Back in the 1990s and early 2000s, growing up in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs was truly undefeated. As a proud product of Evanston, I can remember my very first ride on the “L,” visiting Navy Pier and riding the original ferris wheel, and of course, watching “The Bozo Super Sunday Show” before leaving the house for church service. Technology was rapidly advancing, but there was still an aroma of old-school Chicago lingering in the air. Millennials were the last generation to truly appreciate it.
While our sports teams, architecture and food are world-renowned, nothing quite compares to the caliber of advertisements created by Chicagoland businesses. Not only are they catchy, but they do an incredible job of capturing the true essence of our big, eclectic and multi-dimensional city.
For example, co-owner of Andrianna Furs, Sohrab Tebyanian wrote the lyrics to the company’s jingle, and got help from NBC Radio to find the group in Atlanta to sing the jingle.
“Sohrab wanted the jingle to have a soulful and jazzy melody modeled after legendary singer Diana Ross,” Andrianna Furs co-owner Cherry Gregorio told The TRiiBE. The goal was to market specifically to Black women – attracting them to comfort and luxury of stylish furs, leathers and other accessories – and it worked.
“The company started to include the jingle in advertisements in 1990, and it has been a big impact on every year’s sales,” Gregorio continued.
For Michelle Thames, an online business and marketing strategist who grew up in south suburban Richton Park, the Andriana Furs commercial has done a great job of humanizing its product of luxury fur coats and accessories. Established in 1987, Andriana Furs is the city’s top furrier, and has had the same showroom on West 95th Street since it opened 35 years ago.
“I loved Andriana Furs because the women in the commercials made those coats feel and look like luxury,” Thames said. “Brands that evoke emotion in their marketing and advertising make it memorable, and when you’d see an Andriana Furs coat and hear that jingle, you would want to feel it too.”
Kamal Collins is a senior art director at Translation/UnitedMasters, a Black-owned creative agency that has produced forward-thinking and culturally sound ads for global companies such as Beats by Dre, Budweiser, McDonald’s and many others.
“Music has always been an incredible form of expression and a way to reach people,” he said. “We’ve seen instances where brands have gone beyond the jingle and created whole songs, TikTok dance videos and podcasts in order to target their audience.”
Growing up in the Austin and Rogers Park neighborhoods, Collins most enjoyed commercials for Empire Carpet, a national flooring company, and Moo & Oink, a local meat market and grocery store.
“With jingles, there’s a simplicity, charm and ability to evoke some emotion–most likely joy,” he explained.
In no particular order, here’s a quick walk down memory lane with 10 of Chicago’s most bop-worthy and memorable television and radio ads.