Chicago’s advertising jingles are as unique as the city itself, and many residents know them by heart.
On both TV and radio, ads complete with a tune and tagline play a few times, and then stay stuck in the brains of residents for years to come.
For example, every Chicagoan knows the Empire carpet jingle by heart.
And what about United Auto Insurance? UAI produced its primary jingle about two decades ago, yet it remains completely relevant.
“We had a store one time and people would walk by our location and sing the jingle and turn around and go (thumbs up) and we were like – whoa, ok, must be working!” Thad Gentry, the Director of Marketing at UAI, said.
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He’s right. The jingle works, and is remembered regularly.
In fact, when UAI decided to switch it up, Gentry said the company received dozens of calls from customers asking about the change.
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“We took a piece of the commercial of the jingle out and people called us and said – what’s up? Where is the phone number? And we were like – ok. We’ll put it back in!”
The list of memorable Chicago jingles is a mile long. Some, from companies that still exist, like Andriana Furs. The furrier is a Chicago staple. Opening in 1987, it remains popular still today.
Some jingles remain popular, though its company doesn’t exist in the way it used to. For example, Moo and Oink. Moo and Oink was a legendary brand that eventually merged under the name of Best Chicago Meat Company. You can still purchase its products today.
“When I look back on those commercials, now as a marketer I think about what I retained from them, a lot of them are just getting you to remember the phone number, which I still remember,” Kyle Geib said of Moo and Oink. Geib is the Director of Marketing and Digital Communications for Be Found Online.
“You feel like after watching the Moo and Oink commercial you could walk into Moo and Oink and see the dancers. You could recognize their faces,” he explained of the former company’s jingle. “It’s not a celebrity endorsement or someone from out of state. A lot of times, in those, it was the employees or the founders of the family that ran the business.”
Through the decades, marketing tactics have changed.
But don’t worry, Chicago’s old school ways are here to stay.
“As long as jingles work and people can still sing them to us when they call us on the phone, we’ll continue to use it,” Gentry said.
