Ear Worms
Recently Charles Osgood did a piece on CBS's
Sunday Morning program regarding ear worms. Yeah, that's right, EAR
WORMS. It caught my attention, too. Ear worms are songs or jingles that
get in your head and just won't seem to go away. You find yourself
humming the little ditty in the shower or in the car on your way to
work. You don't even have to like the song...it just gets caught in your
brain and won't go away.
A professor at the University of Cincinnati, James Kellaris, recently
studied 559 students and come up with a list of the top ten ear worms.
They are:
| 10. |
"It's a Small World
After All" |
| 9. |
"The Lion Sleeps
Tonight" |
| 8. |
"Whoomp, There It Is"
|
| 7. |
"YMCA" |
| 6. |
"Mission Impossible"
theme |
| 5. |
Kit-Kat candy-bar jingle
("Gimme a Break ...") |
| 4. |
"We Will Rock You"
|
| 3. |
"Who Let the Dogs Out"
|
| 2. |
Chili's "Baby Back Ribs"
jingle. |
| 1. |
Other. Everyone has his
or her own worst earworm. (Mine happens to be the University of
Nebraska
fight song!) |
It's interesting to note that two of the top five are commercial
jingles. Once again we see the power of music to slip into our cerebral
cortex through the back door and stay there...for decades. (Come on,
when was the last time you actually heard "It's A Small World After
All"?)
All advertisers are looking to climb the ladder of Top Of Mind Awareness
(TOMA)...and commercial music is one way to do this extremely
effectively.
The next time an advertiser questions the results they are getting with
advertising, you should ask yourself, "Am I doing everything I can,
creatively, to make their campaign a success?" Music sells.
~ David Graupner, CEO, TM Century, Inc. |