Iconic ‘80s & ‘90s Jingles We’ll Never Be Able To Forget
“Just like a chocolate milkshake, only crunchy!”
It’s been 10 years since I even saw the ad but, sometimes, as I’m drifting off to sleep, the Coco Pops jingle will start playing in my mind. Out of every piece of music ever composed, including seven Taylor Swift albums and the entire Hamilton soundtrack, it’s that singing monkey I just can’t seem to shake.
But the Coco Pops tune wasn’t the first jingle to ever get stuck in my head. In the ‘80s and ‘90s, commercial breaks were full of songs so catchy that Australian millennials form a generation of sleeper agents ready to recite the six-digit number necessary to dial in a broken-down car at a moment’s notice. Back then, free-to-air TV was basically just Round the Twist, Shane Warne shouting, “Howzaaaat?” and the same three ads playing on loop. It was awesome.
So, from community service announcements to ads for dearly departed soft drinks, here’s some of the most unforgettable jingles from a wonderful era when every message was delivered in song.
Coco Pops
Coco Pops really were “just like a chocolate milkshake, only crunchy” and, in the ‘90s, there is nothing I wouldn’t have done for a bowl of that good stuff (including, but not limited to, deliberately waking up five minutes earlier than my little brother to snake the last of a box, then telling him I’d get him put up for adoption if he complained to Mum).
Life. Be In It
Exercise… is good. That was the pure and simple message behind the Life Be In It ads of the ‘70s and ‘80s, which basically just listed a bunch of different ways to not sit on your couch. Archery! Board sailing! T-shirt printing! Play readings! Galloping! (Like walking, but livelier).
This is also the sort of stuff people did for fun before the internet.
Jamberoo
Only real ‘90s kids (*from NSW and the ACT) will remember the promised land that was Jamberoo, where you control the action.
I spent my childhood begging Mum to take us to this strange land-meets-water theme park so that I, like the smiling kids on TV, could ride that metal sled thing down a hill. It never happened and I fully expected Jamberoo to have closed down by now but folks, it still exists. I leave at dawn tomorrow if anyone wants a ride.
Lube Mobile
Fun fact: the little girl in the Lube Mobile ads grew up to be triple j host, DJ, and singer KLP. Her brother is the little boy who recites the number at the end and, legend has it that, if you say “firteen-firty-firty-two” three times in the mirror he’ll appear holding a new car battery.
Reading Writing Hotline
1300-6555-06. It’s a lot of numbers to remember, but the ad for the Reading Writing Hotline etched them into our brains for all time.
Chicken Tonight
Name a more iconic sauce from a jar. I’ll wait.
Bob Jane T-Mart
Honestly, props to a tyre shop for creating one of the most memorable Australian music compositions of all time. Those high notes *kisses fingers*
Slip, Slop, Slap
Did you know that the “slip, slop, slap” mantra we all live by today started out as a song? In 1981, with melanoma rates rising, the Cancer Council got this cute little seagull to dance across the screen encouraging Australians to slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen, and slap on a hat. We stan a jingle with a cause.
Mello Yello
I can’t believe this soft drink with a name that makes everyone think of pee didn’t survive past the ‘90s.
This article originall appeared on Junkee.
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