Just the other day we suggested that OK Go, the indie rock band virally known for their treadmill- and Rube Goldberg machine-exploiting music videos, quit trying to deflect attention away from their uninterestingly bad music and move on with their creative lives. It turns out that they already have. Sort of: The band has partnered with Chevy to create a couple Superbowl spots advertising the Sonic, a compact car. The first one, which you can watch now (see below), shows the band driving around a course lined with musical instruments. This is intercut with other daredevils parachuting with the car, taking it bungee-jumping, and sending it spiraling off a jump and over a huge replica of a skateboard in what is billed as a kick-flip.

There are two things about this ad that are surprising. One, that co-opting “extreme” sports — in 2011 — can actually seem kind of cool. (That kick-flip move is honestly just bonkers.)  And two, that the song played over all of this is not actually by OK Go, but another band, called fun. OK Go finally, it seems, separated their (credible if irritating) ambition to be recognized in a visual medium from their (hubristic) ambition to be recognized in an aural medium. Of course, the band did this under the direction of an advertising firm. And the second ad — which, judging from the preview below, shows the result of their using the instrument-equipped driving course — in some way perpetuates their project, showcasing the band’s music in a novel video. Except that this music is not created by the group performing in a studio, but by attachments to the car manipulating the pianos, guitars, and other musical tools set up at roadside. Even if they wanted to, using this approach OK Go probably couldn’t create a song as blandly conventional as what they’ve made in unmediated interactions with their guitars, drums, etc. It’s possible, then, that this is a musical breakthrough for them. Or perhaps it is merely the culmination of a career plan laid long ago: To infiltrate the world’s most widely watched televisual event. In any case, OK Go just got up and went.

Full Chevy Sonic ad:

OK Go ad preview:

Related: OK Go Must Be Stopped