Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Jingle blog (Finally, a post you can sing along with!)

Earlier this month there was an interesting -- and thought-provoking -- article in the New York Times Sunday Magazine about bringing back to life "dead" brands. Which, of course, brought to life memories of not only the dead brands mentioned in the article (Fill it to the rim with the great taste of Brim! It's decaffeinated!) and in the comments (Bosco! Sanka!) but other dead or moribund brands, many of which featured catchy and/or memorable taglines or and/or jingles. Which, of course, got me mentally singing or humming said jingles. Which led to this post.

Herewith, my life (and probably a lot of yours' too) as defined by jingles:

I drank Dr. Pepper, and I was proud. (Before that, I felt alone in a crowd.) Us Peppers were an interesting breed. And an original taste was what we needed. But if you look around these days... Well, there no longer seems to be a Dr. Pepper craze.

My beer (at least according to the jingle) was Rheingold the dry beer. I thought of Rheingold whenever I'd buy beer. It was refreshing not sweet. It was the extra dry treat. Only problem is I've never bought Rheingold beer. (But it has a way better jingle than Bass and Otter Creek.)

Of course, if I was having more than one, it would have had to have been Schaefer, the one beer to have when you were having more than one. (Schaefer pleasure doesn't fade when your thirst is done!)

For jeans, workin'... playin'... day or night, Jordache had the fit that was right. (And this just in, Jordache is back -- and better than before, with Lycra (aka spandex)! Btw, if anyone knows where to find a clip of the SNL Jewess Jeans ad, send me the URL.)

My cats ate Meow Mix (meow meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow), the cat food cats ask for by name! (Though my mother will no doubt chime in that ours never did. Killjoy.)

And every morning, I'd have Chock full o'Nuts, that heavenly coffee. Heavenly coffee. Better coffee a millionaire's money can't buy. (As a matter of fact, I've got a can of their French roast right downstairs in the kitchen! An interesting aside: The jingle was created by Bernie Wayne and Bill Silbert, the dynamic duo that gave us, and Bert Parks, "There She Is, Miss America.")

Hold the pickles! Hold the lettuce! Special orders didn't upset the folks at Burger King -- except I really preferred to get my burgers from McDonald's, because, hey, you deserve a break today... and those two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun just tasted better (though I preferred their cheeseburgers -- with a small order of fries and a Coke).

And speaking of Coke, I'd like to buy the world a Coke, and keep it company, but the cost and the travel would kill me.

8 comments:

Sugar Daze said...

My first boss in advertising's claim to fame? That she was part of the team that wrote the "plop, plop, fizz, fizz...oh, what a relief it is" jingle. Though I never quite understood the part about the "spicy meatball..."

J. said...

How could I have forgotten the Alka Seltzer jingle?! And my spouse is ALWAYS quoting the bit about "the spicy meatball." Thanks for reminding me, Cat (et al)!

Anonymous said...

I remember all those jingles, though only about 90% of the words. For the record, we did occasionally feed the cats Meow Mix.

Dave S. said...

The Meow Mix jingle bears an uncanny resemblance to part of Rachmaninoff's First Piano Concerto, which is lucky in that a resemblance to the Third Piano Concerto would have profound psychological effects on the cats.

Also, the Chock Full O'Nuts jingle originally used "Rockefeller" instead of "millionaire" until said millionaire sued.

Anonymous said...

The one I still repeat…

In that silly koala voice… “I hate Quantas…”

Oh… a kid’ll eat the middle of an oreo first, and save the chocolate cookie outside for last…

If I had my way, every day, frankly I’d like Frank-O

Peak Freans are a very serious cookie… they’re made for grown-up taste…
Peak Freans are much too serious to waste on children.
Oh,
They’re serious
Very serious.

So… if you’re a grown-up,
Or plan to be one,
You’ll see what we mean…
Peak Freans are a very serious cookie.

Boy-o-boy-o Boy-R-Dee.

Anonymous said...

"My bologna has a first name -- it's O-S-C-A-R!... 'Cause Oscar Mayer has a way with B-O-L-O-G-N-A"

Well, it did indelibly imprint the spelling of "bologna" on my brain, which has come in handy more times than I can remember, what with all that bologna in there...

J. said...

I cannot believe I forgot the Oscar Mayer bologna song!!! Thanks for the contribution (and memories), Betty. And yes, that is how I, too, learned how to spell b-o-l-o-g-n-a. ; )

And while I am on the topic of food, who could forgot (besides me), "Oh oh oh, ice cold milk and an oreo cookie. They forever go together, what a classic combination.... Oh, oh, oh, o-r-e-o..."?

(If I keep this up, I'll need some Alka Seltzer -- or some Pepto Bismol, which also has a catchy jingle.)

Anonymous said...

Go to BrandlandUSA for more -- it's "the branding history site where old brands live again." Two of my personal favorites are LemonUp and Body on Tap Shampoo. Have fun!