Old advertising jingle still ringing

"Have I got a deal for you!"

Can you believe it? Someone actually said this to me recently.

If you are of the same approximate vintage as I am you probably heard this phrase so often for a few years you would want to throttle the person saying it.

It was the favorite expression of flamboyant used car salesman Cal Worthington in Southern California and it became (in)famous because he used it constantly.

It was so good I continue to remember his name today and how he presented this phrase on television. This phrase helped create a stereotype of used car salesmen due to the events which often occurred during and after the conclusion of vehicle purchasing.

I did not live in California during the time, but visited relatives in Pomona once a year, yet this phrase made such an impression on me and millions of others that I remember Cal today.

It astonished me when this person actually uttered this phrase and I was not even at an automobile dealer's lot.

I will not actually identify the business as this may have been a fluke phrase that slipped out of the salesperson's mouth without their realizing what it actually sounded like.

Or maybe they had been watching black-and-white television shows, heard the phrase and thought it sounded cool or something. Ironically, within a few days, I saw a similar phrasing for a service-oriented product.

Even though the phrase is not heard often these days, the stereotype associated with this style of sales technique lingers in consumers' minds today, especially where commission-based sales are involved.

There have been some great advertising slogans over the years that remain ingrained in our memories even today, but this particular phrase feels so cheap and sleazy. Resurrecting this phrase would be detrimental to any business utilizing it today.

The fact is that usually reviving previous slogans, jingles or other advertising does not work. It may be that we require new stimulation in advertising as in life, in general, that creates a requirement for a continual bombardment of new advertising.

In years past, slogans, themes or jingles transcended time. For instance, the Marlboro Man<0x00A9>, Where's the Beef?<0x00A9>, or the Artesians<0x00A9>.

Few advertising attention-grabbers reach a status of becoming truly great slogans or jingles that people continue to quote them long after the original advertising campaign is over due to the quirkiness of consumers.

We remember the good ones, but also the bad and cheesy ones, which usually fade out of our memories more quickly.

Creating a campaign holds a tremendous amount of luck and timing, with good or bad luck determining the level of success for the advertising campaign.

I have heard our attention span has decreased to a miniscule level of three seconds and ad scenes match this span of time. Recently, I timed the length of scenes randomly from numerous commercials and I am not convinced it is three seconds, but more like two.

How can people analyze a message in two or three seconds regarding the reasons to purchase a product? The current focus of advertising is a blitzkrieg of information utilizing written, visual or audio media.

Advertising slogans, jingles or visual aids becoming highly memorable are such a rarity that producing good, clear, adequate advertising should be your goal to enhance your business and promote its success.

Have I got a deal for you!