Hello Readers. As the Retro Resurgence Podcast takes a bit of a summer hiatus to recharge our batteries for the 2nd Half of 2025, both Ken and I have committed to do some Oasis entries, which as you may remember is a place we created where we can go and give our solo thoughts on any one particular retro topic. No real set schedule or timeline that we follow here. When the urge hits us to write or record, this is where we’ll be. Today finds me thinking about those memorable commercials (sometimes complete with those catchy jingles that we’ll never forget). Every once in a while, I’ll go down the rabbit hole (say the YouTube Channel “Dave’s Archives” which basically has every old commercial ever). Today’s TV watching is a whole lot different from when we grew up with traditional television sets. And with that change, means that commercials for products and advertising has changed as well. You now have folks shilling products and becoming social influencers for products and services that companies love even more than the traditional ads that aired on TV.

Today, I want to focus on some of the commercials of the 80s and 90s, some I remember, and some that have just hit me for the first time, that have songs in them that are really renditions and remakes of actual radio songs. Some of them will be obvious ripoffs, while others may be a little subtle and obscure. I’ll give two types of star ratings of each – one from an personal enjoyment/catchyness meter, and the other will be an obscurity meter – meaning how obvious (or not so obvious) that the song in this commercial was of being an actual studio-recorded song or chart-topper.

This will be Part 1 of a multi-part series. As I compiled my list, I knew that I’d have more selections than one article could contain. So I hope as you click and watch these links, see if you can guess the actual song that is being redone, spoofed, or tweaked to fit the products that these commercials are featuring.

Bagel Bites

Watch the Commercial:
https://youtu.be/bTlvcwX2Xa0?si=a7o1d_u76b5oZ8tU

Now, listen to the song here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRvEHn6fKWE&ab_channel=Ifasul

My first entry is Bagel Bites. This microwavable pizza snack was a freezer staple of any kid of the 90s. And it helped that the commercials that would air (I remember these on Nickelodeon) had one of the catchiest jingles ever. But did you know that the song was actually a rendition of an old 60s song called “Sugartime” by the McGuire Sisters. I gotta give credit to the gang over at the 1980’s Now Podcast that had mentioned the Sugartime Song in one of their episodes.

Catchyness: 5 Stars
Obscurity: 5 Stars

Velveeta Shells and Cheese

The Commercial:
https://youtu.be/jwRV3Vzjkf8?si=SThXizOW2VUdWIJ3

Now the song:
https://youtu.be/-iMYUZvQtE8?si=3dB9i5aKzeOPLKAN

Another memorable commercial in the 90’s was Kraft marketing their Velveeta Shells and Cheese. The Four Tops were a popular 60’s Motown Group and one of their hits was “It’s the Same Ol Song”. This one, even to a teenage kid like I was back in the 90s, was pretty clear and obvious this had to come from some other existing song. Not only did Velveeta rewrite the song, but the 4 Tops themselves showed up to sing the jingle!

Catchyness: 4 Stars
Obscurity: 1 Star

Glade Plug-Ins

The Commercial:
https://youtu.be/-2X38Q_uE_Y?si=4TeG2j1w0C_094Yr

Listen to the Song Here:
https://youtu.be/SRPN6xPrPpw?si=WdaBYxNXbkt1Q12W

Billy “Crash” Craddock’s hit song “Rub it In” was the inspiration for this very common Glade cleaning product. In the 90’s, it seemed like Glade was always pushing their fragrance products. I remember Mom buying those refills on those plug-ins quite often. How else was our home going to smell like “Country Breeze”? I gotta say, Craddock’s song was not something I knew when I was young, but listening to it as an adult, those lyrics are quite suggestive. Is this really a song about suntan lotion? Who knows, but Glade sure did a good job in letting us know that all we had to do was “Plug it in Plug it in” for a fresh-smelling home.

Catchyness: 3 Stars
Obscurity: 4 Stars

Hellman’s Dijonnaise

The Commercial:
https://youtu.be/bL6wndGjHCA?si=WMrOZdaVEIP8q7om

The Song:
https://youtu.be/AkwM3GLW8BQ?si=VtzcYtZjJ5pDo232

The 90’s seemed like the decade of condiment commercials galore. I can remember this one pretty well, but as a kid, no idea this was actually going from the 1962 hit song from artist Gene Chandler, named after his self proclaimed nickname “The Duke of Earl”. I suppose our parents and grandparents might have remembered this 60’s song, but not us Gen X-ers and Millenials.

Catchyness: 3 Stars
Obscurity: 3 Stars

Black and Decker Snakelight

The Commercial:
https://youtu.be/gWnvlTHaRNQ?si=8ndeXpDEiLEQjFXs

The Song:
https://youtu.be/jP1z0dQVcIQ?si=yimyTZ6AiuUL8-B6

Here’s one that hits me on many levels. For one, my family had this neat little flashlight that could wrap around things and essentially support itself because of its rubber grippy base. I also remember this commercial airing around the mid-90’s. But of course, this 60’s hit song by doo-wop singer Dion was one of his top hits, and Rolling Stone lists it in their Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Catchyness: 5 Stars
Obscurity: 3 Stars

Baby Rollerblade

The Commercial:
https://youtu.be/GC2DrwEbv70?si=GSy_GNq3O_A1rUEs

The Song:
https://youtu.be/BchXkabxn4A?si=FFj5OTEMd_8vGkcD

This commercial may have missed many of you, but not me. As a kid watching Nickelodeon in the 80s and 90s, the toy commercials came at us fast and furious. Many of them we can recite in our heads (My Buddy….My Buddy!), but this one used a very familiar #1 pop chart single from our parent’s youths. And with the recent passing of Beach Boy frontman Brian Wilson, this one will always be a song that comes to mind when thinking of the legendary group.

Catchyness: 3 Stars
Obscurity: 1 Star

Good Humor Ice Cream

The Commercial:
https://youtu.be/HZ_qUjznhOU?si=Lmpcy9Q7OOJmJ8XW

And the Song:
https://youtu.be/Hy8kmNEo1i8?si=32DD3CarXG6vAmWR

I’ll end this list with a fun one. It always seemed like the commercials on children’s channels and programming was mostly geared towards toys and food. And how about, more specifically, Ice Cream! Good Humor was a brand of frozen ice cream and popsicles that any kid of the 80’s and 90’s wanted all of the time – whether Mom brought it home from the grocery store or we heard the delightful jingle of the ice cream truck headed our way. This one makes you wanna get up and dance, and we can all thank American musician John Larkin, better known as Scatman John, who blended the improvisation of scat singing with upbeat dance music. The Scatman originally released the song in 1994, and a few years later Good Humor rewrote the words with the catchy Eurodance background music. Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop!