What do you call the voice of your GPS? I call ours “GyPSy.” Get it?
I’m asking only because I just saw the latest Peyton Manning “Nationwide is on your side” jingle. In my opinion, those are some of the cleverest ads on TV. Peyton manages to fit almost any scenario into the ubiquitous little jingle. In the latest one I’ve seen, even his GPS sings the jingle when Peyton seems to get lost.
Peyton Manning’s a five-time MVP, Super Bowl champion and NFL record-holder, but according to an article I read recently, more people seem to relate to him from the jingle than from his exploits as the Broncos quarterback. The article said that people often speak to Peyton using the jingle when they see him. And Nationwide has refreshed the ad with new Peyton “Jingle” moments throughout the season.
The article quoted Peyton as saying, “I was really amazed by how much fans embraced the first ‘Jingle’ ad. I think this latest version of the ad will really capture just how much Nationwide’s jingle has become part of my everyday life.”
In the ads we see Peyton eating a chicken Parmesan sandwich, sitting in an ice bath, sampling a queso dip in the store, sitting in front of his locker with a bobble-head doll, watching a TV ad, trying on new golf shorts, watching a movie, playing pingpong, driving his car. There may be others I’m not aware of. So it’s not surprising, I suppose, that people relate to him from the ads.
Manning’s original “Chicken Parm” jingle was so popular that the company teamed with the Broncos’ quarterback for a series of new jingles that would run throughout the NFL season. Same tune. Different words. Although the famous chicken parm actually makes a cameo at the end of one of the new ones. The “Chicken parm, you taste so good” jingle went viral (as do most of Manning’s other commercials) resulting in chicken parm T-shirts, chicken parm autographed footballs, etc. You can find all kinds of stuff on the Internet! You can also find outtakes from the filming of some of the ads, and some of those are even funnier than the final ads.
OK, time to ‘fess up: I didn’t know what Nationwide was (even though they’re on my side!) until I started looking around for stuff about the Peyton Manning ads! I guess I don’t watch ads very carefully. I had the idea that it was a rental car company. Be a great name for a rental car company, wouldn’t it?
But when I started doing a little research, I found out some really interesting stuff about the company. Most notably, the company does some cool charity work. It sponsors the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, for example. The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award is one of the most prestigious awards in sports and is given annually by the National Football League to honor a player’s volunteer and charity work, as well as his excellence on the field. Prior to 1999, it was called simply the NFL Man of the Year Award.
In 2014, Nationwide (it’s an insurance company, by the way) contributed more than $250,000 to the various charitable foundations represented by the nominees, including to the Thomas Davis Defending Dreams Foundation, represented by 2014 winner, Carolina Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis. This season, Nationwide will increase its contributions to the nominees’ foundations to nearly $300,000. This year’s nominees are Thomas Davis — again, Anquan Boldin of the 49ers, and our own Aaron Rodgers. (You know the jingle: “Aaron Rodgers is our guy!”)
A spokesman for the company said, “Our first year associated with this prestigious award opened our eyes to the amazing work these athletes are doing in their communities. Nationwide will increase our contributions to the players and their foundations by $30,000 as we continue to shine a brighter spotlight on their philanthropic efforts.”
“Now it’s time for me to quit!”
Note to my Times Herald readers: Today marks 10 years that my column has been running in this paper. I am grateful for all the great response I’ve gotten from local readers over the years.
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