How an Aussie Agency Created an Audio Ad You Can See

Date: 27 April 2023

In April last year VMLY&R and Defence Force Recruiting collaborated with Squeak E Clean Studios to hide a secret image in sound. ‘The Audio Ad You Can See’ was designed to connect a tech audience to Navy intelligence roles.

To reveal the message, the audio had to be processed in a spectrogram, a tool that analyses frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum. It’s used in sound production to repair background noise, crackle, hums and glitches. It’s also used by the Australian Navy to intercept, analyse and identify threats at sea.