Imagine you are 12, watching tv on a Saturday with your siblings. You guys have been fighting over what to watch and finally land on a channel because you hear this… “Working for an hourly wage, went to High School, didn’t do great….” Its catchy, you start singing along, not even really knowing what you are singing or what the jingle is trying to sell, but it’s fun and you and your siblings enjoy it for years to come.
TV Advertisement jingles have been around since the 1950’s and have changed over the decades because society changed. It has changed the way people view media and attention spans have shortened.
However, some of my very favorite advertisements have been back in the day when they made them with long jingles. Education connection and safe auto to name a few.
Today longer jingles just don’t happen as much. You have a few classics such as; “Ba-da-ba-ba-baaa …I’m lovin’ it” (McDonald’s), “Ace is the place with the helpful hardware folks” (ACE Hardware), and “Liberty, Liberty, Liberty … Liberty!” (Liberty Mutual Insurance). “Nationwide is on your side” (Nationwide Insurance) but not too many that are longer than these.
Now don’t get me wrong some have tried to revamp the classics such as “The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup” but not many have succeeded, nor does it happen often.
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You may be asking yourself why? Who even watches advertisements anymore anyway? To that I say almost no one, at least in my experience. In today’s world, we have majority streaming services, all or most of those streaming services come with an ad free option, and I’m assuming most people choose that option. I know I do. On the other hand, people are not consuming as much long form content as they used to be because of social media and our shortened attention spans. So maybe streaming services are not the main issue. The main cause is Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube/ YouTube shorts. On all of these platforms, there are influencers and they have taken over the tv advertisement space with brand deals.
There’s nothing wrong with a brand deal, however, I feel that I have never seen anything in these brand deals that stands out and that has stuck with me. What do you think would happen in society if we brought back longer jingles in advertising and implemented them into brand deals?
I agree that social media has shortened the attention span when it comes to jingles. I notice it often with my sister and my mom, who are constantly scrolling through Instagram reels, looking at the TV for maybe five minutes tops, then going back to scrolling through their Instagram reels. I think that, if they brought back longer jingle advertisements, the outcome would depend on whether someone uses streaming services with ads, uses streaming services without ads, or uses cable. If someone’s only access to these advertisements is through outlets like social media, nothing will change. However, if someone sees advertisements while watching TV shows and movies, I believe if the jingle is catchy enough, it won’t matter how lengthy the advertisement is.
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