• by Fern Siegel , March 19, 2026

Food and music are a potent combo. But Tennessee Tourism has taken the concept a step further.

The idea is that tempo and instrumentation can change how the brain receives sweet and sour tastes. VML orchestrated the creative into Sound Bites, which aligns two of Tennessee’s specialties, music and food, into three 8-16 minute docuseries here, here and here.

In one, Lee Brice, Billy Montana and David Tolliver create a song to pair with Chef Jeff Carter’s Appalachian dish.

Users can also employ the interactive music pairing tool at TNSoundBites.com t o create their own distinct pairings. 

The campaign builds on research by Oxford psychologist Dr. Charles Spence. At the site, users can enter any dish, from hot chicken to poke bowls. Then the WPP Open tool identifies the key ingredients, aligns them to five flavor profiles — sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami — and matches them to songs by Tennessee artists.

John Godsey, North American Chief Creative Officer, VML, said: "Sound Bites isn’t your typical, passive ad campaign, it’s an experience that’s akin to adding gas to your senses and lighting a match. We took something Tennessee has always been famous for — its music — and combined it with something Tennessee is quickly becoming famous for: its incredible food scene. Pairing the right song with the right dish enhances the dining experience in an entirely new way.”

VML creative output includes Bet365, Hellman's, Avocados From Mexico and Oreo.

(Photo: Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn, Boo Mitchell and Felicia Willett/Getty Images for Tennessee Tourism)