Or maybe "Don’t listen now" would be more appropriate. Either way, have you noticed that the cultural icon known as the advertising "jingle" is back at #3 with a bullet? Yes, it’s back—the time-honored American art form that had been declared dead by everyone, from SHOOT, to the vocal minority of self-important hipsters who’d rather use the latest cool-yet-pointless Flaming Lips single, to perhaps even you.
And just when ASA had managed to shed the label of "jingle house" that had plagued us while all that jingle bashing was going on over the last six years or so … damn. It just figures, doesn’t it? Well, here we go again!
From Nair’s "Short Shorts" and McDonald’s "Two All Beef Patties" to Oscar Mayer’s "My Bologna," Burger King’s "Have It Your Way" and Clorox 2’s "Mama’s Got the Magic," it seems that the industry has finally come (back) to its senses and come back to the jingle. It appears that memorable, unique, ownable, impactful, fun, affordable, strategically relevant musical signatures that indelibly seat a brand’s message are better than some cool-yet-pointless song by The Meat Puppets that costs hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of dollars and has no relationship whatsoever with a brand or its message.
Imagine that. Dogs and cats living together. Mass hysteria. Real wrath of God stuff.
For us, the first inkling that the jingle was re-emerging came with our reworking of Campbell’s memorable "Mmmm Mmmm Good" for a special promotional campaign. Next came a Kroger project and the specific request to contemporize the jingle we had developed for them some years back. "Uh oh," we thought. "We relapse now and it’s back to ‘Jingles Anonymous.’ " That was followed by a similar request from detergent brand White Brite. And when the call came for us to add our own stylings to a few McDonald’s "I’m Lovin’ It" spots, we knew things had come full circle and it was time to think about going to a JA meeting.
Sure, we’re still doing our share of cool, minimalist post scores, but in the last couple of months, we’ve done the aforementioned bona fide sings—with actual human singers—for clients ranging from amusement parks and casinos to a telecom, two car dealership chains, an NBA team and, of course, a bank. So if the jingle is dead, someone please call George Romero.
That’s not to say there’s still not a place for licensing existing songs. We’ve had a great deal of success adapting existing music to fit a client’s message, whether it be re-working a Weezer tune for The Travel Channel or an Aretha standard for BP Connect. The key, be it with a jingle or an existing or adapted piece of music, is to make it memorable, as well as strategically relevant to the brand and its message—not just cool for cool’s sake, as so many misguided creatives do simply because they don’t want to take any abuse from their friends who work at "cooler" agencies than they do.
And yes, there’s still a place for licensing original tunes, too. Hey, if you’ve got a million bucks to land the rights to a tune like Bob Seger’s "Like A Rock"—which is still the only current licensed tune I can think of that actually does have a promise upon which to build a brand message—more power to you.
But if you’re like most of the agencies and clients with whom we work, you want good creative, you want a unique and memorable vehicle for delivering your brand promise, you want some kind of return on your investment—it seems you can once again employ the timeless jingle and still show your face at the ADDYs or Clios or Cannes without fear of ridicule from your peeps!
Don’t get me wrong, I love The Meat Puppets and The Flaming Lips and Moby and Nick Drake (rest his soul) … and Beck freakin’ rules! I just think they’re better when listened to on my i-Pod than on a nasal decongestant commercial. Besides, if a jingle writer or musician is involved in a paternity suit or a murder or a Bolivian sex slave ring—or if he or she flashes a breast at the Super Bowl—who is going to hold it against you?
Call me nostalgic. Call me old-fashioned even. Call me just plain old. But I kind of like the fact that the jingle is back. Right where it belongs.
