Is it the sound of an egg dropping on the floor? Is it a visor closing on a motorcycle helmet? The courtside unlocking of a cooler? No, neither, nope. Listeners of Dutch radio station Qmusic can win a big cash prize if they guess what the mysterious sound is of Het Geluid (‘the sound’), a popular call-in contest. And each time someone gets it wrong, the prize increases. A whole nation is obsessed with guessing the true nature of the sound.
It’s the situations that a create a comedic effect here, not the characters. Director Jeroen Houben had two days to shoot this Qmusic commercial, which allowed him to explore his love of absurdist humor—and work with the Dutch national basketball team. (The guy opening the cooler is an actor, though!) Keen viewers will recognize the man with the garden hose as Huub Smit, star of the popular New Kids film series as well as Jeroen’s acclaimed short Gips.
