CINCINNATI — Just months after CONTRACTOR published its first issue in 1954, Roto-Rooter began to use its advertising jingle, “And away go troubles down the drain.” Roto-Rooter said it is among the few companies to leave its jingle untouched for this long.
Roto-Rooter began a yearlong celebration of the jingle’s 50th anniversary in May. While the jingle has always appeared in Roto-Rooter radio, TV spots and Yellow Page ads, the company recently added the musical scroll to its billboard and print advertising campaigns.
According to results of a recent survey of 1,000 Americans, Wrigley’s “double your pleasure, double your fun,” Roto-Rooter’s “and away go troubles down the drain” and GM’s “see the USA in a Chevrolet” ranked as the top three most familiar jingles of yesteryear, Roto-Rooter said. In particular, Americans born between 1950 and 1969 remember “Roto-Rooter, that’s the name, and away go troubles down the drain.”
Capt. Stubby and the Buccaneers first performed the jingle on WLS Radio in Chicago. Since that time, the Roto-Rooter jingle has been featured in countless advertisements for the company. The originator of the Roto-Rudenr jingle, Tom Fouts, who portrayed Capt. Stubby, died May 24, 50 years to the month from the time he and his band first recorded the Roto-Rooter jingle.
Spencer Lee, CEO for Roto-Rooter Services Co., said the jingle has had a significant effect on business over the years.
“Roto-Rooter can attribute much of its long-standing reputation to the appeal of its 50-year-old jingle,” Lee said. “The fact that people can still sing the tune today shows just how linked it has become to our brand and our popularity with homeowners.”
Joey Levine, chairman and CEO of Crushing Music, a jingle house in New York, noted: “People are becoming more and more aware of the importance of creating their own brand language, as opposed to borrowing other people’s language for their brand via existing music. We are noticing companies revisiting the concept of a jingle, something they haven’t done in some time.”
Roto-Rooter started in 1935 and now operates businesses in more than 100 company-owned territories and more than 500 franchise territories.