in the UK) generally gets the credit for the first TV commercial designed with ASMR in mind, which was aired in China towards the end of 2015.
Of course, music and film has long known the power of whispering and immersion in the ambient sounds, but have used it in moderation rather than trying to jump on a passing fad bandwagon. The recent number one single "Bad Guy" by Billie Elish certainly hasn't been harmed by claims that it is ASMR-inspired but there are plenty of songs from pop history which have the power to create a tingle. Jump into the YouTube time machine and go back some 45 years and you'll find 10cc singing I'm Not In Love, which, in the middle of the song, has a whispering interlude and the lyric "Be quiet, be quiet, big boys don't cry". That certainly created a tingle when people first heard it. Move forward a few years to 1990, and Madonna used whispers extensively to great effect in the hit, Vogue, and even more so in the less well-known tracks, Human Nature, and Justify My Love which dates back to 1990.
Around 10 years ago, at the time when the term ASMR was first being coined by the academics, and you will find the French band Nouvelle Vague (which translates as New Wave) regularly performing breathy versions of songs such as this one, Dance With Me.
So the idea isn't exactly new, but I predict two things. The first is that 2019 is likely to be the year of ASMR adverts on TV, mostly in the form of amplified whispering, and the second is that the novelty will wear off pretty quickly.
25th April 2019
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