This week, we take a trip down memory lane and explore what jingles of the past have to teach us today.

The death of the jingle

In memory of the tunes that still get stuck in our heads – and what they can teach us.

Adelaide Anderson

Creative

Creative

5 minute read

Voice computing – better known as voice search – has been on the rise for years. And while the marketing world is thinking more about how to create quality auditory experiences, it made me think of the jingles that were the soundtrack to my childhood. Even though I struggle to remember my grandma’s birthday and will forget someone’s name 0.7 seconds after they introduce themselves, jingles like Weetbix kids, Cottees Cordial and my all-time favourite, Call-call-Carpet-Court, still live rent-free in my brain. But while these songs are engrained in my memory forever, I haven’t actually heard them for years. So, what lessons can we learn from the success of jingles in the past, and how can we apply those lessons to our current adscape?

In short
  • New attention on auditory experiences in marketing has made the past success of jingles worthy of examination.
  • Jingles began as humble tunes in their own genre of music but grew into pop music parodies and hits.
  • Brands that continue to use modern jingles could see higher levels of trust among consumers.
The first jingles that ever jingled

Jingles actually go all the way back to the 15th century, when vendors would walk the streets singing rhymes like ‘Hot Cross Buns’ to catch the attention of pedestrians1. Fast forward to the 1920s and advertisers were realising what an incredible tool they were for association. If you could pair an infectious tone with a brand name, positioning statement or call to action, you’d struck gold. First appearing on radio and then television, by the 80s every brand had its own jingle, and jingle writers (a real profession) were making a fortune. But then, it all stopped. If jingles were so effective, why did they die?2

The slow demise of the jingle

Jingles don’t sound like any other kind of music. Eventually, they became their own genre that was purely associated with selling a product. For the younger audiences that advertisers wanted to capture, there was nothing cool about a jingle. It was trying too hard.

Brands needed music that sounded like pop music. In 1971, Coke was the first brand to produce a song that sounded like a real pop song with ‘I’d like to Buy the World a Coke’, initiating an era of brands working with pop stars to produce more modern, cool brand music. While this was revolutionary of Coke, it led to a decision made by Pepsi that put the nail in the traditional jingle coffin.2  


“They thrived in a time of limited radio and television stations that meant brands could pin their market and play their jingles on repeat.”

Michael Jackson murdered the Jingle

While working on a Pepsi campaign in the early 80s, Michael Jackson came up with an idea that changed everything. Instead of singing the Pepsi jingle that had been written for him, he began revising the chorus of Billie Jean with the lyrics “You're the Pepsi generation, guzzle down and taste the thrill of the day, and feel the Pepsi way.” They started a hugely successful trend of collaboration between brands and pop musicians. Since then, the Pepsi brand has been committed to binding their product to youth culture through popular music.3  

Would jingles work today?

The key to jingles is consistency and repetition. They thrived in a time of limited radio and television stations that meant brands could pin their market and play their jingles on repeat. With the expansion of entertainment platforms like streaming services, getting your jingle into the heads of your consumers might be a lot harder.

Because of this, brands have begun to opt for smaller soundbites over full-length jingles, like Nextflix ‘ta-dum’ or the six notes of the NRMA music box. As opposed to the earworm jingles of the past, these audio logos work with other aspects of branding to create a holistic impression4. A sting produces the same recognition without dominating ads. It can also signal a brand’s identity in a few seconds; a valuable ability in a digital world with short ads and diminishing attention spans.

What there is to learn from jingles

In saying that, there is something about the nostalgia of a jingle that feels so warm and familiar. For this reason, there are some brands who have stayed true to their jingles and managed to update them to sound less dated. Think about McDonalds, Maybelline, Toyota and Telstra. Forbes claims that these brands are in fact benefitting from sticking with the jingle as “Subconsciously or not, we take note of a company’s loyal dedication to their sonic branding, and this consistency translates into a trustworthy connection to these brands”5.

But even if you’re not holding out hope for a jingle resurgence, you can’t tell me that you hear ‘Wouldn’t it be nice’ by The Beach Boys and don’t sing “… if the world was Cadbury”.

on investing in audio
Brands that invested in their auditory identity increased by 22% in 2021 – an unprecedented jump. And given sonic branding improves recognition by eight times, it’s a wise investment. Platforms used by millions (like streaming platforms or TikTok) rely heavily on audio, meaning brands that don’t think beyond visuals will be left behind.

Written by Adelaide Anderson, editing by Abby Clarke, 52 Words by Abby Clark, key visual by Alice Guo, page built by Laura Murphy & Angelica Martin
  1. Imagine Words & Music, The History (2018).
  2. Tiffany Stanley, What Killed the Jingle (29 Aug 2016) The Atlantic.
  3. Jeremy D. Larson, How Pepsi Used Pop Music to Build an Empire (3 Feb 2017) Pitchfork.
  4. Sonic Minds, Here Are the Sound Logos You Won't Forget - Find Out Why (28 Feb 2021)
  5. Jordan Passman, Why Advertising Jingles Will Make a Comeback (30 May 2017) Forbes.
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