earworms from the Past

A few days ago I was struggling to brush my teeth. My dominant hand is still partially paralyzed.

The toothpaste kept rolling off the brush. When I was in marketing at Colgate Palmolive, one of my assignments was in oral care. I learned that the brushing action and flossing are actually more important than the product. Put another way, I remembered that a “little dab will do you.”

Suddenly, I became captive of an earworm from the past, with the jingle: “Brylcreem, a little dab ‘ll do ya!” burrowing into my ear. “Brylcreem, you look so debonair! Brylcreem, the girls will all pursue ya. They love to get their fingers in your hair.” That wasn’t a Colgate brand, but as it happens, another of my product assignments included Wildroot, which had its own jingle. “Get Wildroot Cream oil, Charlie! It keeps your hair in trim.” Now I had two competing earworms. And they were fighting for ear time with a jingle that’s all over TV that I can’t un-hear: “1-877-Kars4-Kids.”