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Super Bowl Ads With Pop Music Score Best

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS) -- Every year more and more Super Bowl commercials  contain popular songs.  A new study says  if you like the music,  you'll probably like the ad.

Researchers looked at popular music in Super Bowl commercials over the last ten years and found advertisers rely more and more on hit songs to market and relate to consumers.

Pop culture expert David Allen with Saint Joseph's University's Haub School of Business headed the  study. Allen says popular music was used in 38% of commercials during the big game in 2013.

"Popular music and advertising have much in common," said Allen. "Both share a similar path to acceptance and notoriety."

Check out Super Bowl ads with popular music that made recent top 10 lists.

'Killing Time' by Echo and the Bunnymen for Audi
(CBS)
'Viva Young/We Are Young' by Fun for Taco Bell
(CBS)
'Landslide' by Fleetwood Mac for Budweiser
(CBS)
Gangnam Style by Psy for Pistachios
(CBS)
'I'm Sexy and I Know It' by LMFAO for M&M's
(CBS)
I Wish I Was a Baller' by Skee-Lo for Toyota
(CBS)
'Wild Thing' by Tone Loc for Sketchers
(CBS)
'I Would Do Anything For Love' by Meatloaf for M&M's
(CBS)
''Get Happy' with Jimmy Cliff for Volkswagen
(CBS)

A look at the lists of 'Best' or 'Top 10'  Super Bowl ads of 2013 confirms Allen's findings. Fleetwood Mac, Too Short, Korean pop star PSY, even a Spanish version of "We Are Young" by Fun, kept viewers from leaving their TVs for the proverbial bathroom run during the commercials.

The study says  Super Bowl advertisers are counting on just that. The power of music to elicit an emotional response in viewers creates a bond between bands and brands.

"People are stimulated by music and oftentimes use music to craft their identities," said Allen. "If an advertiser hits the right note, he or she has a strong chance of making their ad memorable."

So, when Super Bowl 2014 rolls around and you find yourself tapping your feet to the beat of a commercial for your favorite beer instead making a run for the bathroom, that's exactly what you are supposed to do.  Advertisers are counting on it.

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