Barry Manilow Sang A Jingle In 1972 That Features One Of The Most Iconic Lines In Commercial History

Barry Manilow just might be the most adult contemporary of all adult contemporary artists. The floppy-haired crooner oozed his way into the hearts of chair-sitting concert attendees everywhere starting with his eponymous 1973 debut album and ending with over 85 million albums sold, 15 Grammy nominations and one win (for "Copacabana," about which Manilow had serious doubts), three No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits, and 25 Top 40 hits from 1974 to 1983. That's a pretty impressive track record. And to think a familiar jingle was there at the very beginning of his career: "You deserve a break today."

Nowadays, folks might associate "break" in slogans with KitKats. After all, "Have a break — have a KitKat" was the product's slogan from 1957 all the way to 2004. But in 1972, it was McDonald's that wielded the line "You deserve a break today" in a TV commercial featuring smiling children filling up on some Mc-food. In the commercial, a gentle voice lilts a jingle aside a horn accompaniment and atop fast-food scenery, singing, "So much life to be lived / So much to be tried / And when you share it you get / A special feelin' inside." Then there's the main tagline, "You deserve a break today." And who is the man singing those lines? Yup. It's Barry Manilow. And even though he didn't write the jingle, it's even got a Manilow-like Vegas show-tune slowdown and crescendo leading into the chorus.

Most interestingly of all, this commercial aired before Manilow's 1973 debut album. It's just one of many jingles that kickstarted Manilow's career.

Back in 1972 when McDonald's aired their "You deserve a break today" commercial, no one knew the name "Barry Manilow." Well, no one but the folks at CBS, where he worked as music director for a talent show called "Callback" in 1968 — after working in the CBS mailroom and being known as the "piano-playing mail boy," that is (as he told Variety in 2019). He was also going to the Institute of Musical Art (later called Julliard) at the time and generally learning the art of composing and arranging music. This is where the jingles industry comes into play, which was "the best music college I could ever imagine," as AdWeek quotes him. 

Manilow had already written a bunch of jingles by the time the early '70s rolled around, including Pepsi's "Feelin' Free" and Green Bowlene toilet cleaner's "Bathroom Bowl Blues." He also wound up writing a massive 1971 hit jingle that we still sing today, State Farm's "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there." He got paid a flat rate of $500 for it, which "was great for me at that point," per Television Academy. But singing jingles? That's where the money was, as they yielded residual payments.

Enter the 1972 "You deserve a break today" commercial, where Manilow himself sings. That commercial hit the air the same year Manilow got a break of a different type while working as Bette Midler's pianist and music arranger. (He really got around back then.) He produced a demo that year, passed it along to Irv Beigel of Bell Records, and boom: instant record deal. Good thing he had the chance to practice singing about eating at McDonald's.