Jingles and Slogans
Advertising you can hum or recite. The jingle writers, the taglines that outlived their products, and the phrases that entered the language.
Part of Advertisements
14 moments in this segment.
- - Bill Bernbach Co-Founds DDB. 1949. Bill Bernbach co-founds Doyle Dane Bernbach. His creative philosophy, "advertising is fundamentally persuasion", drove DDB to the VW Beetle, Avis "We Try Harder," and Levy's Rye Bread "You Don't Have to Be Jewish" ads. Reshaped American advertising for 30 years.
- - Tide "Mom and Dad" Campaign. 1980s onward. Procter & Gamble's long-running Tide ads built around the "mom does the laundry" archetype. Defined daytime-TV advertising; became a study object for second-wave feminist media critique.
- - Shiseido In-House Design Studio. 1923. Shiseido opens its in-house design department, first Japanese company to do so. Yoshio Hayakawa's 1950s+60s Shiseido posters defined the mature Japanese commercial-art aesthetic. Still the most-imitated cosmetics-brand visual language in Asia.
- - Mary Wells Lawrence - Braniff Repaint. 1965. Mary Wells Lawrence (later founder of Wells Rich Greene) convinces Braniff Airways to repaint planes in 7 colours + Pucci-design uniforms. First female agency CEO of a major US shop; pre-figured every "brand transformation" campaign that followed.
- - Alka-Seltzer "Plop Plop Fizz Fizz". 1969. Tom Dawes' jingle "Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is" for Alka-Seltzer. Quadrupled sales by doubling perceived dosage (two tablets per glass instead of one). The defining advertising trick of the late 1960s.
- - Maxwell House "Good to the Last Drop". 1907. Maxwell House Coffee's "Good to the last drop" slogan, supposedly coined by Teddy Roosevelt. Ran for 100+ years; one of the longest-running brand slogans ever.
- - Palmolive "You're Soaking In It". 1966. Palmolive dishwashing liquid's "Madge the Manicurist" ads, "You're soaking in it." Jan Miner played Madge for 25 years. One of the longest-running TV ad characters; defined daytime-soap advertising.
- - Wheaties Jingle - First Singing Commercial. December 24, 1926. "Have You Tried Wheaties?", first singing radio commercial in US history. Saved a near-bankrupt General Mills brand. Defined a century of jingle advertising.
- - California Milk "Got Milk?". 1993. Jeff Goodby (Goodby, Silverstein) creates "Got Milk?" for the California Milk Processor Board. Used celebrity milk-mustache portraits 1995-2014. Single most-imitated US ad tagline of the 1990s.
- - Budweiser "Wassup?!". 1999. Charles Stone III's "Wassup?" Budweiser ads, friends yelling the catchphrase at each other on the phone. Won the Cannes Lions Grand Prix and the Clio Grand Prix; spawned countless parodies. The defining late-1990s viral catchphrase.
- - Milk Mustache Celebrity Series. 1995-2014. The "Milk Mustache" celebrity portrait campaign for the Milk Processor Education Program. 250+ celebrities, Naomi Campbell, Britney Spears, Michael Jordan. Defined the celebrity-print-ad model of the late 1990s.
- - McDonald's "I'm Lovin' It". September 2003. Heye & Partner's "I'm Lovin' It" jingle for McDonald's, sung by Justin Timberlake. The first global McDonald's ad tagline used in all markets. Still in use 20+ years later.
- - Six Flags "Mr. Six". 2004. Six Flags's "Mr. Six", old man dancing to "We Like to Party" by Vengaboys. Used a male performer in old-man makeup. Tripled Six Flags brand recall in 8 months; debated for years.
- - Wendy's "Where's the Beef?". January 1984. Wendy's 81-year-old Clara Peller asks "Where's the beef?!" at a competitor's drive-through. Walter Mondale used it in the 1984 Democratic primary debate against Gary Hart. The fastest-spreading viral phrase of the pre-internet era.
