There’s a commonly quoted statistic in advertising that Americans see an average of 3,000 advertisements a day.
Research has indicated the number may actually be as little as 1,000, as many as 5,000 or even entirely made up. According to a 2009 study by the Nielsen research group, Americans watch an average of 151 hours of TV a month. A similar study by the Council for Research Excellence found that Americans spend about 8.5 hours a day in front of some sort of screen between their TVs, computers and phones.
Regardless of the authenticity of 3,000 as a mystically precise number, there’s no question we willingly or unwillingly consume a ton of carefully placed marketing every day.
Sometimes, whether we like it or not, the advertisements stick. Quite often, in my experience at least, the reason I can recall one product over another is its musical jingle.
I can still sing the theme songs for all of the following: the My Buddy doll (“Wherever I go, he goes …”), Whatchamacallit candy bars (“Chewy, chocolatey, crispy, crunchy …”) and The Incredible Christmas Place in Gatlinburg (“No one celebrates the season quite like (they) do …”).
I have never in my life owned a My Buddy or tasted a Whatchamacallit, and it would take an attack dog and a stun gun to force me through the gaudy, bedecked doors of the Incredible Christmas Place. Nevertheless, each of those ridiculously catchy theme songs is still readily accessible in my head 20 years after I first heard them.
It pains me to think of the mathematical principles, state capitals and relatives’ birthdays that have been unable to attach themselves to my neural network because of a candy-bar jingle.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I could really go for a stick of Doublemint Gum. Maybe two. After all, it’s double the pleasure, double the fun.
* Internet Musical Catch of the Week: Crystal Castles’ “Baptism” and “Vietnam.” I’m a self-confessed video-game fanatic, and when I saw a Canadian electronic duo named for the female counterpart to He-Man (as well as the name of a classic Atari title), my ears perked up.
“Baptism” and “Vietnam” are all over the music blogs right now, and after listening to their hypnotic, 8-bit electronic beats and phantasmagoric vocals, I can totally see why. The band’s second, self-titled album is set to release May 24.
E-mail Casey Phillips at cphilliips@timesfreepress.com.