Identifying unexpected music with our sonic analysis tools.
In a time where brands have the tools to do the expected, the optimized and the most predictable things, we searched through 2026’s Super Bowl spots for the most unexpected in audio. We proposed a new way to evaluate music usage in advertising that can point out those outliers, outstanding and unpredictable music supervision choices that were memorable.
But unexpected how?
Super Bowl ads have the particularity of gathering the best creatives and marketers in the market to bring us the less common advertising that people look forward to. We don’t need further presentation of this scenery. To evaluate music choices less subjectively and isolate the musical component from the broader context of the Super Bowl ads, we have established specific categories. We processed the videos with our sonic analysis tools and here are some of the unpredictable results we got:
“Anti-Cliché” Score
Most ad reviews are built on a “vibe check”, a subjective guess at what works. We prefer a sharper lens. We’ve traded gut feelings for TF-IDF, a statistical tool typically used in search engines to separate the “signal” from the “noise.”
In the world of music supervision, we use it to measure distinctiveness.
So for example, lo-fi chill is expected for a skincare ad, metal is completely unexpected for a diaper ad. We analyze this not only for the brand, but the scene the music was used for. It’s how we identify that “Heavy Metal” in a diaper ad isn’t just a random choice, it’s a high-impact, distinctive outlier.
But data isn’t a replacement for taste. We don’t believe a “cliché” is a dirty word, and music doesn’t always need to be the loudest person in the room. Sometimes the most effective choice is the expected one.
Narrative Augmentation Score
In some cases, a story can be directed by the music. The voice of the actors or a voiceover are replaced with a well aligned track lyric that does the dirty job.
“What’s the difference between me and you?”
Anthropic and Mother achieved a memorable “mic drop” moment by utilizing Dr. Dre’s well-known beat and a perfectly matched existing song lyric to conclude their advertisement. They end the ad with just that. Leaving the audience to assimilate what just happened. This is a great example of an augmentation done by the music. Everything in the music production is clean: the beat takes control quickly of the scene with a perfect hand-off the story.
What’s the opposite of this? When music is just the elevator music – the silent context in the room. But nothing more. And again – not all stories need or want to pass the mic to the music. Here is a great example of this just working great.
Crate-Digging Depth
When budgets are not an issue, listening to an indie artist in a super bowl ad is something we can call unexpected. Brands can “break free” and use those global anthems that will match immediately with their audience. And come on, who does not love Queen? The list of big recognizable artists are not exclusive for the halftime show (Bad Bunny). In the ad space this is the safe choice.
Ro chose another path with Sleigh Bells, an American experimental pop band from New York with 290K followers on Spotify.
The result transcends typical stock production, creating a measurable cultural footprint. Currently, 32% of the YouTube commentary is music related. To put this in perspective, the classic anthem “Jump Around” by House of Pain generates less than 1% music-centric discussion in its comments, even with a massive reach of over 700 million Spotify streams.
Sonic Re-contextualization
In this category we have loans of existing songs and their lyrics that go beyond and try to re-interpret the meaning. A new appropriation of the sound. Custom versions and covers are very common here.
Instacart ad is a clear example of a risky music supervision.
The soundscape belongs to another decade, aligning with the visual production yet creating a sharp parody of the brand’s central theme. By pairing the optimistic tagline “What a time to be alive” with an 80s Euro disco mnemonic, the brand creates a striking contrast between its message and its medium.
So you’re probably wondering: which ad actually won based on our music supervision categories? Here’s the truth: We’d never expect one ad to be both brilliant and truly unexpected across all of them. Many of these evaluation metrics actually butt heads and are inherently incompatible.
Going for the super safe (straight-line) music might end up being a little too predictable
But honestly, that’s the genuine magic of sonic branding and music itself. It’s an infinite sandbox with endless chances to create something fresh, and those great, unexpected creative leaps? They’re always a win.
