Toddler Jingles

Well played, NASCAR....and specifically, one of NASCAR's major supporters: Nationwide Insurance.

I have always wondered who has purchasing decisions influenced by commercials.  I'm not going to lie.  Most of the time, the minute a commercial comes on TV, I'm changing the channel.  In the car, while listening to the radio, I'll find myself listening to a commercial and question why I still have it on when there are SO many other options.  If I can't find something better to listen to, I'll resort to....okay, I'm just going to say it....Country Music (the horror, the shame) or (even worse) Talk radio -- I do NOT include NPR in this shameful admission as I actually enjoy NPR.  The point is I will resort to listening to almost anything just to avoid commercials.

This is obviously not the goal of the commercial.  The goal is to have you watch/listen and help influence your purchasing decisions.  But.....I don't care how many times I hear from Budweiser that their beer is triple filtered and hand crafted -- it still tastes like lightly flavored water and I'm not going to drink it.  I know that the likes of Eva Longoria and Tina Fey do not put their beautiful tresses in the hands of boxed hair color but probably spend hundreds of dollars to have their personal hair stylist expertly color their hair.  And microwave meals (like the kind I used to get for work) NEVER look like the piping hot and delectable dishes displayed in their commercials.

ANYWAY.......like I said above, I've always wondered who on earth is moved or influenced by commercials.  I now have the answer:  Monkey Toddlers.  Not that he has purchasing power but.....jingles catch his fancy and have now infested this house.  Specifically.....Nationwide's jingle.

The jingle is at the very end.


This morning, he was playing with his NASCAR cars and was crashing them and saying that the "Caution's out".  And then I hear him sing "Nationwide is on your side".  WHAT?!  And then he told me that his car was a Nationwide car and that he is "in the nation".  Ahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!  We're an Allstate family but I guess Nationwide's jingle is more appealing to a toddler than the tag line of "You're in Good Hands" or "Avoid Mayhem, Like Me".  So now, all morning long, I've heard "Nationwide is on your side" sung throughout my house and it is becoming a little maddening.  :)  I'm starting to wonder if they are on my side?  Am I in good hands with my current carrier?  Am I avoiding mayhem with my current carrier?  Would I be better off being "in the nation"?  I'm totally kidding but still......with as much as I've heard the jingle this morning, I now understand the importance of marketing songs.

Maybe it is time to introduce him to J-E-L-L-O....or the Kool Aid Man.....or Oscar Meyer.  Not that we eat/drink these things in our house but it would be better than what is currently being sung in my house.  :)

P.S. We're in trouble and he'll have to stop watching NASCAR if he starts quoting the commercials of some of NASCAR's other sponsors.....ones that will go unmentioned here.  :)