Got a song or tune stuck in your head? This phenomenon is known as “earworm” which may happen when an individual is repeatedly exposed to the same song, driving it into their conscious. Our brains establish a connection to a song or tune through repetition and then unconsciously replicate those neural pathways when they hear the song again.
As a matter of fact, Ed Sheeran’s new song “Bad Habits” has been stuck in my head for quite sometime already. With such a different vibe and style from his past hits. This is definitely a song on repeat on my playlist.
There are a number of factors that can cause a song to get stuck in your head. One of the more common factors is simply hearing someone else singing or whistling the song around you for prolonged periods of time. Another possible cause is if you are feeling particularly happy or sad while listening to music, this can also cause songs to stick in your mind more easily.
The tune can stay in your head for quite some time and can be used to help you remember a product. This is why most brands or companies use jingles as a form of musical advertising to capture and retain audience interest, in a way that is both catchy and memorable.
Sometimes referred to as slogans or taglines because they are repeated over and over again during an advertisement, these catchy tunes become popular and make their audience unknowingly listen to the whole message of the advertisement.
One recent example is our nation’s attempt to increase the vaccination status amongst the elderly. You would probably have heard or seen it being played on tv commercials but here’s the video for those who have yet to seen it.
With its repetitive and catchy tune in different languages to cater for all races, the amount of effort that has been put in to urge our seniors to go for vaccination deserves our applause at least.
Placing a familiar or well-liked individual or group in these jingles help to garner interest and attention too as seen in the BTS x Mcdonalds collaboration:
Pairing the well-loved K-pop idol group and a go to fast food chain for many made it a good commercial success with many purchasing the meal to find out what the hype was about. We were intrigued ourselves and had to check it out.
Hitting a little closer to home are the shopping platforms Shopee and Lazada with their constant battle every month with new tv adverts, stacked discounts and sales.
This month’s ambassador for Shopee is Jackie Chan. Being a well known action star in Singapore for filming his own stunts rather than using a stunt double, you would have probably seen at least one of his martial arts stunts with him starring in over 132 films and more.
What we should also focus on is the catchy yet almost brainwashing tune that is stuck in your head with every “Shopee pee pee pee pee pee” that appears in the commercial. This highly repetitive tune is used to associate Shopee through jingles that has resonated well with its audiences no matter which ambassador is being featured at the moment.
Lazada also appeals to the masses starring Hyun Bin, a popular South Korean actor who has appeared in many Korean dramas such as the romantic fantasy series Secret Garden and hit romance drama Crash Landing on You.
Although the narrative of the adverts may change constantly, one should note the jingles incorporated that may be ingrained within you and helps with brand recognition through a song or tune.
Slogans such as Mcdonald’s “Ba Da Ba Pa Pa, I’m lovin’ it” and Subways “Subway, Eat Fresh!” (you probably hummed the tune in your head like I did right?) and many others are examples of successful advertising as the melody stays in our minds long after the ad has been promoted even if we don’t want it to be there.
