How Brands Used Music in October 2025
Why “earnestness” is October's theme for music in advertising
I just recorded the 2nd episode of my monthly music series over at Breaking & Entering Media. As I was researching and putting together my notes, I realized that earnestness had to be the theme of the month. It felt like a very obvious through-line between the spots I admired the most from the past four weeks. The video will be at the bottom of this page.
Top Three
The top three this month are Tiffany, Apple, and Shoulder Check (a mental health initiative for hockey players under the HT40 Foundation). They all used music very honestly in their spots. When I was going through my notes, all three were within a half point of each other out of ten. So although I present them countdown-style in this month’s video (more on that later), they’re all top class in their own ways.
Not a lot of complaints about any of these.
Tiffany & Co – “Love Is a Gift”
Tiffany is using the 1945 song “Dream” by the Pied Pipers. Absolute masterpiece. The art direction feels like a mix of Tchaikovsky’s “Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy” and Batman: The Animated Series – if Batman were more romantic and got his beauty sleep.
Anya Taylor-Joy stars in this piece, and it’s directed by Iconoclast’s Jonas Lindstroem. The LA office of Anomaly is the creative agency behind the work. And it was beautiful.
Tiffany’s not afraid to own that they’re an old company. They’ve been around since 1837, and they proudly admit it. The end card literally reads “With love, Since 1837.” And that music transports you back in time. Maybe not all the way back to 1837, but the 1900s certainly. Love what they’re doing with this. This is the second collaboration from Tiffany x Anomaly, and it’s the follow-up to the widely-appraised holiday campaign they released last year.
Apple – “Great ideas start on Mac”
Apple continues to create smart, timely, and relevant campaigns. It feels like Lee Clow is still running the show in 2025. (Lee Clow is credited with the Think Different and 1984 campaigns, among many others. He is an advertising industry legend.) Dr. Jane Goodall voices this spot called “Great ideas start on Mac.” I had the privilege to see her speak on October 2, 2024, 364 days before she passed away earlier this year. This spot feels like a tribute to Dr. Goodall. She gave so much back to other humans and to the world. But great things come from nothing. And that’s what this spot champions. Jane Goodall is one of my role models, and this spot really hit me hard. I wonder if they were saving this to celebrate her, or if they had already planned to release it at the time it came out, before the news of her passing. I’d love to get some BTS on that, if anyone from TBWA\ Media Arts Lab is listening ;) But I really think this spot is up there with some of the great Apple work. And they worked with none other than Emile Mosseri on an original soundtrack for the spot. Emile Mosseri scored Minari, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Kajillionaire, and, most recently, Jessie Eisenberg’s When You Finish Saving the World.
TBWA\ MAL continues to create powerful work. They are Apple’s bespoke global agency. Beautiful work here. They’re working with strong icons, creative humans, role models.
Shoulder Check – “Lean On Me”
And then on World Mental Health Day, with the help of the Accenture Song-owned Droga5, Shoulder Check, the HT40 initiative, released “Lean On Me.” The spot features several NHL players singing the Bill Withers classic, while singing together. They’re singing from the ice, but it’s very heartwarming. The foundation was created by Sarah Thompson and Rob Thorsen, in honor of their son Hayden Thorsen, who was a hockey player. Using lines to hockey players like “Kindness is a contact sport” and “Checking in is the most important check of all,” this campaign checks all the boxes. It’s beautiful, and extremely honest. No fluff here. Hard to watch this one without tearing up a little bit. I’m wondering if they recorded the full version of the song, or just the bits for the commercial. And if they did, they should upload it to DSPs (digital streaming platforms – Spotify, Apple Music, etc.).
Honorable Mentions
I had some honorable mentions, too.
Nike created “CHARGE” with Wieden + Kennedy Portland, with sound by Field Day Sound. It’s a remix of the “Charge" (fanfare),” which you’ve for sure heard if you’ve ever been to a live baseball or hockey game. They make it look like Ken Griffey Jr. is playing the organ, but it’s actually organist Nathaniel Gumbs. Shoutout Jacobi Mehringer on this one. Not only is the music amazing, but the selection of clips they used in the montage. If you’ve watched baseball throughout your life, you’ll see they pulled from historical clips. It’s not just random highlights, but pivotal moments in the baseball world.
Life360 did a spot with musician Nick Lutsko. He created an original song called “All the Best People Are Dogs.” It’s satirical, it’s a continuation of the Life360 musicals they’ve been doing.
Uber did a spot with Special Australia. Tom Martin and the team down under went crazy with this one. They got Aussie comedian Tom Cardy and Shania Twain singing a song called “Can’t do that if you’re driving,” and btw, I think they’re hinting at a new jingle with the little riff at the very end of the spot.
Asahi with Havas London and THE HOGAN! Using music to storytell really nicely in this one. It feels like a short film. And then there are singing pufferfish. Love this one! Excited to see more from the team. This is Havas London’s first work with Asahi, so I’ll be on the lookout from future work from them.
Topps did a spot with BSSP to show they’re officially returning as the NBA licensee. They did a spot, and a teaser for the spot as well. And the reason I’m highlighting this campaign is actually for the teaser. They used the song “Sirius” by the Alan Parsons Project, made famous by the Bulls walking out to it. Great pull here.
Spotify came out with “Tunetorials” with FCB New York. As a marketer, this is super cool. As an artist, I wish they would pay their artists better. But it’s a genuinely cool marketing idea. They’re trying to show artists how to reach more people. They made songs with FCB. And the songs are on Spotify, of course. But they’re also on YouTube, in video form. Andddd, they also made real vinyl. And they sent one of these to B&E. Pretty cool execution on this.
Chanel worked with A$AP Rocky to stage a fake engagement with Margaret Qualley. A$AP is still married to Rihanna. This is the first Chanel ad under Matthieu Blazy, who has the most epic title of all time: Artistic Director of Fashion Activities. Excited to see what else he brings to play at Chanel. The comments on the social post I saw were upset, because they thought A$AP Rocky broke up with Rihanna.
And for the MLB Playoffs, Pharrell Williams conducted the Voices of Fire choir, performing the song “Are You Ready?” ahead of the MLB Playoffs.
Why Does This Matter?
After going through this month’s campaigns, the top three stood out (Apple, Tiffany, and Shoulder Check), and earnestness emerged organically from my top selections. All the spots were so vulnerable with their music supervision.
The song “Dream” transports you back in time, and Tiffany’s spot was aiming to do just that – remind you that Tiffany’s been around for a while. They’ve been on top, and they’re not done providing top quality jewelry.
The Apple spot really hits. Dr. Jane Goodall’s voice paired with that piano are really moving. Especially watching that just a few weeks after her passing… The words are relevant, and heavy. We could spend our entire lives wasted on this earth, if we don’t push ourselves, if we don’t try to do the best with the potential we’re given, if we aren’t diligent and dedicated to doing good. Apple continues to Apple with this one.
“Lean on Me” is a tough watch, too. Especially knowing the history of the foundation. The song by Bill Withers is so utterly honest. And the imperfections in the NHL players’ singing are the cherry on top. Something about their “faults” makes the performance a close competitor to this Bill Withers one.
All these campaigns are extremely earnest. And their use of music is only emphasizing this attribute. I wouldn’t say it’s false earnestness, either. I’d say it’s earned, and every bit deserved. Not every brand can enter this space. But these brands can. Because they have the legacy, the product, and the audience to support it. And, given this opportunity, each of these brands knocked it out of the park on the execution. These were all stunning watches.
Going forward, I’ll be reviewing music a bit differently – not in a monthly format. But moreso when things pop up. More impromptu, if you will.
Watch all the mentioned spots here.
If you enjoyed reading this, please feel free to check out Ross’s substack.
