Anyone know what I'm talking about?
There used to be certain jingles used in radio commercials that aired in different cities, yet they advertised completely different products or completely different types of businesses. I remember several of these from around 1987-88.
There was one of them that went...
What's in a name
A reputation
We don't play games
We have an obligation
This was on Cincinnati radio a lot, and I think it advertised a jeweler or something. But I heard this same jingle re-recorded in another city, and it was for a furniture store or a car dealer or something.
Did local businesses order these jingles from some national company, which gave them exclusive rights for their city?
Another one like this went something like this...
Your home is bare
No matter where
It's morning, noon, or night
So treat your home with loving care
And fix it up just right
Another one that aired on Cincinnati radio went, "Paper Gold...In your mailbox." But I used to be able to pick up Lexington's WLAP-FM, and it ran the same ad, only it said, "Man O' War...In your mailbox."
Another one sort of like this I thought of from the mid-'80s was for a car dealer in Detroit that for some reason aired on Cincinnati radio. It went, "Your Detroit discount dealer." A few months later, a Cincinnati car dealer used the same jingle, but it went, "Cincinnati's discount dealer."
I can't remember what business it was for, but I recall seeing an ad while on vacation that was like one for a business in our hometown. It had the exact same actors, truck drivers as I recall, with the exact same text and jingle except for the business name.
There was the series of Robert Vaughn lawyer ads that were for a different firm in each city. I know it was for Mark E Salomone & Morelli in New England, Jacoby & Meyers in NYC, and I believe Siontz, Kirk, & Miles in Baltimore. Same actors, just changed the law firm name.
I also remember hearing the same "Just what you're looking for" radio ad jingle that was used by a local car dealer here in CT on a station in PA. Just the name of the dealer was changed, but it was the exact same music bed.
These are actually national commercials, but here's one...
We all remember those old Quicken Loans ads from a few years ago (before the name was changed to Rocket Mortgage). The background music from those ads was also used in those for Bosley hair growth products.
Also, around 2007, there was a TV commercial in Cincinnati for a lawyer where the jingle went, "Get a heavy hitter, call Tom." I went on a trip to Huntington WV around that time, and a lawyer there had the same jingle, only it was a different name (not Tom).