Bubble Gum Hits (?) of 2008

When I was a kid, bubblegum pop songs like “Yummy Yummy Yummy”, “Simon Says” and “Green Tambourine” were at the top of the pop charts.

Can chewing gum companies lift sales by embedding old jingles in new songs?

An interesting article in today’s Wall Street Journal says Wrigley worked with Translation Advertising (part of Interpublic) to put references to three old ad jingles — at least one dates back to 1960 — in some new rap tunes.

Fascinating. Jingles are viewed by many as among the most dated and derided forms of “old” advertising.

Yet, companies are trying to resurrect them (admittedly in some new way) nearly 50 years later.