, then a struggling singer trying to break with his rock band, could make a solid living by writing Mountain Dew, Taco Bell and Pepto Bismol earworms for jingle houses that dominated the music-in-advertising industry for decades. But during an interview a few weeks ago, Paige — who ultimately became most famous as the voice of thetheme song “Gotta Catch ‘Em All” — fires up an artificial-intelligence program.
Kringel avoids using the term “jingle” — “that whole approach kind of faded out,” he says — but the most memorable old-school jingles have taken on a classic-rock quality in recent years. McDonald’s 20-year-old “ba da ba ba ba,” “Nationwide … is on your side” and many others are repeated endlessly in TV-streaming commercial breaks. State Farm’s “like a good neighbor … “ remains the emperor of earworms, and the company deploys the Barry Manilow-penned jingle in strategic ways.