Have you ever watched or heard a commercial jingle on radio or TV and it gets stuck in your head for hours or even days? This is the sign of an effective jingle.

An effective jingle has five elements, they are: short and simple, catchy, have a positive emotional appeal, a message that sums up a companies brand and a slogan line. The message has to be clear and concise and the song needs to be so catchy that it plays around and around in your head, that it leaves a mark on you.

Check out these awesome jingles that became popular to many Australians:

Sunsmart Campaign

During the 1980s, melanoma, a type of skin cancer, was prevalent in Australia. To raise awareness to its citizens, Victoria launched the ad campaign in 1981. It featured Sid the Seagull telling people to “slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen and slap on a hat”. The health campaign was very successful, because of this many ad variations have been produced and shown as paid advertisements or community service announcements.

Qantas Jingle

This hugely famous ad campaign creates a feeling of nostalgia to every Australian away from home. Peter Allen’s classic song is performed by the Sydney Children’s Choir, the Australian Girls Choir, National Boys Choir and the Gondwana National Indigenous Children’s Choir. In one version of the song advertised in 2009, the first verse is sung in Kala Lagaw Ya, a dialect of the Torres Straits Islands.

Bananas, Boats and Toddlers

The jingle on the ad is catchy; it gets stuck to your head. The ad features a toddler on the beach very easy to remember lyrics. These are so simple and catchy as background music for messages on hold. They’ll have you tapping your foot and singing the song in your head when you listen to the song. It illustrates how brands can stay top of mind in consumer consciousness.

Popular Shampoo Commercial

This commercial is a parody of the classic hit “Duke of Earl” by Gene Chandler featuring people singing in the shower while shampooing their hair using the product. The success of the ad led to the popularity of Australian harmony group “Dukes of Earlwood featuring Armondo Hurley” to which they did a cover of the original song.

Down Down (Prices are down)

Coles, the supermarket giant of Australia, partnered with popular British band Status Quo for its advertising tag line. The whole ad featured the whole song “Down Down”, with the lyrics changed to “Down, down, prices are down”. Another change in the lyrics was “When you need a helping hand, count on the savings of that Coles big red hand – down and down and down they go.”

You will know how effective the jingle is when you consciously or unconsciously tap your toes or nod your head every time you hear it. I admit, I do that a lot. Some jingles may seem annoying for people, but this is what I call powerful advertising.