We always knew it would happen. We just didn't know precisely when. But now, it appears the time has come. The much maligned jingle may be making its long-awaited comeback.
For generations, the jingle was a respected and necessary component in broadcast advertising. It's heyday, in the 1960's, brought in to our consciousness songs like Alka-Seltzer's "Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz, Oh What A Relief It Is"; from General Motors, we got "Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet" and "Wouldn't You Really Rather Have A Buick?"; and from perhaps the big-daddy of them all, Coca-Cola, who perhaps more than any other advertiser elevated the jingle to iconic status, we got classic hits like "Have A Coke And Smile", "Country Sunshine", "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing", and "It's The Real Thing". The list is almost endless.
But in recent years, jingles and their writers have fallen on hard times. The downfall was due completely to its almost universal abandonment by advertising-agency creatives. The jingle earned the reputation in agency creative departments as a stale and hackneyed device, something that was not at all hip, and not at all anything that any self respecting young creative would consider including as part of a campaign concept. Even the mere suggestion of including a jingle as part of a campaign was enough to inspire ridicule from among one's peers, and critical re-evaluation from one's creative director.
Now, at long last, that all may be changing. An article by Steve Adams in the Boston Patriot Ledger is trumpeting the jingle's return. Even venerable creative-skewed agencies like Arnold, considered a creative powerhouse, has rediscovered the power of the jingle, employing it in a recent McDonald's Filet O' Fish spot. Subway has also come on board, as have others, perhaps finally inspired by the success a few years ago of Chili's "I Want My Baby Backs".
Whatever the reason, we're glad to see the jingle coming full circle and retaking its respected position as an effective and powerful advertising tool. Not only that, we were confident it would. It's why last year we began to build a new Music & Radio Division to be offered under our Creative Services umbrella. We partnered with some of the best writers and composers in the industry. We built a music library, a voice-talent pool, and created custom demos to promote our capabilities. The result is that, now, our clients have access to top-of-the-shelf music production, created by industry pros, at an affordable cost.
We believed it would happen. And our faith is paying dividends.
To read the article, go here: http://www.patriotledger.com/business/x378340670/Get-tuned-up-for-return-of-advertising-jingles
