"Bake someone happy" and "StoveTop tonight"

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 11:38pm

Here's a question that has bugged me for years: how in God's name did Pillsbury and StoveTop get the rights to the Styne/Comden/Green "Make Someone Happy" (from DO RE MI) and to Sondheim's "Comedy Tonight" (from ...FORUM) and turn them into commercial jingles? How does this happen? Don't the authors have the right to say "no'? And if they do, what in the world were they thinking of???

[sparrman]

Posted: 3/5/13 at 12:16am

$$$$$$$$$$

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 3/5/13 at 12:22am

You can serve four
Or even more
Stove Top with dinner
Always a winner

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 3/5/13 at 12:24am

I remember "You've Got Possibilities" also being in a commercial. I think it was Pillsbury.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/5/13 at 12:32am

Yes, they have to get permission and I'm sure they pay dearly for it.

[Jon]

Posted: 3/5/13 at 6:37am

Others from the 1960's/70's:

Fugue for Tinhorns as a Gold Medal Flour jingle:
CAN DO, CAN DO
WITH GOLD MEDAL YOU CAN DO

And this beer commercial:
THERE IS A BROTHERHOOD... OF HAMMS!

[MCfan2]

Posted: 3/5/13 at 4:02pm

TV Guide used to use "That's Entertainment." ("So buy TV Guide! And read TV Guide! That's entertaaaaaaiiiiiiinment!")

Updated On: 3/5/13 at 04:02 PM

[Rainbowhigh23]

Posted: 3/5/13 at 4:18pm

Golden Grahams used "Golden Slippers" for their memorable ad campaign in the late 1970s and didn't pay a penny - the song was public domain.

I was watching Golden Girl on television last week and the first song Lotta sings with her dad is Golden Slippers - I had to run out and get a box of Golden Grahams.

[Emma White]

Posted: 3/5/13 at 4:24pm

Here in Canada, there used to be a commercial for homogenized milk to the tune of "Anything Goes." I can't for the life of me remember how it went, though.

[Rainbowhigh23]

Posted: 3/5/13 at 4:29pm

Who could forget the Milford Plaza ad!
Showtunes in Advertising

[Emma White]

Posted: 3/5/13 at 4:39pm

This isn't strictly a showtune, but there's a commercial for a Sears Homesense (also here in Canada, of course) to "Get Happy."
The lyrics are:
"Forget your troubles, c'mon get happy
You better chase all your cares today
Come to Homesense, c'mon get happy
Find what you want for less today."

Doesn't get any better than that.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/5/13 at 4:57pm

It used to be online, but for now I can only find the script with screencaps--Xerox used a slightly changed Putting It Together around '89

http://legacy.lclark.edu/~soan221/xerox3.html

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 3/5/13 at 6:48pm

Sweet Christ, the first thing I thought when I saw this thread was the Cannibal Cop.

[Jon]

Posted: 3/5/13 at 9:25pm

In the late 1960's, Sunshine Cookies used "The Sunshine Girl" from New Girl in Town.

Speaking of sunshine, didn't Windex use "Let the Sunshine In" from Hair?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 3/5/13 at 9:38pm

The Broadway song thats got to be near the top for "most" use in jingles is "Put On a Happy Face" which has been used to hawk Windex, Walmart, cold sores, and at least a half a dozen things.

And don't forget "Wash that Grey Right Out of your Hair...."

And of course THIS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2UVVxe04pI
Updated On: 3/5/13 at 09:38 PM

[darquegk]

Posted: 3/5/13 at 9:55pm

Not to mention, much more recently, NBC using "Brotherhood of Man" to promote their new season, as well as plug the fact that they KNOW they're the least-successful network and don't care.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 3/5/13 at 10:03pm

That Sears Homesense commercial is the WORST!

It plays constantly and I want to put a bullet into my TV whenever I hear it.


Besides, as they say, it's not a show tune.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/5/13 at 10:05pm

I forgot about their Brotherhood of Man Superbowl Commercial with 30 Rock, Community, umm Smash, Whitney, ummm Up All Night... Are You There Vodka....etc... Poor NBC.


Aren't you glad to be, right here on NBC...

[darquegk]

Posted: 3/5/13 at 10:31pm

A while ago, in planning a sort of "cutaway gag" type joke for a sketch show that would be referenced in passing as a horrible thing one of the characters had done in the past, we discussed what the worst possible song to sing in blackface would be.

"Brotherhood of Man" was pretty near the top of the list.