Catchy Tunes

What makes a commercial memorable? For me it's always the tune they have playing in the background. Of course, there are some commercials that are memorable for other reasons, but for me it's the music that sticks in my head.

Using catchy tunes with commercials is a great way for companies to market their products. The easier you can make your product memorable to your customers, the more likely they will be interested in buying it over another one, so every little advantage helps. I'm not saying that just because you include a snappy song on your TV spot that you will outsell your competitors, but knowing what gets people's attention helps greatly.

This is a double-edged sword however. There are always those commercials with the music that you can't get out of your head. For example, I could not get that McDonald's fillet-o-fish sandwich commercial out of my head for a good week because of that singing plastic fish. It was annoying, but I won't forget it for a long time.

Do you think catchy tunes are effective in commercials? What else makes something stick in your head?