Overheard in the Grocery Line
So I'm in the line at the grocery store. Standing behind two twenty-something guys. They were cute, professional, maybe in IT or some other kind of consulting. And I was dropping eaves.Guy 1: You know what I miss? Jingles. Why don't they make jingles anymore?
Guy 2: Like on commercials?
Guy 1: Yeah, like, (singing) Coast, opens your eyes...
Guy 2: I don't know. Because they have cavemen on commercials.
Guy 1: Well, yeah, but that has the cool song too. The melodies are good on commercials. They need more of that.
Guy 2: Yeah, that's true. Melodies sell. And humor. Sex doesn't sell anymore. You can get it anywhere.
Guy 1: It's boring now.
Guy 2: Exactly.
And I'm 99% sure they were completely serious. Fascinating. As someone who works in advertising, I find the viewpoint interesting. But really, you can get sex anywhere now, so it's boring? It's so saturated into everything that even young, cute guys are bored with it?
What do you think?
Discuss.
posted by Girl con Queso at 7:40 AM
26 Comments:
I have to agree with them - I love the jingle ads, they stick in my head and some commercials I even look forward to seeing again like it was a show or something. And of course, they totally get my kids' attention.
Speaking of cavemen - did you hear that ABC is giving them their own series in the fall?
Really, though?
I do think that, to some degree, the rules are changing as far as advertising goes. Things like TiVo and iTunes have made it so that you can get your television or music without having to hear any advertisements, so the ones you do see and hear have to be really, really memorable. Advertising is such an interesting cultural phenomenon.
In other news, it was a pretty active day in the nation's grocery store lines yesterday.
I definitely agree the rules are changing. I was mainly surprised about the sex comment.
And I love jingles too. That said, if a client ever said they wanted a jingle, I'd completely roll my eyes. And I can not explain the inconsistency there.
Also, I hadn't read Dooce this week. Wow. Weird. I guess that means this is definitely a valid post topic of sorts. I mean, if Dooce is eavesdropping...
Some of my favourite commercials of the past year have been ones with great tunes. Did you see the Comcast one with the old couple dancing? It killed me! I had to watch it every time... and I love the "Everywhere I go... there's always something to remind me" Geico ad.
Definitely. I think the boys were right - you can find scantily clad women all over the internet. A bikini just isn't eye-catching anymore. But a catchy tune - that'll work.
My other favourite commercials always include the Sonic ads. What a great concept! But no jingle. It's not a universal formula.
I don't know what to think about the sex thing. I just graduated from a journalism school where they definitely teach - much to my horror - that rule #1 is "Sex sells." But I also agree that sex is much more accessible these days, even in subtle ways like how couples on TV can sleep in the same bed now, whereas in years past they couldn't. So I don't know what to do with that. One hopes we don't start seeing really raunchy commercials on television .... oh, wait...
Also interesting: I'm reading a wonderful book right now called "What To Eat" that is largely about the marketing and advertising of food - grocery store layouts, food ads, junk food, etc. - that is absolutely fascinating.
Also, there should definitely be an "Overheard in the Grocery Store" blog much like Overheard in New York.
You and Dooce - great minds think alike.
My personal favorite is the Kit Kat song. I was once on a blind date and a guy changed the radio station just as that song came on and, WHAM!, that was it for him.
Sex probably sells in to certain markets, but to this mom of three, I'm just not feeling the love. Like those shampoo commercials that tried to play on Orgasmic instead of Organic by having women in the throws of passion whenever they washed their hair. Euwwwww!!!!
People want what they can't have - supply and demand. Sex is everywhere, but there is a dearth of catchy jingles. Any McDonald's jingle is guaranteed to get stuck in my head forever.
I may start the Overheard in the Grocery Store blog...I go about 5 days a week and am a world-class eavesdropper....hm...
I think that conversation is spot on. I don't want my car to be sexy, I want it to be safe. I don't want my soup to be sexy, I want it to be healthy. They are right about humor and music too, but Caveman... no, he's gross and gross is a turn-off. Ofcouse, you would know whether that statement is a fact, but to me people may laugh at gross, but will they buy it. Maybe.. Bart Simpson.. (I hate him) and Shrek (hate him too) sell like crazy at cost of teaching vulnerable children to immitate rather than laugh at their behavior (my opinion). But, I just don't like gross. Even food commercials lately have been gross. There have been commercials for food in the past that have made the food look so appealing that I'm ready to leave my warm couch and 11PM and go in search of the food. Gross is not appealing to me.
Funny is always good. "Where's the beef???"
I've been wondering about the death of the jingle myself. They stick like flypaper.
I think those guys are right.
Great post and stunning observation.
I think it's true. A huge number of teenagers don't even consider blow jobs to BE sex. So perhaps that just shows how much of an oversaturation there is.
As for the jingle ... I think it's just a matter of money. It was more cost effective (and considered a safer bet) to use recognizable music than create a whole new theme.
Perhaps as more and more people resent the anthems of their rebellious youth being used to sell cars or cruises -- after all it's been at least 20 or 30 years since songs like The Doors' "Light My Fire" sold Buicks right? -- jingles will come back as the new novelty.
I think it's hilarious that it took TWO promptings by GcQ to get the mommies to start talking about the point of the post - SEX.
Anyway ... eavesdropping is fun. And you hear the darndest things.
Who? What? Sex doesn't sell? That's the antithesis of what I I've seen. Maybe just pull back on the reigns for a while, so everyone isn't so over-sexed, so to speak. If that's possible. I feel sorry for those guys.
Maybe people are looking for connections-particularly that age. Maybe they need to name their b-o-l-o-g-n-a.
I stop ffwding my Tivo for APPLE commercials.
I still have jingles stuck in my head...(name the product)
"The best part of waking up is..."
"I love what you do for me..."
"I wish I were an Oscar Myer wiener. That is what I'd truly like to be. Cause if I were an Oscar Myer Weiner, than all the world would fall in love with me."
"I'd like to buy the world a coke."
"Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions in a sesame seed bun."
Those retro jingles really do stick with you. But those were simpler times, times when a cheaply animated owl could convince you that it takes three licks to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop.
I think humor is what sells the best today. Today's cell phones commercials have the lock on that, in the humble view of this consumer.
I have a friend who is a jingle singer. It used to be a great way to make a living. Not so much anymore, so the guys are on track.
Hee hee, my word verification is "kshouttt" OK, SHOUTTT!
These are very post-post-post-modern guys.
If you were living in Sydney that line would have read "They were cute, professional, maybe in IT or some other kind of consulting. Oh and gay. They are always gay"
What we need to do is combine the two. For instance, take the Geico commercial where Burt Bacharach is singing. If you combine sex and the catchy tune, it will definitely sell more car insurance.
The original as sung by Burt Bacharach:
I was hit in the rear.
The lizard licks his eyeball.
I hope I never get hit in the rear again.
My version:
I was ****** in the rear.
The ****** licks his ******.
I hope I never get ******* in the rear again.
Way more effective than the silly cavemen
I agree. I never remember the sexy commercials but I still have "We wear short shorts" running through my head.
If my 20-something friends are any measure, then jingles are WAY less prevalent than sex. Seriously.
It's so pervasive that it isn't special.
I am still laughing...about the fact that these guys were even having a conversation about jingles...
Coming from an ex-ad geek, I think sex still sells, but that it's tiresome for those who run in the "hip" crowd. It's as if they are demanding retro advertising. Half-naked spokespersons are out and jingle-singing claymation is in.
Very funny. I'm a sucker for great humor, though I can never remember/relay the funny-ness to someone else very well. An original jingle has a way of following me whether I like it or not.
That is one of the funniest things I have ever heard.
What has always perplexed me about selling with sex is that in my world the women are doing most of the shopping. Even for the cars the cell phone service, the appliances and the lawn equipment. So why do advertisers keep throwing ads that appeal to 15-year-old boys my way? None of the 15-year-olds I know have nearly the buying power I do.
It's a mystery. But I'm still laughing at the line, "Sex doesn't sell anymore. You can get it anywhere."
Bored with it in the commercial world - yes.
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