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Can you sound more like melting cheese? The fate of the commercial jingle explained

These days, artists like Celine Dion and the White Stripes supply the soundtrack to today's commercials, edging out the classic but cheesy earworms of decades past. While the era of 'Big Jingle' is on the way out, local jingles live on and are still going strong.

National campaigns are waning while local jingles remain popular

Can you sing the popular jingles used to sell these products? In the 1980's and 1990's national jingle campaigns dominated Canadian television and radio advertising. (YouTube)

Whether listening to the radio or watching television, certain things were known to everyone consuming commercial media since it was invented.

These concepts were usually expressed in song, and could be repeated in 5 seconds or less.

Say, knowing that the lowest price was the law or that the taste of Juicy Fruit was going to move you.

And, really, why would you buy a mattress anywhere else? (Okay, there are reasons we won't get into here).

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Regardless of the death of Zellers discount department store, millions of Canadians can still tell you — musicially — about their legal system of appraisals. But the commercial jingle that conveyed that message, along with countless others since television and radio were invented, may seem as scarce as a Zellers these days.

Instead of jingles, artists like Celine Dion, Tegan and Sara or the White Stripes supply the soundtrack to today's commercials. But the short, catchy musical slogans still live on in a smaller form.

Producer Anis Heydari talks to singer-songwriter Kathryn Rose and jingle producer George Axon to explain why the era of 'Big Jingle' is on the way out, but local jingles are not only going strong but can often identify exactly where you are from.


Listen to the segment above  — or download and subscribe to the Cost of Living podcast.