The Music Zoo Featured In Optimum TV Commercial

A bit of unusual excitement swept through The Music Zoo earlier this year when, on a frigid January afternoon, a TV production crew invaded our shop and ordered us to put on our best guitar faces. They were creating a commercial for Optimum Cable and selected the Zoo as an example of a small but growing business that depends on Optimum’s high-speed internet service.  “They chose us because we use their service to its maximum power,” says Music Zoo owner and Zookeeper Tommy Colletti.” Without it we couldn’t survive.”

To be sure, we were honored to have been chosen as an example of a customer that uses Optimum’s product to its maximum ability. It also made for an exciting, monotony busting afternoon although it’s never actually dullsville here at the Zoo.  “It was actually surreal,” noted Tommy. “I mean, all the equipment, 50 or so people, catering tables, grips, laptops, monitors, equipment racks, lights, advertising people, crew standing around…it was nuts but in a great way.” And it was exciting, too. The normally rowdy Zoomates were on their best behavior, quieting down when the assistant director yelled “quiet on the set” and staying clear of the action. It was fun to watch takes on the monitors and it’s truly amazing how digital wazoo enables things to resemble the graininess of celluloid without the use of traditional film.

We also had a great time with the crew, all of whom were fascinated by rows of gorgeous custom guitars. A few of them were playing “Stairway to Heaven” and “Smoke on the Water,” but we didn’t mind. No, not at all! It was only a few hours later that all was said and done. “I was amazed at how quickly they packed up their equipment and were gone,” notes Tommy. “It must’ve been 10 minutes!” One of the event’s highlights was meeting a DGA (that’s the Director’s Guild of America) trainee who impressed us with his tales of pugilistic glory, particularly with bar fights. His name was Roadhouse.

In addition to the TV Commercial, there has also been a full page print ad run in a number of major newspapers featuring our very own Guitartech Pete:

Here are some shots from the filming of the commercial, enjoy!