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I love jingles. I hate jingles.

August 10, 2011 | by Brian Ells | 1 comment

One problem I have with a lot of modern advertising is when you see an ad, but can’t remember what company it was for. Many car ads work this way. They all talk about how they stand out from the competition, but the ads don’t say anything unique.

“Wow. That was a cool car. What was it?”
“Uh … I dunno. Toyota? Ford? I don’t remember.”

You’re not going to buy that car. At least not because of the commercial. One of the goals of advertising is to increase your awareness in the marketplace, but you’ve failed if the audience doesn’t remember the company.

Ask the next person you see how much you can get a 12-inch Subway sandwich for. Ask a New Englander, “Who do you call when your windshield’s busted?” I bet they know. For the windshield, they may even be able to tell you the phone number. When someone gets a cracked windshield or wants a mediocre sandwich, something in their head clicks. Because they had jingles!

Those short little songs, and the companies they represent, have lodged themselves in your brain and refused to be shaken out.

But like standard songs, that stickiness can be annoying. I’m not sure what is worse, the music of Steve Miller or those ads that They Might Be Giants wrote for Dunkin Donuts (“Karate!”, “Fritalian”, etc.) I’m sure they didn’t hurt business, but those songs drove me crazy, and I muted the TV every time they came on.

Music is subjective and I’m not here to judge (other than that “Rock’n Me” is a terrible, terrible song). I’m just saying that music is a great way to lodge your name in someone’s head. Some are fun. Some are annoying. But I bet you remember who it’s for.

What are some of your (least) favorites?