Weekends were made for Michelob.
You deserve a break today.
I’d like to buy the world a Coke.
If I were an Oscar Mayer wiener.
Chances are, after reading those few lines, you’re already singing the jingles in your head. They’re all classics from days gone by and I’m sure they bring back a smile or invoke some memory of the product they sold.
But what happened to jingles?
Much like opening themes to television shows, jingles seem to have gone the way of the Smith-Corona.
Commercials that were based on a jingle or a signature music score are the ones we remember and associate a product or brand with the most. Take a moment to think of a product you remember as a kid and see if you can remember the ad campaign that surrounded it. Now take a product from today and do the same thing.
Interesting results, huh?
Unless it’s a Super Bowl commercial that got a lot of media attention for its craziness or a highly annoying ad that grinds your nerves, today’s commercials aren’t that memorable.
I have a lot of favorite jingles from the past, including the ones from Doublemint Gum (double your pleasure, double your fun), Alka Seltzer (plop, plop, fizz, fizz) and who can forget the Toys ‘R Us, I don’t want to grow up, jingle.
Jingles are like a Band Aid. You get stuck on them because they stick with you. And isn’t that what every marketing person wants?