Ad Jingles: The Day The Music Died

Jingles were once a highly effective advertising tactic among many of the world’s biggest brands. What changed?

Fill in the blanks:

My baloney has a first name, _ ----_._

I am stuck on _ __ __ __ stuck on me!_

Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, _ __ __ __ it is._

If, like us, the words “it’s O-s-c-ar,” “Band-Aid brand ’cause Band-Aid’s,” and “Oh, what a relief” flashed through your mind, consider yourself living proof of the staying power of a catchy jingle.

“These obnoxious little melodies that won’t leave you alone”—in the words of ad-jingle-writer-turned-singer Barry Manilow—can be traced back 90 years to this barbershop-style commerical for Wheaties. In the decades that followed, jingles became a highly effective advertising tactic among many of the world’s biggest brands.

But, like the times, the landscape for jingles began a-changin’ in the 1960s. We’ll leave it to The Atlantic to explain “What Killed The Jingle.” Suffice to say, we think you’ll enjoy this look back at a slice of our industry’s history and, perhaps, feel a bit nostalgic for the days when “advertising sounded like advertising.”

And just because: