the.com/jingle
a six-second song engineered to live in your skull rent-free forever
means a short, catchy tune or rhyme, often used in advertising, or the light ringing sound made by small metal objects knocking together.
from Almost certainly imitative — an English word born to mimic the sound itself, the tinkling clink of coins or bells, first appearing in late Middle English. The advertising sense (a catchy musical tag) is a much later extension, riding in on radio and television in the 20th century, where a tune that 'jingled' in the ear became the marketer's dream.
- earworm science
- Catchy tunes trigger involuntary musical imagery loops
- oscar mayer
- Its wiener jingle ran for over sixty years
- radio origin
- Born in 1920s ads when broadcast needed memorable hooks
- declining art
- Streaming and licensed pop songs replaced custom jingles
meow mix theme — cat food brand jingle from 1974 where cats sing 'meow meow meow meow' - won a clio award
oscar mayer wiener song — hotdog brand jingle from 1963 where children sing 'i wish i were an oscar mayer wiener'