THE LAST WORD

MERRY MELODIES

Advertisements stick with us thanks to catchy jingles

The appeal of a simple melody was never more evident than in this recent musical moment from my youngest daughter as she puttered around the living room:

“Liberty, Liberty, Liberty. Liberty.”

She has no concept of its source (Liberty Mutual) or its services (insurance). It’s just catchy enough to stick in your head, and for an 8-year-old to belt out at random moments. at’s the power of the jingle. ese radio or television earworms wiggle into your brain and, with enough repetition, stay there long after the ad ends.

“Jingles are the key to a lot of long-term advertising success,” says Ben Downs, vice president and general manager of Bryan Broadcasting. “Music seems to live in a di erent spot of your brain where recall is a lot easier. When you get somebody singing the Kars 4 Kids jingle, most people can sing along, even if it is annoying. ‘1-877-Kars 4 Kids …’ is enough to get them going.”

It’s interesting how long a jingle can stay with us. If a young person were to inquire of the ingredients of a Big Mac, countless adults could come to the rescue by rattling o “twoall-beef-patties-special-sauce-lettuce-cheesepickles-onions-on-a-sesame-seed-bun.”

A quick start and a memorable nish make a good combination. Take O’Reilly’s Auto Parts, and its familiar “O-O-O, O’Reillyyyy’s …” Now skip to the nish line, when the ad ends with a squealing “Ow!” Is the singer a huge James Brown fan, or sporting a freshly stubbed toe? It makes no sense. But any time it comes on in my truck, we “Ow!” right along with it.

Bathroom humor can also register, for better or worse. Whenever Pepto Bismol’s ad airs – the one that details unfortunate scenarios when it is needed, including a dramatic emphasis on the worst of those scenarios – there are chuckles and singalongs from the children in the truck. Also the adults.

A couple of old local jingles stand out in my memory for their exuberance. Like the longgone department store Foley’s, and its hairon- re treatment of a Red Apple Sale: “Look what’s going on … AT FOLEEEEY’S!” It’s like the singer consumed poison, and the antidote was sold exclusively at Foley’s.

And the old restaurant Fajita Rita’s portrayed an overstressed professional counting down to 5 o’clock for his chipsand-guac x: “I wanna throw this tie away! I wanna have some FU-UUN!”

One of the more active industries in local jingles is, somewhat surprisingly, roo ng companies:

America’s Choice Roo ng: “Where there’s a great roof in Texas, weeeee’re on it.”

Hilco Metal Building & Roo ng Supply: “Come on down and see. We got everything that your little project needs.”

Schulte Roo ng: “ e home of the bulletproof roof [bullet-ricochet sound].”

Lone-Star Roof Systems takes a di erent approach, bluntly declaring in its ads, “No jingles, just roofs.”

“If the customer wants to pay for a jingle, that is ne,” says owner Luke Bradicich. “But when they call us they will be getting a quality roof.”

Repetition can help cement a jingle in our brains, and so credit should go to DoubleDave’s Pizzaworks for its longrunning local ad. When you hear that vehonk sound, you know what follows: chipper

singers chirping “Let’s go to DoubleDave’s, DoubleDave’s,” and a male vocalist so in need of pizza that he’s almost growling the verses. e ad hasn’t changed in more than 30 years, according to Chuck orp, president and CEO of the Austin-based company. It was written and produced by an Austin man known as “the Jingle Meister,” orp says, who was such a DoubleDave’s fan that he was paid for his work in pizza. orp acknowledges that “You either love it or hate it.” e main point may be that you remember it. “It’s gotta be catchy and it’s gotta stick,” orp says of good jingles. “Within a couple ROB CLARK of months of us airing it in Bryan-College rob.clark@ Station and Austin, people would walk in the theeagle.com door singing it. It was just crazy.” ere have been attempts at updating the ad, orp says, including bebop and rock ’n’ roll versions. All earned a thumbs-down from the company’s franchisee panel. “I think the mindset is, why mess with something that works?” orp says. But there are plenty of businesses that have done just that. Some, like McDonald’s, have a knack for it and score hit after hit. From “You deserve a break today” to “special-saucelettuce-cheese” to the current “I’m lovin’ it / Ba-duh-buh-buh-buh.” Downs notes that some companies take a puzzling route: “If you were a national company and you want your product to always be remembered, NAME THAT PRODUCT why on earth would you ever change ‘My bologna has a rst name …’ or Here are lyrics from a few memorable jingles from the past several ‘Give me a break, break me o a piece decades. Answers are listed at the bottom. of that Kit Kat bar.” • “The taste is gonna move ya.” A jingle even led to a moment of • “What walks downstairs, alone or in pairs ...” parenting clarity. A few weeks after my • “Here’s to good friends. Tonight is kinda special.” daughter’s “Liberty, Liberty, Liberty” • “For the seafood lover in you.” performance, she surprised me again. • “We’re gonna tempt your tummy with the taste of nuts and honey.” is time it was something she must • “Sometimes you feel like a nut. Sometimes you don’t.” have heard during my bad nightly • “It doesn’t matter what comes, fresh goes better in life.” habit of ipping around cable news • “So kiss a little longer. Stay close a little longer.” shows, which inevitably includes • “The San Francisco treat!” commercials from an increasingly • “The touch, the feel. The fabric of our lives.” political personality on one network: “For the best night’s sleep in the Answers: Juicy Fruit gum; Slinky toy; Lowenbrau beer; Red Lobster; whole wide world visit MyPillow. Honey Nut Cheerios; Almond Joy and Mounds bars; Mentos; Big Red com,” she sang as my eyes grew wide. gum; Rice-A-Roni; Cotton Incorporated. Maybe I’ll turn the TV o for a while.

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