Only few companies consider that sound has the power make or break- a brand. The first trademark for a sound was issued in 1978 to NBC for its chimes. Nowadays, car companies consider sound in the design of their products. A Ford Mustang, for instance, will intentionally not sound the same as a Ford Taurus, even if their engines are similar.
In 2008, Ford decided to have a makeover for a Mustang that appeared in the 1968 film Bullitt. The car sounded like this:
Ford’s intention was to make its special-edition 2008 Mustang sound similar to the one in Bullitt. The main goal was to make a new car sound old.
This turned out to be very challenging, because cars made in 1968 were built with completely different features; the 1968 model had a carburetor, for instance, and the new model had a fuel injection system. Plus, the Mustang in the movie was enhanced with sounds recorded from a race car—and it’s actually illegal in most places to drive around in a car as loud as the car from the movie would be if it were real.
Taking the above factors into consideration, Ford identified the key characteristics of the Mustang sounds in the movie. As a next step, it figured out how to reverse-engineer those notes as best as it can by tweaking the shapes of the tubes in the car’s exhaust system.
It is noted that brands that don’t pay attention to sound may get punished by consumers. Sound is the first sense that we respond to. Let us use it responsibly.
