Commercial jingles once dominated the advertising landscape. While a few can still be heard now and then, they have essentially gone extinct. They weren’t done in by a comet crashing to earth. Their demise was due to more terrestrial stuff like the enormous expansion of content. Jingles need to be repeated over and over to work, which became cost prohibitive as more and more options appeared on the scene. When advertisers got access to rock music catalogues, the Beatles’ “Revolution” was suddenly the soundtrack for a Nike ad. Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll,” was helping pitch Cadillac. Barry Manilow’s “I am stuck on Band-Aid Brand, cause Band-Aid’s stuck on me,” doesn’t quite compete with Lennon, or Page. That said, there have been some very effective and memorable jingles. There’s even one that started out as a jingle and became a hit song.
Barry Manilow
He does a medley of his commercial jingles in his concerts. They include some of the best, including “You Deserve a Break Today” for McDonald’s. One classic that Manilow wrote is still around today. “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.”
The best part of waking up…
It is an iconic little ditty that has survived for nearly 40 years. In fact, the rights and royalties sold last year for $90,500. It was team effort lead by Leslie Pearl, a singer-songwriter who wrote for Kenny Rogers and Karen Carpenter.
We’ve only just begun…
Speaking of Karen Carpenter…in the winter of 1970, Roger Nichols wrote the music and Paul Williams the lyrics for Crocker Bank’s new jingle. That’s Williams singing on the track, too. Richard and Karen Carpenter heard the song. Williams was already writing for the same record label, and the jingle became a number one hit for the Carpenters in the summer of that same year.
Nationwide is on your side…
It was Steve Karmen, a composer known for jingles, who wrote the now famous “Nationwide is on your side,” jingle. Brad Paisley started doing the spots in 2018.
Breakfast of Champions
We thought we’d end at the beginning. There is some debate, but credit for being the very first commercial jingle usually goes to a 1926 Wheaties ad. If you’d like to sing along-
Have you tried Wheaties?
They’re the whole wheat with all of the bran.
Won’t you try Wheaties?
For wheat is the best food of man.
They’re crispy and crunchy
The whole year through,
The kiddies never tire of them
and neither will you.
So just try Wheaties,
The best breakfast food in the land.
Catchy.