It’s no secret that popular music has a strong hold on our culture.
And should also come as no surprise that popular music has infiltrated the corporate industry as well.
We’ve all seen the massive budget Superbowl commercials have during or leading up to halftime. We’re also witness to the never-ending onslaught of car commercials, sports brand commercials, Tim Horton’s commercials, and virtually every other brand trying to air a “cool” aesthetic.
But there’s one thing they all have in common: popular music.
Popular music, or pop music, adds a specific tone or feel to visuals. Heck, music, in general, does this. After all, what is a commercial without the right sound? Pop music adds an exuberant vibrancy to otherwise mundane or monotonous visual content. Sometimes, visuals in a corporate commercial often rely on the lyrics or tone of the song.
Take this 2011 Chevrolet Cruze car commercial, for example. When on mute, the commercial is no different than your average car advertisement. Aside from fast shots, voiceover, the inevitable wide shot of a car parked on a road, and extreme close-ups of the interior, there isn’t much of this commercial that we haven’t seen before. What makes the difference is the music laid on top: it’s then-newcomer Janelle Monae’s smash hit, Tightrope, and it’s highly infectious.
Chevrolet makes it clear that they’re not only up to speed (get it?) on the times, but that whether their customers are high or low on funds (okay, we’ll stop), they’ll at least want to consider this vehicle.
At the very least, it’s a commercial to remember. And it gets the artist visibility and paid.
Of course, this wasn’t the first time we saw a commercial reflect the pop music of our culture. The Weeknd’s hit “High for This” was featured in Hugo Boss’ commercial for women’s perfume around the same time that 50 Shades of Grey was released (which also featured the Weeknd on the soundtrack):
It’s pretty clear how much audio can augment visuals. Larger corporations would benefit from securing the rights for timely, popular music. This not only shows cultural relevance; it shows that a company is willing to reach a demographic right where they are.
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