My beer is Rheingold the dry beer.
East side. West side
End of town and down
Rheingold extra dry beer is the beer of great reknown
Friendly, freshening Rheingold
Always happily dry
The green clear taste you want is in Rheingold
From Lexington to Madison and on both sides of Park
They ask for Rheingold extra dry before and after dark
From Coney to Connecticut on Flatbush Avenue
From Jersey scenes way out to Queens
They sing as millions do
Think of Rheingold whenever you buy beer.
It's not bitter, not sweet, it's the extra dry treat
Won't you try extra dry Rheingold beer?
from the nydailynews of 4/17/08
Putting in a plug for the golden age of catchy 'Jingles'
Thursday, April 17th 2008, 4:00 AM
Mark Burnett's new summer reality series for CBS, "Jingles," sounds at first like it will only extend one of the most annoying trends in television: program-length promotions all dolled up as entertainment.
The eight-episode "Jingles" will have contestants compete each week to write the best original ad jingle for some featured product - meaning it starts out being what "The Apprentice" devolved into: a quasiinfomercial.
And I don't care. If "Jingles" helps revive one of the great arts of American popular culture - the ad jingle - I don't care if it promotes tobacco companies, the Mercury Dumping Association and the Dangerous Chinese Toys consortium.
I just want a world where ad jingles can flourish again.
Is that too much to ask?
If you have watched more than 20 minutes of TV in your life, you know what I mean, because you carry ad jingles in your head.
You don't remember your spouse's birthday, but you can sing: Plop plop fizz fizz/Oh what a relief it is or My beer is Rheingold the dry beer/Look for Rheingold whenever you buy beer.
You know Double your pleasure, double your fun and You can trust your car/To the man who wears the star. You know the tune of "I Love New York" and "Be All That You Can Be."
It takes only one note before you recognize the IO Cable jingle or "1-800-Empire."
If you're 40 or older, you will carry the voices of the Jolly Green Giant and Tony the Tiger for the rest of your days.
Terrifying? Nah. Harmless. What's depressing is that those touchstones are disappearing.
Three years ago, Eric Korte, music director of the ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi, told the Boston Globe that more than half his clients now just wanted to license existing songs. A decade earlier, 90% wanted original music. "The jingle," he said, "is dead." Historically, you see how that could happen. The jingle was developed for radio, which had no visual component. After TV came along, the impressive thing is that jingles stayed prominent for as long as they did.
That's exactly why they deserve to remain. Jingles are a deceptively difficult art, one in which the writer must convey a product identification and a memorable association for that product in a dozen words or less. Then set it to a catchy tune.See the U.S.A./In your Chevrolet. Maybe it's just a dream to keep ad jingles in our national DNA. Maybe Mark Burnett can help make it a reality.
In the 1960's, maybe between 1963 and 1969, Rheingold ran a spoken ad campaign like the following: "In NYC, where there are more Irishmen than all of Dublin, More people drink Rheingold than any other beer. We don't know why, but we must be doing something right."
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone else recall this campaign? if so do you have the actual wording? How about a list of some of the Nationalities and Cities they cited?
Thanks
RHEINGOLD BEER BLOG
ReplyDeleteWe all remember the standout beer brand of the mid 1900s, a beer called Rheingold which was first produced in the early years of 1883 and permeated society to become a top-selling beverage due to its fair pricing and solid taste. Rheingold’s appeal was so influential that during the 1950s, it accounted for a third of the New York’s beer market, revealing its widespread appreciation. Its pigeon mascot fits its New York origins and seemingly represents the soaring nature, specifically the taking off and popularity of this beer.
Furthermore, the brand bolstered its recognition by holding annual Miss Rheingold Competitions, in order to find beautiful women to represent the brand and its image. Apart from this endeavor, Rheingold sought to promote their brand by top advertising, hiring celebrities such as John Wayne and the Marx Brothers to represent the beer in popular television commercials. However, the most notable aspect about this beer is that it is making a comeback today, when it was acquired by the liquor company DrinksAmericas in 2005.
I first came across this retro beer at a party a couple of weeks ago, and let me tell you that I loved its mellow flavor as well as the incredible amount of history which is associated with the brand. The fact that my dad used to drink this beer boggles my mind and shows just how pertinent the Rheingold brand is to various age groups, whether young or old. Everyone around me at the party enjoyed the beer too, as they kept on asking questions about this drink that they had never heard of before. If you haven’t heard of it or want to inquire about more information regarding this amazing beverage, hit up the beer’s website at RheingoldBrewingCompany.com, to be pleasantly introduced to New York’s Prime Beer! Take a look, then a taste, and you will agree with me that Rheingold is here to stay.
-Anna Guller