SYSK Selects: How Commercial Jingles Work

In this episode, Josh and Chuck dive into the surprisingly fascinating world of commercial jingles—those catchy songs and audio snippets that get permanently lodged in your brain whether you like it or not. They explore the history of jingles dating back to the Wheaties Quartet in 1926, explain why simple melodies with repetition are so effective at sticking with us, and discuss how advertising has evolved from jingles to licensed pop songs and audio branding. You'll learn about the science of earworms, discover which jingles are considered the most memorable (and annoying), and hear about how companies now try to make their brands cool by appropriating existing music instead of creating original jingles.