Alt_Mix helped bring the sound of speed, danger, and pure racing instinct to life in Goodyear’s new “Fast Is In Us” campaign, blending archival audio from legendary Formula One driver Ayrton Senna with roaring automotive sound design and the unmistakable guitar riff from Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing.”
Created by BBH USA and directed by Salomon Ligthelm of Prettybird, the cinematic spot celebrates Goodyear’s Eagle tire line by immersing viewers inside what Senna famously described as the “flow state” drivers experience at peak performance.
At the center of the campaign is a visceral sonic contrast between two machines: the thunderous mechanical growl of a 1965 Shelby Cobra and the futuristic power of the Czinger 21C Hypercar. Alt_Mix owner, mixer, and sound designer Cory Melious said the agency and client brought the studio into the project late in the process looking for something more emotionally charged and kinetic.
“The agency wanted to make the piece more exciting,” Melious explained. “We approached it with fresh eyes and ears, and knew exactly what it needed to be. Once we confirmed our ideas with the creative team, we were off to the races.”
One of the project’s biggest creative challenges involved restoring and enhancing Senna’s archival interview audio from the early 1990s without losing the texture and humanity of the original recordings.
“The piece harkens back to the famous Formula One racer Ayrton Senna, who shared his experiences about driving during a flow state,” noted Melious. “One of our audio challenges was to make that VO ‘pop’ without changing the timbre and quality of the original recording from the early 1990s. We had to delicately treat the original recording so that it was clear, but understandably original.”
The use of Money for Nothing also required delicate handling. Rather than overpowering the spot with nostalgia, Alt_Mix used the iconic track almost like another engine inside the mix.
“We had to work out the music edit in such a way that the piece felt dreamy and surreal, like Senna’s actual ‘flow state,’ but without ruining such an iconic music introduction and guitar hook necessary for the second half,” Melious added.
Throughout the spot, the sound design constantly shifts perspective, emphasizing tire friction, engine resonance, tunnel acoustics, and movement itself to make viewers feel physically inside the race.
“Our goal for the mix was to highlight the contrasting sonic timbre of the 1965 Shelby Cobra compared to the brand-new Czinger 21C Hypercar,” Melious concluded. “Focusing on those qualities brought excitement to the mix.”
The team also layered detailed movement-based effects throughout the piece to accentuate the visuals frame by frame. “We featured the tires on the asphalt when we saw the tire action on screen, or we created an explosive burst when both cars left the tunnel into the desert scene at the same time.”
Melious pointed to the climactic truck-ramp sequence as a perfect example of how the sound design evolves with the narrative. “By that point in the story, we’re nearing the third act. We know what the ‘cars’ sound like; now let’s hear what they sound like when they hit a truck ramp at 150-plus miles per hour. That’s the cool sound to hear at that moment, and it amplifies the intensity of the race.”
The result is less a traditional tire commercial and more a short sensory film about obsession, velocity, and the psychological pull of racing at the limit.
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