BEST ADS OF 2021 (AND THE MUSIC THAT MADE THEM)

We love an iconic ad, not to mention a jingle, sting, or soundtrack that leaves you humming it all day. So, which of the ads of 2021 have been our favourites – and what music have they used? This is our month-by-month pick of the bunch.

January

Goteborg Film Festival The Isolated Cinema

Audio Network is the official music sponsor for the Goteborg Film Festival – one of Sweden’s biggest annual cultural events – so of course we were going to love this ad, promoting a truly extraordinary prize for one film fan. The winner got to spend seven days on the lighthouse island of Pater Noster, where they could watch all 60 films as part of the festival line-up.

The ad looks like a trailer for a Scandi-noir thriller, building suspense and intrigue, as a lone woman travels to explore the island. The visuals combine with a fantastic soundscape to build the atmosphere, including the kind of dissonant sounds, escalating whooshes and echoes that you might hear in a horror film, suggesting a distorted reality and sinister possibilities in the desolate landscape... Check out our horror tracks if you’re looking to build a sense of menace in your production.

February

Mercedes Benz Built to Last

February was the month when the Super Bowl ads captured everyone’s attention (read our round-up of the best in the genre to get up to speed).

However, our pick for the best of the month was Mercedes’ ad, which opens with a ballerina elegantly going through her paces, accompanied by a sparse, piano-based, classical-tinged music, as you’d expect. However, when she accidentally rips her barre off the wall, there’s a dramatic handbrake turn of pace in both the visuals and the soundtrack, as we flip to a G-Class Mercedes powering across the desert, accompanied by a track reminiscent of The Prodigy, showcasing the car’s ability to tackle any terrain, at speed.

Our playlist has similar techno-infused beats to create pace and excitement.

March

Logitech Defy Logic

‘When we defy logic and express ourselves, we become unstoppable’ – this is the message of the latest Logitech ad featuring rapper Lil Nas X, who not only ‘defies logic’ by having set a record for the most weeks at No 1 on the Billboard charts with his mash-up of hip hop and country, but is just as adept at confounding expectations with his fashion style.

The track featured is ‘Call Me By Your Name’ by Lil Nas X, which blends Spanish guitar elements with Nas’s vocals, creating both a laid-back vibe and beats that drive the message to be your own person.

April

Dom Perignon x Lady Gaga

The premium champagne brand previously collaborated with Lenny Kravitz in 2018, but now they’ve gone one better with their limited-edition Jeroboam of Dom Perignon Rosé created with Lady Gaga, serving up her customary full-on futuristic glamour.

The ad showcases the ‘Queendom’: ‘a world where absolute creative freedom rules’ and is set to ‘Free Woman’, a track taken from Gaga’s 2020 album, Chromatica, which, with its bold strings, beats and choir sounds like a classical track brought bang up-to-date. Looking for something to give your brand a similar up-to-the-moment makeover? Producer George Georgia’s hip hop and dance remixes on the Classical Collection Remixed album are ideal.

May

Amstel I Am What I Am

In April, Brazilian congresswoman Marta Costa put forward a controversial bill at Alesp (Legislative Assembly of the State of São Paulo) looking to prohibit the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people in ad campaigns.

Amstel hit back with a powerful campaign featuring drag superstar Pabllo Vittar, singer and presenter Pepita and The Circle Brazil’s Raphael Dumaresq, directed by gay couple Brendo+Gonfiantini. Vanessa Brandão, Amstel’s director of marketing revealed, ‘we decided to make a campaign that started with a big blank canvas, letting the artists involved tell us how they wanted to be portrayed and what qualities to highlight. They had complete freedom to create their moment and help define Amstel’s point of view.’ The spot first aired during Big Brother Brazil’s finale – the most-viewed show in the country.

And the soundtrack? Gloria Gaynor’s empowering gay disco anthem, ‘I Am What I Am’, of course.

June

McDonald’s There’s Nothing Quite Like a McDelivery

McDonald’s know that there’s going to be a huge proportion of the population who’re still glued to their sofas throughout the summer, watching the Euros, the Olympics and more – or maybe it’s just far too hot for a supermarket shop and the fridge is bare. Either way, the McDelivery is here to save the day.

The ad’s soundtracked by the suitably to-the-point ‘Hungry Eyes’, the classic Eric Carmen track from Dirty Dancing. As CampaignLive points out, it’s not the first time McDonald’s has plundered its Now That’s What I Call Music collection – last year’s ad promoting Eat Out to Help Out used ‘I Want You Back’ by NSYNC.

Grab yourself some 80s-inspired tracks for a similar retro feel for your campaign.

Photo Credit: http://www.markgibsonphotography.com

If you’re looking for an ad soundtrack, find out which ones have used classical music most effectively, or take a listen to our dedicated playlist, and explore our options for straightforward, affordable music licensing.

July

Voxi

VOXI is ‘the mobile network built for endless possibilities’, enabling you to get unlimited use of everything from Snapchat to Instagram, WhatsApp, to Facebook, TikTok, Twitter and Pinterest without eating your data. Plus, with an Endless Video plan, you can stream as much as you like on YouTube, Netflix, Prime Video and more. Powered by Vodafone’s award-winning mobile network, VOXI is targeted at young people, hence the ad’s fun-filled, brightly-coloured visuals.

The track used is beat-driven pop hip hop track ‘Bossy’ courtesy of Audio Network’s very own Lil Yamaha, the virtual star who’s a self-confessed ‘bossy bear’.

August

Dropbox For All Things Worth Saving

‘These aren’t just files – they are pieces of your life’ Dropbox collaborated with creative agency Instrument to create a campaign to humanise what most people would assume is something quite dull (file storage). Dropbox said, ‘we wanted to show that they’re more than just files - they’re precious possessions that represent important life events such as starting a family, growing a business, travel, and much more.’

What are the stories behind the documents? As with many brands, Dropbox uses real customers, with its ‘Customer Videos’ series featuring photographer and entrepreneur Benita Nnachortam and Dominique King, a graphic designer whose story centres around a Mexican family, ‘chasing the American dream and, as a result, gradually losing a connection to their heritage’.

You can read about her family’s history on the Dropbox site.

The ads utilise uplifting music to reinforce the heartwarming sentiments, and in the former instance they dug deep to use 1976 track ‘Plantasia’ by Canadian electronic music pioneer Mort Garson.

September

Disney/Airbnb

What could be better than a lovely getaway in the English countryside? Spending a weekend in actual Winnie the Pooh’s house in Ashdown Forest, the original Hundred Acre Wood, of course! As part of Disney’s 95th anniversary celebrations of the children’s character, the ‘Bearbnb’ was curated by Disney-appointed illustrator Kim Raymond, who has been drawing our honey-loving chum for more than three decades, and who took cues from E.H. Shepard’s original art.

The little house itself is super cute, with a swing, rope-hung beds, and a fern-filled glade where you can eat outside (complete with candles featuring illustrations of bumble bees). Grab Tigger, Piglet, Eyeore, Rabbit, Kanga, Roo and Owl and prepare for some adorable fun. The ad has classic, Disney-esque, cartoony music, full of twinkling orchestral magic, to accompany on your virtual tour.

October

Ikea Every Home Should be a Haven

We’re huge fans of IKEA’s ads – they’re fun, inventive and often feature a slightly surreal edge that makes them extra memorable. ‘Silence the Critics’ is one of our favourite Christmas ads, and we picked ‘The Hare’ for last year’s ad round-up. So we were thrilled with this new offering from the Swedish retailer, who joined forces with creative agency Mother, and some very hench bears. (Bears are clearly our thing this year.)

The ad’s mission statement is that ‘every home should be a haven’ and it shows the bouncer bears helping to protect a father and daughter’s quality time from the challenges of everyday life, including nixing a work call by crushing the phone and having fun dressing up in an indoor tent. Plus seeing off the urban foxes threatening the homeowners’ valuable sleep (backing up IKEA’s featured blackout blind). It’s soundtracked by Zambian-born Australian singer-songwriter Sampa the Great’s ‘Final Form’.

November

Chanel Dancing on the Moon

As we head towards Christmas, all the big guns are coming out. Chanel No. 5 have chosen a modern icon to be the ‘face’ of their legendary perfume: Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard, and the ad sees Marion and ballet dancer Jérémie Bélingard romantically spinning around on the surface of a gorgeously glittery, golden version of the moon.

No. 5 has always been most closely associated with Coco Chanel and Marion Cotillard’s dress in the ad tells part of her story. Artistic Director of Chanel Fashion Virginie Viard said the team, ‘started from the dress worn by Mademoiselle Chanel, immortalised by Cecil Beaton in 1937, which Karl Lagerfeld particularly liked’. It took 16 artisan embroiderers 900 hours to create a gold embroidered lace dress that the actress could dance in and ‘make her own’.

Fun fact – Marion herself sings the song on the soundtrack, a cover of Lorde’s ‘Team’, which is beautifully dreamy and slightly otherworldly.

Go behind the scenes to find out more:

Storytelling, Creating a Stir and the Soundtracks for Brilliant Ads

So, that’s our pick of the best ads of 2021 – from home delivery to the moon, the world’s most remote cinema to the first ‘Bear bnb’. Did we include your favourites?

If you’re looking for an ad soundtrack, find out which ones have used classical music most effectively, or take a listen to our dedicated playlist, and explore the options for straightforward, affordable music licensing.