New Brunswick Youth Orchestra responds to stereotypical car commercial

A New Brunswick Youth Orchestra video created in response to a car commercial perpetuating a ‘tired old stereotype’ about young musicians, has now racked up thousands of views online.

The commercial for 'Infiniti' shows an orchestra of young people playing instruments poorly, so poorly that the woman in the ad, inside of a vehicle in the centre of it, rolls up the window and closes the sun roof to tune them out.

"I saw the humour in it, you know, I understand Nissan and Infiniti, it was tongue-in-cheek," says NYBO CEO, Ken McLeod. "But nevertheless it still kind of struck a negative chord with me.”

In the video, McLeod says that 'they should have called us' as he opens the door to the Imperial Theatre and the sound of the same song - played masterfully - gets louder.

"It was a fun approach," says conductor Tony Delgado. "And also, because we don’t have anything against Nissan or Infiniti, it’s not about that – it’s more about us telling our story."

That story and its message has resonated with many others – the video has been posted on the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra’s YouTube channel and has already racked up over 50,000 views.

As well, MacLeod says they’ve been contacted by people from all over.

"We’ve heard from youth music programs, we’ve heard from professional orchestras and musicians, we’ve had responses from the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra in the Mediterranean, and also a Mexican professional orchestra," says MacLeod.

"It is just all over the map."