Musical Ads Examples: What Worked and What a Local Shop Can Copy

Most lists of musical ads examples show Super Bowl spots and pop stars. That can make a song feel out of reach if you run a two-van plumbing shop. It is not.

Here are 21 real examples, sorted by type.

Musical ads come in five types: a phone-number tune (Empire Today), a jingle (Kit Kat), an original song (Dumb Ways to Die), a short sound tag (Mastercard) or a borrowed hit (Kia). The first four can work on a small budget. The local ones that lasted sang one name or number and kept the same song for years.

Key takeaways

• Local firms have used songs for decades. One water park paid $400 for the jingle its fans still want.
• The tune carries one thing: your name or your number.
• Borrowed hits are the one type to skip on a small budget.
• Most success stories come from the owners themselves, so treat them as stories, not proof.
• A sung studio jingle runs $800 to $2,500 (2026), and that tier lists audio files, not video.

What are the main types of musical ads?

The five main types of musical ads are a phone-number tune, a jingle, an original song, a sound tag and a borrowed hit. Four of the five can scale down to a local budget.

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Which phone-number tunes put a local business on the map?

A phone-number tune works best for a business that gets its leads by phone, because the tune gives people a way to keep the number in their head. Empire Today and Pizza Pizza both started in one city and put a phone number at the heart of their ads.

Empire Today

Empire started as a family business in Chicago in 1959, and its jingle has aired since 1977. Ad copywriter Lynn Hauldren wrote and recorded it with an a cappella group, with no pop star in sight. You can watch it on Empire's own page.

What it did right: the number is the whole song.

Pizza Pizza

Pizza Pizza opened in Toronto on the last day of 1967 and built its marketing around its phone number and radio jingle. Each city keeps the same last four digits. What it did right: it made the number easy to reuse as it grew.

Harley Plumbing and Heating

This Bangor, Maine, firm set its phone number to a beat like a military marching chant. What it did right: it picked a rhythm that suits a number, not a pretty tune.

State Roofing

This Seattle roofer ran a 60-second "full sing" with its toll-free number from 2004. Its marketing director told the Journal of Light Construction in 2008 that awareness rose from single digits to 50% in its market, which is the company's own figure. What it did right: it gave the whole ad to the song.

Power Windows & Siding

This Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware firm took the opposite route with a 4-second tune in 2005. Co-owner Jeffrey Kaliner said research shows people recall the tune more than the number, though he added it might be too early to judge. What it did right: it kept the tune short enough to fit on any ad.

Pro tip: a sung number matters less on social, where people can tap a button. Sing your name, and show the number on the last frame. Our guide on how to write a jingle has more on fitting a name into a line.

Here is a song ad we made that tells a plumber's story.

Want one about your business? Get your song ad

Which jingles worked for small local businesses?

A jingle works for a small business when it sings the name and then keeps running for years. Jingles fell out of favor with national brands in the 1980s but stayed alive in local ads, according to KCUR. These seven show why.

• Water Country, New Hampshire water park. A Berklee graduate wrote and recorded it in 1984 over a few days for a one-time $400. A 40th birthday remake drew such a backlash that the park went back to the original. What it did right: it kept the same song, updating it once in the mid-1990s.
• Giant Glass, New England auto glass. The owner asked for a jingle, and the writer worked out the tune on guitar. It ran for decades, until Safelite bought the firm in 2012. What it did right: the owner's own refrain became the hook.
• Bernie & Phyl's Furniture, Massachusetts. It started in the late 1980s, under an earlier store name. An ad firm said in 2014 that it made the furniture seem dated, and the family brought it back in 2022 to reach younger shoppers. What it did right: it trusted the tune it had built.
• Hansons Window & Siding, Detroit area. The owner and a musician friend wrote it in a two-hour phone call, and in 2008 its website had kids singing it. What it did right: it put the jingle on its website too.
• The Grass Pad, Kansas City. Danny Cox wrote and performed the jingles for this five-location business, and the tagline came from a casual chat with the owner. What it did right: it used the owner's own humor.
• Dalworth Clean, Dallas-Fort Worth. A singer recorded a new version of this cleaning firm's jingle, and the spot had run for more than 20 years by 2016. What it did right: it refreshed the recording and kept the song.
• Northern Mattress and Furniture Gallery, Maine. Its catchy tune runs under 15 seconds. What it did right: it got to the point fast.

Nobody needed a big name. Bernie & Phyl's holds a lesson too: a tune people grew up with can still have pull.

For the national classics, see our list of the best jingles of all time.

Here is one that tells a roofer's story.

See what yours could sound like. Get your song ad

What can original-song ads do that a jingle cannot?

An original song can tell a full story, while a jingle only has room for a name and a promise. A story has more pull, and it also takes more money or more care to get right.

Dumb Ways to Die. Metro Trains in Melbourne released this animated music video in November 2012, and it passed 350 million YouTube views. It sold rail safety with cute cartoon characters and a 3-minute song. Watch it on YouTube.

Do not plan on that reach. The part you can copy is the cartoon: a song plus simple characters can carry a message people would normally skip.

Coca-Cola "Hilltop." The 1971 ad took three shoots, about 500 singers and a re-shoot budget over $250,000, and more than 100,000 letters came in. You cannot copy the budget. You can copy selling one warm feeling.

Capital One Canada. Songwriter Jim Guthrie wrote a song for a 2005 ad, and a full version came out later. It held up as a song, not just as an ad.

espnW. The same Globe and Mail list says Greta Gaines wrote a song for espnW that took about seven versions before the client was happy. She later sold the longer track for $20,000. The part you can copy: expect to rewrite.

Here is a song ad we made that tells a pizza place's story.

Curious how a story like yours would sound? Get your song ad

Can a three-second sound tag work for a small business?

A sound tag can work for a small business as an add-on, but not as your whole ad. A sound tag is a short melody that plays with your name. Studios call it a sonic logo, and Violet Recording lists it at $150 to $500 for 1 to 3 seconds (2026).

Mastercard shows the big version. It launched a sound identity in February 2019 and released it in many music styles, so the same few notes fit anywhere.

Renys, a Maine retailer, shows the local version. The Bangor Daily News calls its tagline something to sing as you hop out of your car to shop there. A tag only pays off once people have heard it many times, so it suits a business that already runs ads often.

Which big-brand musical ads examples are not worth copying?

Big-brand musical ads examples built on a borrowed hit are not worth copying on a small budget, because the song and the airtime are the real cost. A local firm has neither.

Kia's 2022 Super Bowl ad used a famous Bonnie Tyler song, and System1 reported in 2023 that Spotify streams rose 154.53% after the game. The song got a lift along with the ad. That does nothing for a dentist.

Sony Bravia's famous ad dropped 250,000 bouncing balls down a San Francisco street to a gentle folk song. Adobe's page has the ad. You will not be doing that on a Tuesday.

TikTok reports that custom music led to higher recall and brand recognition than recognizable music in a 2021 MediaScience study. That is the platform's own research, but it points the same way as the local examples.

Hear the song ads we have made → Click any video to watch with sound.

What makes a local musical ad last?

A local musical ad lasts when it does five simple things, none of which need a big budget. It puts the name in the tune, gives one next step, stays short, sticks with one song and sounds like the owner.

Here is each habit, with a made-up sample line you can adapt.

1. Name in the tune. System1 says 21% of 2025 Super Bowl viewers could not recall the advertiser, and it ranks jingles among the top three brand assets for linking an ad to a brand. Try: "Leaky roof, don't wait for rain. Call [Your Name], stay dry again."
2. One next step. Pick a call, a visit or a booking, not all three. Try: "Burst pipe at half past nine? [Your Name] is on the line."
3. Short enough to repeat. The local tunes above run from 4 to 60 seconds. Try: "Fresh today at [Your Name]."
4. The same song for years. Giant Glass and Dalworth Clean ran theirs for decades. Change the offer, not the tune.
5. A real voice. A family name, a local joke or a chat with the owner beats a slogan from a committee. Try: "Three kids, two dogs, one clean floor. [Your Name], we've seen it all before."

Now the honest part. Long-running is not the same as profitable, and only one local example here shares a result number. Almost none of these firms publish their sales.

Music can also backfire. A 2024 Durham University article reports that music people really dislike tends to put them off a product, even when the tune is familiar. So play your song to a few customers before you spend on it.

What does each kind of musical ad cost today?

A musical ad costs from about $10 a month if you make it yourself to $2,500 or more for a sung studio jingle, and most studio jingle packages are audio. You still need pictures before audio can run on Facebook or TikTok. Prices below come from each provider's own page.

With an app, you are the songwriter, the editor and the person who checks every word. In our view, marketplace gigs are often low in quality and take a lot of back and forth, and you do not get a professional marketing team.

For more detail, see how much a jingle costs in 2026 and how the song ad makers compare.

How do you turn these examples into your own ad?

You turn these examples into your own ad by picking one type, writing one line, adding pictures and testing it against what you run now.

Step 1: Pick your type

If phone calls bring your work, lean on a number. If people search for you by name, use a jingle. If you have a story, such as a 2 a.m. call-out, use a short original song.

Step 2: Write one line

Write the line a customer would repeat. Pro tip: say it out loud to your staff, and if nobody can say it back, shorten it.

Step 3: Add the pictures

A song alone will not run on social. Make it a vertical video, put every word on screen, and end on your name and offer.

Step 4: Run it beside your current ad

Keep your budget, audience and offer the same, and change only the ad. Judge on calls and bookings, not likes.

Meta says Reels default to sound-on. It also reports 34.5% lower cost per result for 9:16 video with audio than for image ads on Reels, across 15 split tests from e-commerce, retail and consumer goods advertisers. Your results will differ.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good example of a musical ad for a small business?

Water Country, a New Hampshire water park, is a good example. It paid a one-time $400 for a jingle in 1984. When the park tried a modern remake for its 40th anniversary, fans pushed back and it went back to the original.

Do musical ads really work?

Musical ads can work, but no one can promise it. A 2015 Nielsen study of more than 600 TV ads found ads with music scored higher on creativity, empathy, emotive power and information power. Those scores measure reactions, not sales, so test your own ad and see whether jingles still work in 2026.

What is the difference between a jingle and a song ad?

A jingle is a short piece of music, often audio only, that sings a name or slogan. A song ad is a video ad where the whole message is sung, with the words on screen and an offer at the end.

How long should a musical ad be?

Local musical ads have run from 4 seconds to 60 seconds. Short tunes suit repeat play, and longer songs suit a story. Pick the shortest length that still gets across your name, your offer and your next step.

Will a musical ad work with the sound off?

A musical ad works with the sound off only if every word is on screen. A plain jingle over a logo loses its whole message when muted.

Can a musical ad use an AI singer?

A musical ad can use an AI singer, and in our view that is good enough for most social ads. The singing voice in our song ads is AI, and we say so plainly. We make ours as video for social media ads.

The short version

The best musical ads examples for a small business are not the Super Bowl ones. They are the roofers, plumbers and furniture stores that sang one name or number and stuck with it for years. Copy that habit and skip the borrowed hits.

If you have the time, an app or a studio can get you there, though with most you will still need to make the video.

For a busy owner, our done-for-you team is the best option. Fill in a 5-minute form, and our team writes the song, adds a pro-sounding AI singer and makes the 3D cartoon video. You approve the ad, and you never have to learn an AI tool.

One song ad from us is $97 and takes 72 hours after a 5-minute form, with 1 round of remakes and a money-back guarantee. We make the ad, and you choose where to run it.

Ready for an ad people remember? Get your song ad for $97, written, sung and animated for you in 72 hours, with a money-back guarantee.

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