1. Advertising Jingles in America
Advertising & Sales Promotion
January 2017

2. What is a Jingle? Part of the image of a brand Short clips of music
A successful jingle promotes a positive image
Written to be easy to remember – short, repetitive and designed to “pop into” one’s mind when considering products

3. Jingles & Consumerism
In a world where children are constantly bombarded by messages about which sneakers will make them cool, the correct fast food to eat, and which soft drink is “in”, the jingle is often the most memorable part of the commercial. Without understanding why, children immediately know they want a Happy Meal

4. History of Radio Jingles
The first “modern” jingle was played over the radio in December 1926
“Have You Tried Wheaties”
Created to increase sagging sales
In regions where the commercial aired, sales increased
Before the jingle increased sales, General Mills had decided to discontinue the production of Wheaties

5. History, cont’d… During the 1930s and 40s radio was
a prime source of family
entertainment.
The growth of networks allowed the entire country to share in the events, news, and entertainment of the day
To make this profitable, commercial time was sold to advertisers and sponsors
Soon, messages and songs about everything from cereals to soaps and soft drinks filled the airwaves

6. Advertising Music History…
The first time a song was used for advertising was in the late 1920s by Oldsmobile.
The song was “In My Merry Oldsmobile” – the song was written long before radio existed, but Oldsmobile decided to pick up the song for their advertising campaign.
Jingles began selling varieties of products
Singers and musicians who were already performing on radio, became jingle performers

7. One other bit of radio history…
Radio call letters date back to the late 1800s
To avoid confusion and also to identify each other, land and ship stations were assigned three letters, or call letters to identify the broadcast stations
In 1923, radio stations east of the Mississippi River received letters beginning with “W”
West of the Mississippi River, stations begin with a “K”
Radio stations started using catchy jingles with their call letters in order for listeners to remember which stations they preferred.

8. PAMS
1947 – a musician named Bill Meeks was working at radio station KLIF in Dallas
He created commercials and jingles for the sponsors of the show
People liked what they heard and what he did for their sales, so they wanted him to devote more time to their advertising campaigns
In 1951 he formed Production Advertising Merchandising Services (PAMS)

9. The Television Jingle
With the invention of television, live TV shows competed with live radio shows
Consumers could now see what was being advertised
At first, commercials were presented as part of the actual show
Television hosts, as well as their guests, integrated product plugs into their performances.

10. Early Television Jingles
One of the first TV jingles to appear was in the 1950s for Winston cigarettes. “Winston tastes good like a cigarette should” remained popular through the 1960s
As advertising became more competitive and demanding, big-name talents formed their own production companies
Jingle writers became more professional

11. Music Sells
“Music gives a product emotional memorability. It also gives an image of a company.” ~Lawrence Samuels
In 1971 when Coca Cola launched the “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” campaign, it was re-recorded, had more verses added, and became a hit on the pop charts.

12. In 1985, Burger King used the original recording of Aretha Franklin’s “Freeway of Love” in a commercial
Other companies that soon followed. Two of the more memorable were Nike (“Revolution” by the Beatles) and Chevrolet (“Like a Rock” – Bob Seger).

13. Jingles Today
Advertisers today are moving away from the jingle and towards actual songs
Music that is real makes ads more real
Pop songs are able to entice the market of year-olds as jingles can no longer do.
National jingles are fading a bit, but jingles are still thriving in local and regional venues
While everyone know about Pepsi or Burger King, the local pizza place needs to tell people where they are and a catchy jingle can effectively get the message across to customers.

14. List the first 5 jingles that pop into your head…
What is the commercial about?
Who is in it?
Why do you like it?
What appeals most to you?
How does the jingle affect the tone of the commercial? (serious, funny, etc.)
What makes the jingle so effective? (words, catchy tune, etc.)
Did you try the product because you heard the jingle?