We can all name a famous ad jingle — whether it’s McDonald’s “I’m lovin’ it,” or a golden oldie like “The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup.” Despite their effectiveness, jingles have become relics of the mid-20th-century commercials they once dominated. Today’s pop songs and yesterday’s classics have effectively replaced the jingle. Even Oscar Mayer decided to retire two of the popular jingles of all time: “My bologna has a first name,” and “I wish I was an Oscar Mayer wiener.” So what killed the jingle? Credit for the first commercial jingle goes to a Wheaties spot in 1926. The jingle was a natural fit for radio, and later television, as both mediums were well-suited to audio. The Chiquita Banana jingle, first broadcast in 1944, taught American listeners how to store and eat the tropical fruit. At its height, the song was played an average of 376 times a day. Because jingles promised a reliable cash flow, a number of stars got their start writing them. Barry Manilow, for one, is to thank for “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there,” and “I am stuck on Band-Aid Brand, ‘cause Band-Aid’s stuck on me!” If there needs to be an individual to thank for the death of the jingle, Michael Jackson would be a good candidate. His 1984 Pepsi campaign pioneered the complete melding of pop stardom and product promotion. Foregoing singing a traditional jingle, he adapted his hit single “Billie Jean” by revising the chorus to “You're the Pepsi generation, guzzle down and taste the thrill of the day, and feel the Pepsi way.” That campaign inspired a deluge of celebrity partnerships, and before long the jingle was put into the archives of advertising. Still, the lowly jingle was simple and straightforward, something today’s commercials are not.
