800-588-2300 EM-PIRE! (Today!)
Empire Today is a flooring company for homes which are known by their simple jingle of the company’s phone number and name. They are based in Chicago, Illinois and are the largest flooring company in the United States. Since their commercials are always being repeated from television to other media outlets and ads, they are one of the most easily recognizable companies in the country too, and memes of the jingle are abundant.800-588-2300 Empire Tropes! Today!:
- Animation Bump: From 1991 to 2004, the endtag was 2D-animated similar to the Red Bull ads, with noticeably fluid animation.
- Art Evolution: They went on an evolution trip throughout the years from being 2D animated to CGI later on.
- Cartoon Creature: The 2004-2015 endtag has what looks like a hairless cat or a dog which jumps on a couch.
- The Dead Rise to Advertise: They still use Lynn Hauldren as the mascot in animated form in the endtag, even after his passing in 2011, complete with his voice still saying "Today!" at the end. In 2015, his likeness was changed to look younger, with brown hair rather than white and removing all wrinkles.
- Denser and Wackier:
- One commercial shows a guy dancing on the carpets instead of the usual animated outro.
- One commercial uses the moon landing with a futuristic font instead of any animated jingle outro.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- Until 1983, the jingle was sung at a lower key.
- Regarding the Empire Today era, the jingle originally went "800-588-2300 EMPIRE TODAY!" in a fast tempo. Since 2004, it reverted to the original jingle with Lynn Hauldren saying "Today!" at the end.
- Fast-Forward Gag: One commercial
sped up its endtag to show what their commercials would sound like if they made those as fast as they delivered their carpet. - Phone Number Jingle: All together now: “800-588-2300 EMPIRE!note "
- Repeating Ad: The commercials are often repeated on television.