The best music in advertising: Lizz Harman, music consultant, shares her top picks

The Gym Group – Gym Face

Creative Agency: Lucky Generals
Production Company: Biscuit
Director: Jocelyn DeBoer & Dawn Luebbe

Yeaaaah this is brilliant. Spot on. No notes.

The 1 minute 30 second spot feels like a skit straight out of Saturday Night Live.

Funny, original, relatable… and the original composition – banger. 

I think I have experienced every one of these thoughts at the gym and I’m sure I have a unique ‘gym face’ to match every one. The ‘I think I might be dying face’ is definitely a regular in my gym face rotation, as is ‘how long has the class left face’. Ok, why do I even go to the gym? 

The spot aims to tackle ‘gymtimidation’, which is absolutely a real thing that I’m certain is felt by even the most seasoned gym-goers. I mean, we must all feel kind of stupid watching ourselves do squats in the mirror, right?... right!? Well, I do, and it’s nice to feel seen for once! 

What better way to highlight this widespread, absolutely felt-by-all issue than through the medium of song?

Written by agency Lucky Generals and music partner Leland, the electro-dance track is a perfect match for the gym setting, but the real stars of the show are, of course, the lyrics, led by a stellar vocal performance from comedian Will Hislop (remember the “Your Aunt at the clap for the NHS” video guy?). The track is even available on streaming services.

So girls, be free of fear! Book onto that spin class. Stroll into the weights area with confidence. Because it doesn’t matter how hot you are, you will always, ALWAYS look ridiculous doing hip thrusts.

Ocean Spray – Power Your Holidays

Creative Agency: Orchard Creative
Production Company: OPC
Director: Jeff Low

Now, I love cranberry juice. I love those little yoghurt covered cranberries. Tart, sweet and refreshing, plus full of antioxidants.

What’s not to like? Nothing imo! And we all know Ocean Spray is THAT girl when it comes to cranberry products. Market share – secured. The Tropicana of the Cranberry (juice) world.

Sidenote: remember the TikTok of that guy drinking Ocean Spray whilst vibing on his longboard to Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’? And remember after it went viral, Ocean Spray gave that same guy a brand new truck filled with Ocean Spray goodies? A marketing ploy to ensure they look good, stay relevant and keep up the sales boost? Sure. But pretty cool nonetheless. Thus, enforcing my loyalty to them when it comes to delivering my cranberry needs. And this ad certainly does nothing to hinder my love for Ocean Spray.

Now, granted, this advert puts cranberry sauce (jury’s still out for me), not cranberry juice nor yoghurt covered crans, front and centre, but the intention to promote the goods of Ocean Spray remains. It's weird, it’s wonderful. It’s like if Ari Aster decided to make an Ocean Spray ad and A24 distributed it.

The spot begins with a stoic, glum-faced-filled Thanksgiving dinner, but that all changes when the jiggly cranberry jelly is brought out.

The dinner guests seemingly can’t help but hypnotically mimic the condiments’ wiggly nature, their gyrating becoming increasingly more erratic as an electronic dance beat soundtracks the festivities. They all eventually erupt into full-body-convulsing chaos.

Of the music, creative team Christine Taffe and Dohyun Lee say, "We wanted a song that felt like it was emanating from the cranberry jellies themselves. The track is bizarre and fun and makes you want to move. The fact that it doesn't fit neatly into one category of music makes its audience limitless. It's for anyone who wants to wiggle."

Thank GOD they didn’t use that insufferable Louis Theroux TikTok song and instead decided to create their very own (much, much better) original ‘Wiggle Wiggle Jiggle Jiggle’ track, composed and recorded by Mack Goudy Jr - a member of Michigan's electronic music group, The Detroit Grand Pubahs. You can even find the lyric video on YouTube, the trippy tune repeating the words "wiggle" and "jiggle" until your brain bobs like cranberry sauce.

Uber Eats – Hot or Not

Creative Agency: Special Group
Production Company: Finch
Director: Alex Roberts

Halt the brief. Call off the search. Supervisors, in the words of Beyonce - release your jobs! Our careers - moot, done, finished.

Because nothing. NO👏THING👏 will top this. 

Stop filling in your ‘best original composition’ submissions to the Arrows, the Clios, the Lions!! YOU ARE NOT WORTHY. Only this Uber Eats ad is worthy.

Just Eat x Katy Perry you have been usurped! We have a new food delivery service celebrity brand ambassador taking the crown. The original influencer. The one. The only. Paris Hilton.

…and also the Irwin family but this is a Paris Hilton stan account (Stan Twitter is a community of Twitter users that post opinions related to celebrities, music, TV shows, movies, and social media).

Ok so I might be a little biased because I cannot overstate the chokehold P-Hil had me in back in the early 00s. The juicy couture tracksuits. Tinkerbell the chihuahua. The Simple Life! (cue rousing chorus of ‘sa na saaaa’). I was OB-SESSED. Her New York Times bestseller ‘Confessions of an Heiress’ still displayed proudly on my bookshelf. Read cover to cover dozens of times. The pink glittery cover serves as a glorious reminder of simpler times…

And the track itself? Simply incredible.

The electronic beat? Delightfully terrible. The question of whether sandals or double khaki are hot or not hot (spoiler: not hot)? Stunning. The cheap looking editing? So, so beautiful.

Obviously, the best original composition for an advert of all time. I will be taking no further questions or comments at this time. Thank you.