Advertising Jingle Earworm Transmission Begins Now
May 5, 2012 7:37 PM Subscribe
TVAdSongs.com houses a library of 1,515 songs from TV and Radio ads, and that’s how my jingle earworm attached. Pretty soon I’d discovered that Barry Manilow used to include a bit he called "Our VSM" (short for our "Very Strange Medley" of songs he’s composed for commercials) in each of his concerts. (Weezer’s a big fan - previously). That’s where it struck me personally how insidously omnipresent these songs were (and are). Pretty soon, the earworm took over. So, I figure, what better way to get rid of a tune stuck in your head than to share it with the rest of the world? So, here goes — I am prepared for your curses. | "A" is for Apple, "J" is for Jacks • And They Call It... Charlie! • Break Me Off a Piece of that Kit Kat Bar ...
... • Bust a Nut • C & H Pure Cane Sugar • Cinnamon... Toast Crunch! • CROSSFIIIRRRRE! • Double Your Pleasure • Eat some Peanut Butter, every time you can… But Only if it's Peter Pan • Everyone Knows it's Slinky • Extra Lasts An Extra Long Time • Feelin' Seven Up • Fever for the Flavor of a Pringle • Five! Five Dollar!! Five Dollar Footlooooong!!! • Free Credit Report (Dot Com) • Give me back that Filet-o-Fish • Good-n-Plenty (Love My Good 'n' Plenty) • Got a Beer Called Blitz, Don't Need No More • Head for the Mountains, of Busssssch, Beeer. • Here Comes Wrangler • Hershey: The Great American Chocolate Bar • I ♥ NY • I Feel Like Chicken Tonight • I Wanna Pop! I Wanna Shhhhasta • I want my Baby Back (Ribs) • I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing in Perfect Harmony • I'd Love to Be an Oscar Mayer Wiener • I'm a Chiquita Banana • I'm a Pepper, You're a Pepper • I'm a Toys 'Я' Us Kid • Juicy Fruit Is Gonna Move Ya • Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy! • Kids Like Kix For What Kix Has Got • Let it be Löwenbräu • Let's Hum a Few Bars of Nestle's Crunch • Levi's: Haw Haw • Libby's, Libby's, Libby's • Lite Brite • Longer with Big Red • Maxwell House Percolater • Maybe it's Maybelline • Mentos: The Freshmaker • My Beer is Rheingold, the Dry Beer • My Bologna has a First Name (Oscar Meyer) • My Kitty Cat Craves Crave • Nabisco! (ding) • NBC • Peek Freans Are a Very Serious Cookie • Plop Plop, Fizz Fizz, Oh, What a Relief it is • Reach Out and Touch Someone • Riunite on Ice; Riunite—So Nice! • The Rolling Stones... for Rice Krispies! • Schaefer's is the Beer to Have (when you're having more than one) • See the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet • Snap, Crackle, Pop! • Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut; Sometimes You Don't. • Soup is Good Food • Stuck on Band-Aid (Reprise) • Thank You For Coming to Loew's • The Heartbeat of America • The Wonder Of It All • These are the Good Hours, the Time for Gansett • Tootsie Rolls Are All I See • Tum, tuh-tum tum TUMMMMS • Watch it Glimmer, See it Shimmer • We Do Chicken Right • We Love The Subs • We're the Men of Texaco • What Would You Do-ooo-ooo For a Klondike Bar? • When You Say Bud, You've Said It All • Where'd the Cheese Go? (rejected Pizza Hut jingle by Ween) • Wu-Tang Clan... for St. Ides! • You Deserve a Break Today • You don't say 'Ham', you say 'Spam' • You Get the Maxx For the Minimum at T.J. Maxx • Yum, Yum, Bumblebee Tuna • Zestfully Clean
Please pile your own local or international favorites onto the thread. Examples: • Jumpin'! ... Bade Kaam Ki Masti! • Bernie and Phyl's: Quality, Comfort, and Price • The Spirit of Massachusetts is the Spirit of America • 1-800-54-GIANT • Astros Baseball: Who Says it's Only a Game?
Bonus:
• David Letterman unveils the jingles for his show in 1986, and reveals to Paul that all jingles come from Dallas • Behind-the-scenes from Dallas: ‘Patty Cake’: A 1980’s session for ____ Bread • Howsausage Rainbow Bread is made • A Radio Jingle Quartet • Heart 106.2 • The String Section Makes Farting Noises
• At least I’m not as earworm-obsessed as this guy
• Canadian version of that guy
... • Bust a Nut • C & H Pure Cane Sugar • Cinnamon... Toast Crunch! • CROSSFIIIRRRRE! • Double Your Pleasure • Eat some Peanut Butter, every time you can… But Only if it's Peter Pan • Everyone Knows it's Slinky • Extra Lasts An Extra Long Time • Feelin' Seven Up • Fever for the Flavor of a Pringle • Five! Five Dollar!! Five Dollar Footlooooong!!! • Free Credit Report (Dot Com) • Give me back that Filet-o-Fish • Good-n-Plenty (Love My Good 'n' Plenty) • Got a Beer Called Blitz, Don't Need No More • Head for the Mountains, of Busssssch, Beeer. • Here Comes Wrangler • Hershey: The Great American Chocolate Bar • I ♥ NY • I Feel Like Chicken Tonight • I Wanna Pop! I Wanna Shhhhasta • I want my Baby Back (Ribs) • I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing in Perfect Harmony • I'd Love to Be an Oscar Mayer Wiener • I'm a Chiquita Banana • I'm a Pepper, You're a Pepper • I'm a Toys 'Я' Us Kid • Juicy Fruit Is Gonna Move Ya • Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy! • Kids Like Kix For What Kix Has Got • Let it be Löwenbräu • Let's Hum a Few Bars of Nestle's Crunch • Levi's: Haw Haw • Libby's, Libby's, Libby's • Lite Brite • Longer with Big Red • Maxwell House Percolater • Maybe it's Maybelline • Mentos: The Freshmaker • My Beer is Rheingold, the Dry Beer • My Bologna has a First Name (Oscar Meyer) • My Kitty Cat Craves Crave • Nabisco! (ding) • NBC • Peek Freans Are a Very Serious Cookie • Plop Plop, Fizz Fizz, Oh, What a Relief it is • Reach Out and Touch Someone • Riunite on Ice; Riunite—So Nice! • The Rolling Stones... for Rice Krispies! • Schaefer's is the Beer to Have (when you're having more than one) • See the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet • Snap, Crackle, Pop! • Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut; Sometimes You Don't. • Soup is Good Food • Stuck on Band-Aid (Reprise) • Thank You For Coming to Loew's • The Heartbeat of America • The Wonder Of It All • These are the Good Hours, the Time for Gansett • Tootsie Rolls Are All I See • Tum, tuh-tum tum TUMMMMS • Watch it Glimmer, See it Shimmer • We Do Chicken Right • We Love The Subs • We're the Men of Texaco • What Would You Do-ooo-ooo For a Klondike Bar? • When You Say Bud, You've Said It All • Where'd the Cheese Go? (rejected Pizza Hut jingle by Ween) • Wu-Tang Clan... for St. Ides! • You Deserve a Break Today • You don't say 'Ham', you say 'Spam' • You Get the Maxx For the Minimum at T.J. Maxx • Yum, Yum, Bumblebee Tuna • Zestfully Clean
Please pile your own local or international favorites onto the thread. Examples: • Jumpin'! ... Bade Kaam Ki Masti! • Bernie and Phyl's: Quality, Comfort, and Price • The Spirit of Massachusetts is the Spirit of America • 1-800-54-GIANT • Astros Baseball: Who Says it's Only a Game?
Bonus:
• David Letterman unveils the jingles for his show in 1986, and reveals to Paul that all jingles come from Dallas • Behind-the-scenes from Dallas: ‘Patty Cake’: A 1980’s session for ____ Bread • How
• At least I’m not as earworm-obsessed as this guy
• Canadian version of that guy
WRT Barry Manilow - if you're a Gen X'er of a certain age, your pre-teen years were filled with the conviction that Casey Casem was the arbiter of cool, and that Neil Diamond and Barry Manilow were the most fantastic rock-and-roll acts every to grace the globe. Why?
Because Mom listens to them. Ardently.
Then puberty hits, and you start forming your own opinions, based on what other teenagers rather than what Mom thinks.
And for the next twenty years, Neil Diamond and Barry Manilow are pretty much synonymous with crap mass-media dreck force-fed to lonely housewives.
But, then, Sweet Caroline becomes the 7th inning stretch song of the Red Sox, and more, Dicky Barret of the Bosstones has "I Am I Said" as his favorite tattoo. So, cautiously, you start to listen to some old Diamond songs.
Shit. Some of these are actually pretty damn good... it shatters worlds. Shifts expectations, opens eyes. What else have I been missing?
And then Barry. Irredeemable Barry. The wimp's wimp, a NYC wimp accent you could butter bread with, inexcusably twee arrangements. Take moment, a deep breath, and then dive back into his discography, examining his songs with a new, neutral criticality...
OMG THIS SHIT IS TERRIBLE TURN IT OFF OMG TURN IT OFF NOOOOOOOO....
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:26 PM on May 5, 2012 [3 favorites]
Because Mom listens to them. Ardently.
Then puberty hits, and you start forming your own opinions, based on what other teenagers rather than what Mom thinks.
And for the next twenty years, Neil Diamond and Barry Manilow are pretty much synonymous with crap mass-media dreck force-fed to lonely housewives.
But, then, Sweet Caroline becomes the 7th inning stretch song of the Red Sox, and more, Dicky Barret of the Bosstones has "I Am I Said" as his favorite tattoo. So, cautiously, you start to listen to some old Diamond songs.
Shit. Some of these are actually pretty damn good... it shatters worlds. Shifts expectations, opens eyes. What else have I been missing?
And then Barry. Irredeemable Barry. The wimp's wimp, a NYC wimp accent you could butter bread with, inexcusably twee arrangements. Take moment, a deep breath, and then dive back into his discography, examining his songs with a new, neutral criticality...
OMG THIS SHIT IS TERRIBLE TURN IT OFF OMG TURN IT OFF NOOOOOOOO....
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:26 PM on May 5, 2012 [3 favorites]
I had one I wanted to share so much, and it was NOWHERE TO BE FOUND on the intertubes. So I uploaded it myself: Pabst makes it - perfect! (I hope that doesn't weirdly count as self-linking somehow)
Pabst used to run these ads back in the mid 50s on the X Minus One science fiction radio show, and I just happen to have listened to a million of them through the amazing archive.org page. Enjoy!
posted by Nutri-Matic Drinks Synthesizer at 8:50 PM on May 5, 2012 [2 favorites]
Pabst used to run these ads back in the mid 50s on the X Minus One science fiction radio show, and I just happen to have listened to a million of them through the amazing archive.org page. Enjoy!
posted by Nutri-Matic Drinks Synthesizer at 8:50 PM on May 5, 2012 [2 favorites]
This seems like a vital place to tell people how to kill an earworm. I just read the title of one jingle and that was enough to give me one.
I once read about a neuropsychologist who researched this problem and said that the reason we get earworms is that our memory is trying to fill in the rest of the song from memory and gets stuck in a loop trying to recall it completely. So his suggestion was to find the song and listen to it once all the way through. Since the song is not always available or you might not even remember what it is, there is another cure. Mentally "sing" to yourself a short, familiar, repetitive song with a definitive ending, with an emphasis on the final note. I use "Happy Birthday" (this version seems most effective for me). The idea is that completing one song to its conclusion, from memory, shuts down other looping memories.
Works for me every time. I can't remember the name of this neuropsychologist, or where I read about this cure, but he deserves the Nobel Prize in Medicine.
posted by charlie don't surf at 9:29 PM on May 5, 2012 [2 favorites]
I once read about a neuropsychologist who researched this problem and said that the reason we get earworms is that our memory is trying to fill in the rest of the song from memory and gets stuck in a loop trying to recall it completely. So his suggestion was to find the song and listen to it once all the way through. Since the song is not always available or you might not even remember what it is, there is another cure. Mentally "sing" to yourself a short, familiar, repetitive song with a definitive ending, with an emphasis on the final note. I use "Happy Birthday" (this version seems most effective for me). The idea is that completing one song to its conclusion, from memory, shuts down other looping memories.
Works for me every time. I can't remember the name of this neuropsychologist, or where I read about this cure, but he deserves the Nobel Prize in Medicine.
posted by charlie don't surf at 9:29 PM on May 5, 2012 [2 favorites]
hippybear - my hand is up. I've still got my cassette copy too.
posted by davebush at 9:37 PM on May 5, 2012
posted by davebush at 9:37 PM on May 5, 2012
Fat kids, skinny kids, kids who climb on rocks, tough kids, sissy kids, even kids with chicken pox! (and an international Simpsons version.)
posted by twoleftfeet at 9:42 PM on May 5, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by twoleftfeet at 9:42 PM on May 5, 2012 [1 favorite]
Barry is a showman above showmen.
He is damn amazing. I was working as a house stagehand in my teenage years, and I saw that Barry Manilow was on my schedule, and immediately started mocking him, with the regular teenage snark about how horrible and square he was.
And then I worked his show, and damn was I wrong in so many ways. He was a total professional as soon as he arrived, and treated everybody, regardless of their station, with a friendly ease you don't see often with headlining solo artists of his caliber. He charmed everybody, from the hungover metalheads running cable & lights to the grumpy union electricians who would give a hard time to everybody, but melted like butter to his request for a few things that were not in the original stageplan. He didn't come off as manipulative, or as a kiss-ass, he was just so appreciative, so damn earnest and excited to perform, you just wanted to help out and make it happen.
I'm not much of a fan of his music, but his skill as a performer and his personal behavior before and after the show were top notch. I stood there amazed as he managed to convince 30,000 people that he was singing just for them alone, and connecting with each person in such a kind, humble, funny and charming way that would make even Billy Dee Williams say "Damn, he's smooth!" He had somehow figured out a way to make each woman in the audience feel special, as if they were on the perfect date, just with him. It was fascinating.
After that show, I never mocked Barry Manilow again. When his name comes up, I'll speak in his favor every time; with the simple respect he showed for me and the other people on the crew, he deserves it. Have whatever opinion you like about his music, but as a performer and a professional musician, he's top-notch.
posted by chambers at 9:59 PM on May 5, 2012 [7 favorites]
He is damn amazing. I was working as a house stagehand in my teenage years, and I saw that Barry Manilow was on my schedule, and immediately started mocking him, with the regular teenage snark about how horrible and square he was.
And then I worked his show, and damn was I wrong in so many ways. He was a total professional as soon as he arrived, and treated everybody, regardless of their station, with a friendly ease you don't see often with headlining solo artists of his caliber. He charmed everybody, from the hungover metalheads running cable & lights to the grumpy union electricians who would give a hard time to everybody, but melted like butter to his request for a few things that were not in the original stageplan. He didn't come off as manipulative, or as a kiss-ass, he was just so appreciative, so damn earnest and excited to perform, you just wanted to help out and make it happen.
I'm not much of a fan of his music, but his skill as a performer and his personal behavior before and after the show were top notch. I stood there amazed as he managed to convince 30,000 people that he was singing just for them alone, and connecting with each person in such a kind, humble, funny and charming way that would make even Billy Dee Williams say "Damn, he's smooth!" He had somehow figured out a way to make each woman in the audience feel special, as if they were on the perfect date, just with him. It was fascinating.
After that show, I never mocked Barry Manilow again. When his name comes up, I'll speak in his favor every time; with the simple respect he showed for me and the other people on the crew, he deserves it. Have whatever opinion you like about his music, but as a performer and a professional musician, he's top-notch.
posted by chambers at 9:59 PM on May 5, 2012 [7 favorites]
Tenser, said the tensor -- tension, apprehension, and dissension have begun!
Earworms - Radiolab
posted by 0rison at 10:58 PM on May 5, 2012
Earworms - Radiolab
posted by 0rison at 10:58 PM on May 5, 2012
Great post, and apologies if I missed it up there but what about the Hamm's bear? That's a great example of how to successfully market to kids because between the catchy jingle and the cartoon bear I'll remember that beer forever.
posted by drinkyclown at 11:00 PM on May 5, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by drinkyclown at 11:00 PM on May 5, 2012 [1 favorite]
My mother (as above noted) was a huge Barry Manilow fan. And on his Live! album, he performs the Very Strange Medley. And since it's a live album, you can hear the audience response to it.
And they love it. Sure, this was 1978, and a lot of popular performers of the day didn't talk about their previous work before hitting it big, and they certainly didn't talk about writing jingles, but he did, and he sounded proud of it, too. And the audience really just seemed to enjoy it, too.
posted by mephron at 2:11 AM on May 6, 2012
And they love it. Sure, this was 1978, and a lot of popular performers of the day didn't talk about their previous work before hitting it big, and they certainly didn't talk about writing jingles, but he did, and he sounded proud of it, too. And the audience really just seemed to enjoy it, too.
posted by mephron at 2:11 AM on May 6, 2012
Was out in the sun the other day and it occurred to me that I really needed to put on sunblock. And then --out of nowhere -- the ghost of "Bain de Soleil for the San Tropez tan" came to me. ARGHHHH, earworm jingles. I just can't thank you for this, not_on_display.
posted by MonkeyToes at 4:55 AM on May 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by MonkeyToes at 4:55 AM on May 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
It is a sign of how pervasive those songs are that I can hear nearly all of them with perfect clarity just by reading the links.
And I almost completely stopped watching TV around 1980.
posted by localroger at 6:43 AM on May 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
And I almost completely stopped watching TV around 1980.
posted by localroger at 6:43 AM on May 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
The Frito Bandito... cringeworthy for its stereotype and yet lyrical and compelling.
posted by carmicha at 7:03 AM on May 6, 2012
posted by carmicha at 7:03 AM on May 6, 2012
Sometimes I think a jingle earworm is like that worm from Star Trek that crawls in your ear and attaches itself to your brain. The effects seem to be the same.
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:54 AM on May 6, 2012
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:54 AM on May 6, 2012
Yep, I can sing pretty much all of the ones that aired during the late 70s from memory.
You'll always be my first and best friend, TV.
posted by nowhere man at 7:59 AM on May 6, 2012
You'll always be my first and best friend, TV.
posted by nowhere man at 7:59 AM on May 6, 2012
I was so excited about going through these clips, but I cringed once I clicked on the earworm took over link. That commercial is by far the most annoying commercial out there.
That commercial sounds just as gross as someone scratching their fingernails on a chalkboard or someone loudly scraping a fork against their teeth.
posted by livinglearning at 8:48 AM on May 6, 2012
That commercial sounds just as gross as someone scratching their fingernails on a chalkboard or someone loudly scraping a fork against their teeth.
posted by livinglearning at 8:48 AM on May 6, 2012
I cringed once I clicked on the earworm took over link. That commercial is by far the most annoying commercial out there.
That's just not so. Even in the limited world of "Carpeting commercials from Chicagoland," that's not true. The Lincoln Carpets jingle is waaaaay worse.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:11 AM on May 6, 2012
That's just not so. Even in the limited world of "Carpeting commercials from Chicagoland," that's not true. The Lincoln Carpets jingle is waaaaay worse.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:11 AM on May 6, 2012
My beloved kid sister once lost a bet, and had to perform this jingle at an open mike night. It went over about as well as a fart in a church.
posted by peppermind at 9:39 AM on May 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by peppermind at 9:39 AM on May 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
This still pops up in my head from time to time, even after so many years of living in New York City, even though I left Milwaukee about a month and a half after turning 18.
They really don't write jingles like this anymore.
posted by droplet at 5:10 PM on May 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
They really don't write jingles like this anymore.
posted by droplet at 5:10 PM on May 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
Now there is a place just for ME
Food Emporium
Food Emporium
Someplace that believes in quality
Food Emporium
Food Emporium
Anyone else remember that jingle in the NY/NJ area?
Came for the Food Emporium song; leaving unsatisfied somewhat.
posted by Renoroc at 8:20 PM on May 6, 2012
Food Emporium
Food Emporium
Someplace that believes in quality
Food Emporium
Food Emporium
Anyone else remember that jingle in the NY/NJ area?
Came for the Food Emporium song; leaving unsatisfied somewhat.
posted by Renoroc at 8:20 PM on May 6, 2012
Co....stanza! I mean, 'by Mennon'!
posted by Mael Oui at 8:22 PM on May 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Mael Oui at 8:22 PM on May 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
"The Frito Bandito... cringeworthy for its stereotype and yet lyrical and compelling"
—carmicha
That's Mel Blanc doing his Speedy Gonzales accent. The ads were animated by Tex Avery.
posted by not_on_display at 1:21 PM on May 7, 2012
—carmicha
That's Mel Blanc doing his Speedy Gonzales accent. The ads were animated by Tex Avery.
posted by not_on_display at 1:21 PM on May 7, 2012
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