(June 17, 2023). Whether you’re getting “down with Rybelsus” or lowering your A1C with Jardiance, the “little pill with a big story to tell” (and a happy-go-lucky musical style commercial to go with it), it seems everyone is becoming familiar with the medical term A1C (a measurement of your body’s ability to process sugar over a longer period than what a finger prick indicates), and being entertained while doing it.
Who knew that learning about managing Type 2 Diabetes by lowering your A1C (and shedding a few pounds along with it) could be so musical and fun?
If there was a Billboard chart measuring the popularity of TV commercial jingles, those punchy tunes from Rybelsus and Jardiance would likely be in the top three (the latter, which debuted in 2023, has quickly become my mom’s favorite and the actress singing and dancing in it—American vocal coach Deanna “ Bomb Chica” DellaCioppa Colón—has already been profiled in articles about her considerable background and talents).
But neither of those two—Rybelsus or Jardiance—have yet gained the legs of the granddaddy of them all: Ozempic®️!
The FDA has recently issued a warning about the diabetes drug that it approved in December 2017, which now has been prescribed for millions of patients worldwide and was recently named the No. 1 prescribed brand in its class for patients with T2D (you can read the warning here).
But another federal agency—the FCC—might have just as easily issued a warning about the earworm that has served for the past five years as Ozempic’s theme song for its TV ads—the one that interpolates a top-five pop smash from 1975 and has become one of the catchiest and, likely, most profitable TV ad hooks in recent memory.
“Oh, oh, oh, Ozempic! Oh-oh-oh-oh”
Pop music fans of a certain age (and listeners of 1970s oldies radio stations) will recognize the catchy tune serving as the basis for that jingle: the hit song “Magic” by Pilot, a Scottish quartet out of Edinburgh who made it their only top-40 hit here in America during the Spring and Summer of 1975.
The international smash had actually been released the previous year (Sept. 1974) in the U.K., where it reached No. 11 on the chart (it performed best in Canada where it reached No. 1). Produced by the legendary Alan Parsons, “Magic” was written by Pilot band members David Paton (the lead singer whose wife inspired the line “never seen a daybreak” because, well, she hadn’t) and the late keyboardist Billy Lyall (1953-89).
The mullet-wearing band’s other two members were Stuart Tosh (drums) and the late Ian Bairnson (electric guitar), who died this year at age 69 after suffering from dementia.
“Magic” was inescapable in 1975. With a hook that wouldn’t quit (what 9-year-old kid like me wasn’t singing it at the time?), one could easily make the argument that it’s one of the greatest pop tunes ever crafted (a close friend of mine and I have low-key called it the best pop song of the ‘70s decade!).
The creators of the Ozempic®️ campaign would likely fall in that camp as well. It has helped make their premiere medication the No. 1 brand of its type, and certainly the most recognizable.
Other companies could take a page out of the playbook from Novo Nordisk, the Danish company that introduced Ozempic®️, the semaglutide drug that began as a once-weekly injection but whose variations now include a more patient-friendly daily pill.
Novo began its “magical” campaign with an ad it launched in July 2018, with the jingle that switched out the key refrain “Oh, oh, oh, it’s magic!” with the words “Oh, oh, oh Ozempic!”
That earwormy jingle has been used for the drug ever since, making it as popular as the original song itself, and perhaps even more so!
Or, at least it’s more recognizable to the Gen-Y and Gen-Zers out there who weren’t around during the decade of black light posters, eight-track tapes, bell-bottom jeans and platform shoes when “Magic” was on radio stations and record players everywhere.
Music in my head…
“Magic” may have been their only big hit in America, but the members of Pilot parlayed their short-term success (they had three other 1975 hits in their native U.K., including the No. 1 single “January”) into other projects during the 1970s and ‘80s.
Paton and Bairnson played on early albums by newly inducted Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Kate Bush. Tosh, Paton and Bairnson became members of the Alan Parsons Project, with Paton and Bairnson playing on his early ‘80s albums featuring the American top-20 hits “Time,” “Games People Play” “Don’t Answer Me,” and “Eye In the Sky.” Paton also sang lead on the APP album cut “Children of the Moon.”
But nothing likely compares to the earnings Paton and the estate of Bairnson still make from “Magic,” assuming they own publishing rights (man, I hope they do!). I’d like to think that Paton, who is now 73, is happy, healthy and set for life with the link between his evergreen smash and one of the most popular drugs around the globe.
In a world where drug companies spend a lot of ad space—as required by the FDA—describing all the reasons you shouldn’t take their product with all of the side effects and contraindications they have to disclose, the folks over at Ozempic have found a way to counter the contra, with a nearly 50-year-old earworm that deserves its own federal warning: you definitely won’t be able to get it out of your head after a few exposures!
“Magic” will turn 50 on September 20, 2024. The first Ozempic ad using “Magic” will turn five on July 30, 2023.
DJRob
DJRob (he/him/his), who rediscovered “Magic” 30 years ago thanks to Rhino Records’ “Super Hits of the ‘70s—Have A Nice Day” CD series, is a freelance music blogger from somewhere on the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, pop and rock genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff! You can follow him on Twitter at @djrobblog.
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