Fly the Branded Skies

 

Jingles

These are posts from Fly the Branded Skies on the topic of Jingles from February 2012.

Jingle: PSA “Catch Us!” (1976)

Catch us!

Listen: Pacific Southwest Airlines: “Catch Us”

Sometimes the jingles blur together. Most of them sound alike. Most of them say the same things — and they say very little. Fluff and puffery permeate most airline jingles. So I like this one, because its simplicity just works.

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Jingle: Braniff “We Better Be Better” (1980)

We better be better. We're Braniff!

Listen: Braniff International Airways: “We Better Be Better”

The problem with jingles is that they almost inevitably sound prideful. When you get a bunch of singers to belt out an anthem to consumerism, the advertiser tends to sound like it’s pretty proud of itself. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with a little pride. It’s just that, ultimately, consumers get to decide whether you really have anything to sing about.

And in some cases, pride goeth before the fall.

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Jingle: British Airways “Fly the Flag” (1975)

Fly the Flag

Listen: British Airways: “Fly the Flag”

For many years, from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, “Fly the Flag” was British Airways’ exhortation to travellers to do the patriotic thing: fly the state-owned carrier, the one with the Union Jack on the tail of all its aircraft.

Yet the jingle was commissioned by an American agency in London. Written by an American songwriter. Sung by what, to my ears, sound like American studio singers.

In short, British Airways may be British. But its jingle was 100% American.

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Jingle: “Mohawk’s Going Your Way” (1968)

Mohawk is going your way.

Listen: Mohawk Airlines: “Mohawk's Going Your Way”

This one’s a bit of a puzzle.

Mohawk Airlines was a regional airline based in upstate New York. It grew quickly in the late 1960s and early 1970s, then was absorbed into Allegheny in 1972. So its advertising hasn’t left the paper trail of national airlines like United or TWA. But here’s what I can deduce.

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