How Waymo is using music videos to steer into pop culture

(KRON) — Move aside, Lamborghini, Ferrari and Bugatti.

For years, music videos in pop culture have shown luxury vehicles as a status symbol — something fans can be amazed by and aspire to.

The new flex is riding a self-driving car: Waymo.

The tide has turned, and a status symbol today is riding inside an autonomous vehicle — perhaps because it is only available in five U.S. metros today. Pop culture is catching on to the trends — including a variety of artists and their respective music videos. According to The Wall Street Journal, Waymo is valued at more than $45 billion.

The tech company has shelled out some of that money to land celebrity endorsements across different fields. Whether it’s music, Hollywood or sports, Waymo has invested resources to make itself known to the greater public — even outside its service areas. Currently, Waymo offers fully autonomous vehicle rides in select SF Bay Area cities, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Atlanta and Austin.

Perhaps the most prominent example was a music video that was released earlier this summer. In “Gabriela,” fast-rising girl group KATSEYE had one of its members, Daniela, ride in a Waymo… that she is about to marry. The video has more than 35 million views on YouTube.

Last November, Kesha released her “JOYRIDE” music video, and it starts with the singer heading to her destination in a Waymo. The video has more than 2 million views on YouTube. Bay Area rapper Saweetie released the “boffum” music video last week, and it showed her departing from her destination in a Waymo.

For Waymo’s launch in Atlanta, the company had rappers Ludacris and Missy Elliott ride one of the first driverless cars in the city. “This is so crazy,” Elliot said in a social media clip.

Even late-night host Jimmy Kimmel centered one of his skits around a Waymo. Kimmel pranked his Aunt Chippy, who was confused and scared of the driverless vehicle she unwillingly rode in. The segment went viral with nearly 5 million TikTok views and another 1.5 million on YouTube.

Waymo’s endorsements in professional sports

Waymo is even targeting athletes to get them to endorse their product. It has partnered with prominent sports figures like basketball legend Tracy McGrady, the Manning family and Klay Thompson (before he signed with the Dallas Mavericks).

Last month, Waymo partnered with Los Angeles Football Club.

Spotify partners with Waymo, users can now ‘control the aux’

One of the best perks of riding a Waymo, riders say, is the ability to jam out to your music. You can sing along to your favorite songs without judgment from your human rideshare driver. Previously, Waymo riders could select what genre of music they wanted to listen to via iHeartRadio.

Starting Tuesday, Spotify users can now connect their accounts to the Waymo vehicle they are riding in. For Spotify Premium users, they can take full control of what song is playing at all times.

Waymo announced the Spotify partnership with the help of Saweetie, who showed a brief demo of her connecting her Spotify account to her driverless car.

The Spotify addition is only available to riders in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix, Waymo said. The autonomous vehicle company looks to make this feature available to more cities soon.