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Commercial jingles

Posted by ESC on June 21, 2004

There were a couple of "origins" in an article about how commercial jingles are being replaced by old rock and roll songs.

You deserve a break today, so get up and get away to McDonald's - written by Warren Pfaff, who died in 2004 at age 74. He was a "former Minor League baseball player. He was also a summer-stock actor and a Navy lieutenant in the Korean War."

Earworms - a term coined by James J. Kellaris, a professor of marketing at the University of Cincinnati, meaning "those melodies that burrow into your head and won't leave."

We've Only Just Begun - a song that has been a "frequent and enduring wedding song ever since it was released nearly 35 years ago." Songwriter Paul Williams, who wrote the song with his writing partner Robert Nichols, said it was written as a bank commercial for Crocker Bank. Williams said, "Richard Carpenter heard me sing it on the commercial, and he asked if there was a full-length version of the song. I said, 'Funny you should ask.'"

"Irresistible jingles may soon rest in peace" by Greg Haymes, Albany Times Union, reprinted in The Courier Journal, Louisville , Ky., June 21, 2004.

Mickey D's jingle sings its way to the top
By Albany Times Union
Posted: May 9, 2004

Here are the top 10 jingles of the 20th century:

1. "You Deserve a Break Today" (McDonald's)

2. "Be All That You Can Be" (U.S. Army)

3. "Pepsi Cola Hits the Spot"

4. "M'm, M'm, Good" (Campbell's Soup)

5. "See the USA in Your Chevrolet" (General Motors)

6. "I Wish I Was an Oscar Mayer Weiner"

7. "Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun" (Wrigley's Doublemint Gum)

8. "Winston Tastes Good Like a Cigarette Should"

9. "It's the Real Thing" (Coca Cola)

10. "Brylcreem - A Little Dab'll Do Ya" (Men's hair product)

Source: Advertising Age magazine

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