Blame it on elevator music and the musical stylings of malls

Music today, because it is so ubiquitous, is treated like background noise – almost like the ambient hum of an air conditioner – and therefore given about as much credit for having a profound effect. So premises Doris Lessing when describing her current novel, which incorporates her belief that songs do have a powerful impact on people’s emotions although society is largely unaware of the influence.

She has a valid point, which may even be true – to some extent – for those involved in the creative direction of commercials. Sound design – which can also work in a fabulous (and more subliminal) fashion – has gained a lot of ground over the use of song in spots. But that, for John Q. Public, may translate into less q rating. Blame it on jingle-backlash

When Playback put out an open call for folks in the industry to send us a list of their favorite commercial tracks, we anticipated there would be enough consensus to put together a top-10 tracks list. That wasn’t the case. When we canvassed a mix of music producers, creative directors, exec producers, anyone who might be in a position to pay closer attention to spot music, the results were mixed.

Very mixed. In fact, only a few spots – such as ‘Tried, Tested and True’ (The Einstein Bros., Chevrolet) and Polaroid’s world-beat/foreign-language track campaign (bbdo, stock from Chris Stone Audio Productions) – were shared on any list of musical faves.

Either Canada’s ad production community has the most individual and eclectic tastes on the map, or the music hasn’t been that notable of late. Of course, music that’s so seamless it’s inseparable from the communication as a whole, can be a good thing. The fact that no one ranted about anything sticking out like a sore thumb is evidence of the overall sophistication of the Canadian sound industry.

Almost everyone danced a jig when the jingle’s death knell rang way back when, but given that less than memorable tags become memorable when sung – from ‘967-11-11’ to ‘You’ve always got time for Tim Horton’s’ (written by David Krystal of Louder Music) – are advertisers giving up a branding opportunity?

Playback spoke to some of the ad music cognoscenti for their opinions on the current state of spot sound creative.

Freelance ad writer/creative consultant/music buff Bruce McCallum says the fact that there ‘isn’t really anything that sticks out is both good and bad.’

McCallum (who was creative director on the Black Label spots from Palmer Bonner with the sophisticated jazzy tracks, and was also involved in Maxwell House’s ‘Hugga Mugga Max’ campaign), says it’s good in that people are thinking in terms of ideas rather than technologies. For people who grew up on rock and roll, McCallum opines, ‘jingles seem passe.’

He goes on, however, to point out that the lack of strong music parallels the lack of strong branding. ‘Music is one way to build a strong brand in the long term. Creatives, when they get an idea, aren’t thinking in terms of, `What if we expressed this musically?’

‘I think that because of short-term thinking, music isn’t high on the menu for creative people.’

McCallum believes the focus on ‘the job right now’ versus a longer-term plan is wrong-headed. ‘It’s a symptom of what’s happening creatively, music brought that to mind, but it’s true of ads in general – how many five-year campaigns do you see?’

In the case of ‘Hugga Mugga Max’ (by Tim Tickner and Robert Armes many moons ago at The Air Company), McCallum says there were a lot of directions they could have gone, but they paused and asked, `What if this were treated musically?’, and it changed the direction of the campaign.

Incidentally, McCallum’s picks include the soundscape for the Pontiac Sunfire ‘Duel’ spot out of MacLaren McCann, also done by Einstein Bros.

Music producers seemed to pick spots that are outside the mainstream and that mix in so well with the premise that they magnify the visuals and idea quotient of the spot.

Fr’instance:

Brad MacDonald (of the eponymous Toronto-based music company) track picks include the Labatt Ice commercial (the one that goes, ‘How do you feel about the rest of the world drinking your beer? Cool.’) created by Rosnick McKinnon. ‘I feel the hybrid groove track captures the international feel and flavor of night life around the beer-drinking globe,’ says MacDonald. ‘The track’s groove really sits in the pocket.’

And another fave was the Dove ‘Faces’ spot: ‘I like the idea of a female a cappella group sing. It really complements the picture and is a sound mix and idea we just don’t hear often.’ It was done by Sublime Music, l.a.

Among bbdo’s Roger Harris’ (formerly with Jungle Music Productions) picks are Chrysler ‘Philosophy.’ Professing bias, he explains, ‘This one could have gone in so many different directions and easily could have missed. Doug Wilde (Jungle Music) should be proud.’

Another Harris pick is Chevrolet ‘Flowers,’ because ‘it is very difficult to create a story with a hook. Tim (Tickner) and Jody (Colero, Einstein Bros.) not only did that, they sang the positioning line.’

Harris also cottoned to the bbdo Polaroid ‘Stereo’ spot in the ‘When you don’t speak their language’ campaign because the Tahitian chant track related so well to the concept. ‘A rare opportunity that was successfully executed.’

The ‘Stereo’ track was stock music supplied by Chris Stone, where music consultant Ross Hardy surfs the waves of musical tastes. Hardy says spot music trends go in six-month cycles, citing world beat and campy ’50s travelogue as recently in vogue. When asked what the current wave in musical taste is, Hardy says, ‘People are finding a new one now.’

While Harris comments that ‘great work is always in style,’ he also goes on to posit that Start Me Up (for Windows 95) ‘may just be the beginning of the use of big hit songs.’

From the visuals production side, spots that feature memorable songs, or remakes of oldies, were again given kudos, such as the ‘Do You Remember’ remake done by Kerry Crawford (at that time with Shurman Armes Crawford, now at Pirate Radio and Television) for Kellogg’s Special K out of Leo Burnett, which Sparks’ president Andy Crosbie deems ‘sexy and fun, and done with class.’

bbdo producer Henry Lu’s take on a musical approach like ‘Tried Tested, and True,’ is that it can certainly ‘help deliver more oomph to your advertising.’

As to the comeback potential of songs for advertisers, Lu, who was producer of the Polaroid campaign, says: ‘On the flip side, there are so few campaigns today, every aspect and brand of a client’s business wants to have its own voice. I also think a lot of people are going towards sound design because it has that ’90s kind of feel. People are also sensitive about throwing a lot of money into tracks; the whole Chubby Checker Twist thing has left a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths in terms of what they can actually do and can’t do.’

Ted Rosnick of Rosnick MacKinnon is a staunch defender of soundscapes and believes they can be quite memorable. ‘There’s way more dialogue and sound design commercials than there used to be 10 years ago,’ says Rosnick. ‘Say the word jingle to most creatives and they cringe.

‘Music since the ’80s has taken a back seat to higher concept spots. The music just serves the story – unless it’s a jingle or a song, the music just plays a very secondary part.’

Rosnick believes the fact that commercials are less music-driven is a good thing. ‘It’s more a symptom of the fact that there’s more substance to the commercial. They’re more involving than they used to be, for the most part. They’re not just a jingle and some vignettes.’

Despite bad memories of the days when jingles were overrunning visual ideas in spots, Rosnick doesn’t disagree that the top-of-mind quotient can still be upped today by a high-rotation song tag. ‘Eaton’s (‘We want to be your store’) stuff works like gangbusters, and it’s totally memorable. The ‘Tried, Tested and True’ Chevy stuff is beautiful, it’s a really good example of a really good jingle.’

As to where it’s all headed, MacDonald comments: ‘Sound design has reached such a level that it seems to have lost its face, it seems to just blend right into the picture. And that’s great for our clients, but it loses memorability because it really isn’t a song.’

One of MacDonald’s personal faves is the Etta James song for the Jaguar commercials. ‘The song – as opposed to the jingle, which isn’t likely to make a comeback – seems to slow down time. You get a lot more out of 30 seconds, especially if it’s a memorable song and appropriate to the pictures, and people just want it to keep going on. I think that’s why very few of us now button commercials (where they have a hard ending at 30), you want to steal a bit of mind airtime out of the next commercial that’s following. People are still stuck in the 30 seconds that preceded it, even though they’re looking at someone else’s spot.’

The sultry, lingering Cool Whip Light ‘Dipping’ track (by Rosnick MacKinnon) is one such example.

‘A beautiful song is enough for a commercial,’ says MacDonald. ‘It doesn’t have to hit any of the bells and whistles the clients wants mentioned, it just sort of exists and captures the moment.’