Jingle All the Way Answers the Big Questions.

January 4, 10

It was Arnold’s annual holiday party. Employees gathered, waiting in anticipation for the third band in the agency’s first ever Battle of the Bands. As Jingle all the Way took the stage, I like many thought we were about to hear a string of lame holiday songs. After all, their name was suggestive of that, and ‘twas the season.

But instead of “Here Comes Santa Claus” or the predictable “Jingle Bells”, the band launched into a product-spewing, punk mash-up of some of the most memorable jingles of all times.

As they barreled into their second song, “I wish I was an Oscar Meyer Wiener”, I started to wonder if they’d have enough material to fill the 7 minutes bands were given? Are there even that many good Jingles? And more importantly, who the heck even does jingles anymore? I mean, Is the jingle dead in today’s ad world? So I asked them about the band, and everything else jingle related. This is what they had to say:

Me: So who was the brainchild of Jingle all the Way?
EVAN: Well it was Paul’s idea to form the band, but I suppose I could take the credit for the concept. I thought that, for an agency battle of the bands, it would be great to do something related to advertising.

ME: What made you decide to do concentrate on jingles?
EVAN: I am a huge fan of jingles. I own DVDs and VHS recordings of classic ads from the 50s and 60s. Some of the songwriting on those were phenomenal. In fact, I am sure with some lyric changes, many could have been hit songs. I thought it would be great to do a medley of old jingles. The songs are so short that I knew we could plow threw at least half a dozen.

ME: How did you choose the jingles?
SCOTT: We all sat down and came up with a list of about 50 jingles that we narrowed down to the final set.

ARAM I think Roto-Rooter came about during rehearsals, though.

EVAN: Yeah, It was a group effort. We also added the Volvo song, just to make sure we represented some of Arnold’s work. And just for good measure, Aram threw in the McDonalds “I’m Loving It” lick at the end of our set.

ME: Did you have a favorite Jingle from your childhood that came back up as you prepared?
EVAN: Two of my favorites were the Schaffer beer song, “Schaffer is the one beer to have when you’re having more than one” and General Tires’ “Sooner or later you’ll own General” so we worked those into the set.

ME: Any reason for doing Punk arrangements of these songs?
PAUL I think the Ramones had a big influence on the guys in the band. Yeah, and that's the best way to get 10 jingles into 7 or so minutes.

ME: Do you think the jingle has evolved?
EVAN:Yes, but not in a good way. During the eighties, there was a trend of simply taking old hit songs and writing new lyrics to them. You would hear a lot of Motown classics rewritten with lyrics about lunchmeats or breakfast cereals. You still hear that today in spots for Celebrex and the infamous “Viva Viagra” commercials. Although, I think it’s more commonplace now for advertisers to use commercial releases and hit songs in their commercials.
ARAM:I never would have thought I'd see (Iggy Pop’s) "TV Eye" on a TV ad, or more recently (Blue Oyster Cult’s) "Godzilla."

ME: Do you think the jingle is dead?
EVAN: Well I think that “The Singing Fish” spot we produced is evidence that the jingle is not dead. And jingles still dominate local radio and TV, although 1-800-54-GIANT is a far cry from the great songwriting we heard in the 50s and 60s. I think that the Jingle will always have it’s place in advertising, but our culture has changed, and effective advertising now often requires more than just a catchy jingle to sell an idea or product. There is a classic JFK campaign ad featuring cartoon characters marching to the song “Vote for Kennedy”. I don’t think we will see ads reverting back to those simpler times anytime soon. We live in an information society, and unless you can find a way to cram an advertiser’s entire message into a 30 second song, the classic jingle is really only effective for a certain kind of spot.

ME: I guess the big question is will “Jingle all the Way” be performing in the upcoming future?
ARAM: That's an industry secret.

JINGLE ALL THE WAY IS: