Can sound make you taste spice? 7UP thinks so

Anirudh Ravichander was mid-bite into a fiery paneer roll on a studio break when he realised the hot sauce had run out. Instead of reaching for a chili, he reached for a remix.

“I need more spice,” he said, cheekily, before throwing a high-pitched synth line over a fast-paced beat. The outcome? A playlist that, according to 7UP, doesn’t just sound spicy — it tastes spicy. Enter the ‘7UP SpiceIt Playlist’, a branded Spotify collection built not just on vibe, but on science.

Backed by Oxford University’s Professor Charles Spence, who studies gastrophysics (the fancy term for how our senses interact with food), the playlist leans into the idea that high-tempo, high-pitch music can actually amplify the sensation of spice. Spence explains, “Our brain associates fast-paced and high-pitched sound with spice that can send signals to your tastebuds and amplify the spicy taste.”

This multi-sensorial hack isn’t just about fun and fizz. It’s the latest experiment in immersive marketing, where brands like 7UP aren’t just advertising products—they’re creating experiences.

So, is the ‘7UP SpiceIt Playlist’ a novelty that’ll fade faster than a TikTok trend, or a sticky idea that could scale brand affinity and actual sales? Campaign spoke to the key architects to decode the strategy.

Why spice?

“Spice isn’t just a taste—it’s a cultural signature in India,” said Shailja Joshi, category lead for cola and flavours at PepsiCo India. “This alignment feels intuitive and authentic.”

According to her, the campaign builds on years of brand positioning that made 7UP the default cooler for spice-charged Indian plates. “This consistent focus on spicy food association has enabled an occasion and channel unlock for 7UP in core geographies, leading to positive momentum in share gain and brand affinity,” Joshi added.

Beyond the quirk, the playlist is designed for business impact. “It’s more than just a campaign; it’s a culture-forward experience,” said Joshi. With Spence’s insights and Gen Z’s love for spicy food and punchy beats, 7UP claims to have hit a sweet spot. “Early reads are promising — we’ve delivered three times the CTRs vs benchmarks on our asset. Playlist stream data is strong and growing.”

The campaign is also cleverly integrated into product touchpoints. Limited-edition 7UP cans and bottles, featuring QR codes, act as physical gateways to the playlist. According to Joshi, these digital activations have historically driven strong engagement. “When the payoff behind the scan is genuinely entertaining or enriching, conversion and interaction rates significantly improve,” she noted.

The brand is betting on the playlist to do more than spike streams — it wants to deepen its role in the consumer’s food rituals. “It’s about turning everyday spicy food moments into 7UP rituals,” Joshi explained.

Beating the branded playlist blues

Branded playlists aren’t new. In fact, there’s fatigue. “We anchored the playlist in behavioural science and cultural truth — not just marketing trends,” Joshi insisted. That means no random tracks thrown together. “It’s tightly integrated from packaging to digital, reinforcing consistency and memorability.”

Spotify’s Sanketh Garimella agrees. “Music and food have always been a perfect duo. This collaboration pushes creative boundaries. It’s a fresh take on how music can be part of how we taste.”

While Ravichander’s presence will drive fan interest, this wasn’t a star-power-only play. “Anirudh wasn’t just brought in for celebrity appeal,” said Vikram Pandey, chief creative officer of Leo South Asia. “His music has a distinct high-energy punch — the kind that naturally fits with the science we were tapping into.”

Ravichander, for his part, embraced the brief with scientific curiosity. “Backed by the research data, we could turn around the playlist which aligns with Professor Spence. It was an exercise along with the brand team to stay true to the science and still be entertaining,” he said.

He also sees a shift in how artists engage with brands. “This isn’t just background music for a campaign — it’s a core part of the experience. In this campaign, music doesn’t just entertain but enhances how spicy food feels or tastes, backed by science.”

Creativity without compromise

Commercial collaborations often force artists to dilute their style. Not here. “It felt more like a creative exploration than a typical brand brief,” said Ravichander. “The idea of connecting spice and sound gave me a fresh space to experiment with energy, rhythm, and attitude — without compromising my style.”

Enter the 7UP SpiceIt Playlist, a bold mash-up of flavour, frequency, and feel-good energy. Akin to a sonic enhancer, it is built to dial up the heat of the food and the hype of the meal. This isn’t just another branded playlist; it’s a sensory experiment crafted for today’s spice-loving, beat-chasing Gen Z.

How do you make a playlist go viral in a world hooked to short-form video? “Music still has the power to cut through, especially when it taps into something real,” said Ravichander. While it’s early days, organic engagement—including user-generated remixes—is being tracked.

To keep the momentum going, Leo India designed secondary engagement loops—from influencer trials to a food collaboration with Pizza Hut that paired playlists with meals. “We know digital attention doesn’t last long, so we built in ways to keep the idea alive beyond launch,” said Pandey. “Limited-edition cans on Swiggy and Zomato, Spotify amplification, influencer challenges — we built in the hooks.”

Science versus gimmick

Science-backed marketing walks a thin line. Done wrong, it’s pseudoscience. “It started with a simple truth: India loves spicy food and 7UP tastes more refreshing after it,” Pandey said. “We wanted to create a new kind of consumption occasion. That’s where gastrophysics came in.”

Pandey adds that it was Spotify’s music intelligence that added rigour. The agency found tracks with the right tempo, rhythm, and energy to heighten spice, while being culturally familiar. The playlist includes tracks like Zingaat and Vaathi Coming—songs that already exist in the consumer’s emotional lexicon.

Music is personal. But the campaign needed scale. “We didn’t overthink it or over-brand it. We leaned into the tracks India already loves,” said Pandey. The playlist was built to feel “more like something users would make for themselves than something made by a brand.” The timing was also engineered. “It lands on a 7UP bottle, with food, when the spice hits — not pushy, just perfectly placed.”

So, does the ‘7UP SpiceIt Playlist’ move the needle? From the early data, it seems so. CTRs are higher, streams are rising, and Anirudh’s fanbase is turning ears into eyeballs. More importantly, it’s a rare example of branded content that goes beyond novelty, rooting itself in science, culture, and a clear consumer insight.

With taste now getting a soundtrack, and playlists turning into palate pleasers, the next frontier in FMCG advertising might just be sonic seasoning. And if it tastes as good as it sounds, brands like 7UP could be onto something spicy — and sustainable.