Enter the Chiquita Jingle Contest! #ChiquitaSingOff

Chances are, you can sing, or at least hum, a few bars of the famous Chiquita Banana jingle. The song first hit the airwaves in 1944 when Miss Chiquita made her debut. It was written to help teach Americans how to ripen and use bananas, which were, at the time, an exotic tropical fruit. At its peak, the jingle was played 376 times a day on radio stations across the United States. It was one of the most successful commercial jingles of all time. I’m wondering how many times a day it would be played on today’s stations… given how much airtime popular songs are given. It would be far higher than 376 I think!! 

Some fun history on the Chiquita Jingle: An ad agency team led by Robert Foreman created the song. Foreman and his staff developed the jingle using office talent, an old piano and a box of paper clips shaken to simulate maracas. Garth Montgomery wrote the lyrics and co-worker Len MacKenzie provided the music. The singer in the original 1944 recording was Patti Clayton, the first in a long line of Miss Chiquitas.

Today, it’s still the “top banana” in jingles, and Chiquita is looking for the next sing-off star! Sing it for yourself, for a chance to win $5000!

Methods of Entry: Music Video, Sing-Along or a Banana-Gram

Prizes:

Music Video:

• Grand Prize – $5,000
• First Prize – $2,500
• Second Prize – a year’s worth of Chiquita bananas.

Sing-Along

• Grand Prize – $2,500
• First Prize – $1,000
• Second Prize – a year’s worth of Chiquita bananas.

Banana-Gram:

• Grand Prize – a year’s worth of Chiquita bananas for you and a friend.

Dates: 
April 15, 2015 – May 27, 2015

Entry Method/Prizes: (You can check out the Video Gallery if you need some inspiration)

Music Video:

• Grand Prize – $5,000
• First Prize – $2,500
• Second Prize – a year’s worth of Chiquita bananas.

Sing-Along

• Grand Prize – $2,500
• First Prize – $1,000
• Second Prize – a year’s worth of Chiquita bananas.

Banana-Gram:

• Grand Prize – a year’s worth of Chiquita bananas for you and a friend.

Ready to get your Chiquita Jingle on?  Here’s the lyrics (below)! So create your entry, submit it to the site and then post it online so your friends can vote for you! It’s that simple and you could win $5,000! Good Luck! Enter here: Chiquita Jingle Contest

“I’m Chiquita banana and I’ve come to say – Bananas have to ripen in a certain way – When they are fleck’d with brown and have a golden hue – Bananas taste the best and are best for you – You can put them in a salad – You can put them in a pie-aye – Any way you want to eat them – It’s impossible to beat them – But, bananas like the climate of the very, very tropical equator – So you should never put bananas in the refrigerator.”

Also, now we all have a word that rhymes with refrigerator.  More or less.  Here’s my kids’ entry for the contest (or here it will be, once it uploads properly!) Register here

“Chiquita Banana” (words and music by Garth Montgomery, Leonard Mackenzie, William Wirges) under license to Chiquita Brands L.L.C. © 1945 Shawnee Press Inc.