Several nights ago while at the supermarket, I turned and suddenly was face to face with a Green Giant label on a can of corn, which was eye-level and just inches away, stacked in an end-case display. That old familiar jingle suddenly popped into my head as I backed away.

“From the valley of the jolly –Ho,Ho, Ho—Green Giant,” was looping over and over in my head. It had been years since I heard that jingle, but after seeing the jolly Green Giant on that label, the iconic jingle resonated in my head.

As corny as most old food commercial jingles may have been to some consumers, they were very effective simply because people remembered them. Over the years, some meat and poultry companies and restaurants have made lasting impressions in their commercials thanks to their custom jingles.

In doing a little research on classic food jingles, I stumbled across several websites, which listed some of the most famous and memorable commercial jingles in the industry. “Oh, I wish I were an Oscar Mayer wiener...” was among them. If you remember this, you have a terrific memory because it launched in 1963 – almost 50 years ago! And who can forget Oscar Mayer’s more recent jingle, “My bologna has a first name it's O-S-C-A-R...” Campbell Soup Company’s “Mmmmm.mmmm good—mmmm,mmm good” jingle was another classic older folks in the industry should remember.

Several other, more recent industry commercial jingles were cited at another website: “You don’t have to be a man to love Manwich.....”; "Two all-beef patties special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onions on a sesame seed bun,” [Big Mac]; "I want my babyback, babyback, babyback, babyback [Chili’s]"; "I feel like Chicken Tonight, like Chicken Tonight."

What is it about some jingles that – whether you like them or not – still make them effective? Studies show people are more likely to remember information from commercials accompanied by singing vs. commercials with just talking, claims Don Stewart, a music industry veteran and commercial jingle producer, on www.platinumdrive.net.

Facts he listed about the power of commercial jingles include memory retention of a commercial jingle is 10 times faster than that of a talking-only ad; commercial jingles are music; people have no defense mechanism against music; commercial jingles are remembered for years; a commercial jingle is like a musical logo; a commercial jingle can be a point-of-difference from the competition; and even if you don’t like a particular jingle, that little song may be scorched into your brain and make you whistle or hum it throughout the day.

So, if your company routinely produces television and/or radio commercials, try experimenting with a commercial containing a custom-made jingle (budget permitting) for your product and gauge the response it receives versus your more-traditional commercials that don’t contain a jingle. This could be an effective and fun way to differentiate your commercials from the others and to make your meat and poultry products truly ... unforgettable.