# What was the first pop tune snagged for advertising? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 24, 2005, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-pop-tune-snagged-for-advertising/300899 "2005-04-24T20:39:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-pop-tune-snagged-for-advertising/300899/1 "2005-04-24T20:39:56Z")
The other day, I heard The New Seekers ‘I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing’ for the first time in many years, and recalled Coke using the melody with altered lyrics for a 1971 ad program. Then I pondered-what was the first time a pop tune was used in this manner? Over to you, triviaholics! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-pop-tune-snagged-for-advertising/300899/2 "2005-04-24T20:47:39Z")
My money’s on Anticipation, for a ketchup commercial. I don’t have a cite, and I don’t remember when it first aired, just that I was surprised to hear a “real” song, and not a jingle. I was surprised again when Chevy started using Like a Rock, but that might be way more recent. I was gonna say the Alka Seltzer song, but I think that was a case where the commercial came first, then the recording. ---
**Author:** ![monkeyfist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9c0ed/32.png) [@monkeyfist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monkeyfist)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-pop-tune-snagged-for-advertising/300899/3 "2005-04-24T21:15:04Z")
this article is about that very same thing. [Salesnoise: Music and Advertising](http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/15/salesnoise.html) According to it, > [@](#): > > 1908 > The song “In My Merry Oldsmobile” by Johnny Marks becomes a popular anthem of the emerging car culture. Recognizing its sales potential, the Oldsmobile Motor Company uses the song in its advertising and promotion. This appears to be the first use of a previously existing song of popular culture that was then used in advertising. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-pop-tune-snagged-for-advertising/300899/4 "2005-04-24T21:16:24Z")
“I’d Like to Teach the World To Sing” and “No Matter What Shape (your stomach’s in)” we’re taken from the ads. Also, the Carpenter’s “We’ve Only Just Begun” was adapted from a bank commercial in 1970. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-pop-tune-snagged-for-advertising/300899/5 "2005-04-24T21:50:35Z")
> [@](#): > > 1908 > The song “In My Merry Oldsmobile” by Johnny Marks becomes a popular anthem of the emerging car culture. Recognizing its sales potential, the Oldsmobile Motor Company uses the song in its advertising and promotion. Mapcase’s Second Law: Everything is older than you think it is. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-pop-tune-snagged-for-advertising/300899/6 "2005-04-24T22:24:54Z")
What about political advertising? I would think that political candidates, especially in the U.S., used popular songs in their campaigns. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-pop-tune-snagged-for-advertising/300899/7 "2005-04-24T22:34:09Z")
Well, I can’t beat the 1908 cite; but… _Buckle Down Winsocki_ was used in a PSA to inform people about the advantages of seat belts. (_Buckle up for safety, buckle up!_) Suzuki riffed on _Get Happy_. (_Forget your troubles, c’mon Suzuki…_) Janice Joplin’s _Let The Good Times Roll_ featured in Kawasaki’s ads. (_Kawasaki lets the good times roll…_) ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-pop-tune-snagged-for-advertising/300899/8 "2005-04-24T23:15:12Z")
Carly released her ‘Anticipation’ album in 1971 such that the Hunt’s commercial was produced later. Are you alleging that these pop songs came from ad tunes, **Mr. Blue Sky**? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-pop-tune-snagged-for-advertising/300899/9 "2005-04-24T23:21:09Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > Are you alleging that these pop songs came from ad tunes, **Mr. Blue Sky**? 😕 Well, the ones I mentioned. Cite? Joel Whitburn’s “Top Pop Singles 1955-1996 (8th edition)” ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-pop-tune-snagged-for-advertising/300899/10 "2005-04-24T23:28:26Z")
[Here](http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ccmphtml/colaadv.html)’s a Library of Congress webpage detailing the origin of the Coca-Cola jingle, “I’d Like to Teach the World To Sing,” which was written by the advertising company. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2005, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-pop-tune-snagged-for-advertising/300899/11 "2005-04-24T23:36:21Z")
And [here](http://www.braniffinternational.org/people/mary_wells.htm)’s another webpage that tells the story of “No matter what shape your stomach’s in,” which confirms **Mr. Blue Sky** ’s assertion that the the song was first a commercial jingle. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-pop-tune-snagged-for-advertising/300899/12 "2005-04-25T01:19:34Z")
I believe the Fifth Dimension song, Up, Up, and Away, was originally a bank jingle. Don’t ask me where I remember this from, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-pop-tune-snagged-for-advertising/300899/13 "2005-04-25T01:32:08Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > I believe the Fifth Dimension song, Up, Up, and Away, was originally a bank jingle. Don’t ask me where I remember this from, though. It was [inspired by a friend’s ballon company](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:jzx1z83aoyi3) and laters used in TWA ads. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-pop-tune-snagged-for-advertising/300899/14 "2005-04-25T02:21:46Z")
OK-we’ve established that some pop tunes were really ad jingles first. Thanks for the enlightenment-I would have called them the other way around. What’s the answer to my OP? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-pop-tune-snagged-for-advertising/300899/15 "2005-04-25T02:40:03Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > What’s the answer to my OP? The winner so far appears to be the Oldsmobile ad. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-pop-tune-snagged-for-advertising/300899/16 "2005-04-25T02:55:33Z")
Some websites I found described the Stephen Foster song “Oh! Susanna” as the unofficial anthem of the California Gold Rush. Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-pop-tune-snagged-for-advertising/300899/17 "2005-04-25T03:00:06Z")
Perhaps. The song dates from 1905, but when did Oldsmobile start using it in its ads? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-pop-tune-snagged-for-advertising/300899/18 "2005-04-25T03:07:40Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Perhaps. The song dates from 1905, but when did Oldsmobile start using it in its ads? According to Exapno’s post, 1908. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-pop-tune-snagged-for-advertising/300899/19 "2005-04-25T21:09:59Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > According to Exapno’s post, 1908. Thanks, but credit goes to **Monkeyfist**. ---
**Author:** ![monkeyfist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9c0ed/32.png) [@monkeyfist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monkeyfist)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-pop-tune-snagged-for-advertising/300899/20 "2005-04-25T22:48:19Z")
actually, credit should go to Carrie McLaren, author of the article that I linked to. And also to google, for directing me to the website. But, I’d also like to thank my mom for her always believing in me, and my beautiful wife for being so understanding durring all these late nights away from her, I love you honey. To my daughter, I love you for calling me your hero, and inspiring me to make good on that by making the world a better place for you. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-pop-tune-snagged-for-advertising/300899.md?page=2)