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Kylie Knott

A jingle has been developed in Hong Kong to help children understand – and remember – what to do in a heatwave.
With the message “Let’s stay cool and hydrate”, the jingle aims to help kids do just that when the temperature soars.
Jingles are short slogans, verses or tunes designed to be easily remembered, and are a key element in advertising to get a message across.
Some become earworms that continue to play on in a person’s head long after the music has stopped.


Anyone who has visited a Wellcome supermarket in Hong Kong recently might have heard a jingle and picked up an earworm thanks to its tune – that of Billy Joel’s 1983 classic “Uptown Girl” – which has been given a Hong Kong spin courtesy of Cantopop star George Lam and his son Alex.
The song, played on a loop, promotes the Yuu rewards programme under which customers earn points for purchases and can redeem rewards when they shop.
Why some songs and jingles get stuck in a person’s head more than others has long intrigued scientists.
Music researchers have been seeking the secrets behind these catchy tunes in their tempo and pitch. In 2023, a study in Australia offered a different explanation.
Study lead Professor Emery Schubert, from the Empirical Musicology Laboratory in Sydney’s School of the Arts and Media, says the key is repetition.
“There’s an essential characteristic necessary for a song to roll out the earworms – the music itself must have some repetition in it,” Schubert says. Most earworms are choruses of songs – the pieces of music that are repeated the most – he says.
“Most research on earworms to date analyses what’s in the hook – the short riff or passage to catch the ear of the listener,” Schubert says.
“But what hasn’t been considered is that the hook is invariably repeated in the music, most commonly in the chorus.”


While jingles can be entertaining, Hong Kong-based author Martha Keswick saw the potential of harnessing catchy tunes and using them as an educational tool.
Keswick’s philanthropic work for the Keswick Foundation on disaster-related projects in China led her to create Cope, a series of not-for-profit books designed to improve children’s disaster resilience. (Cope is an acronym for the names of the four orphans who star in the series: Candy, Ollie, Ping and Eddy.)
Published in 15 languages, including English, Spanish, Chinese, Urdu and Bahasa Indonesia, among others, the books – with illustrations by Hong Kong artist Mariko Jesse – are distributed in around 25 countries, reaching 3 million children.
Cope is behind the new “Let’s stay cool and hydrate” jingle, whose fun, repetitive nature ensures that the key instructions are easy to recall – and could potentially save lives, Keswick says.
“The jingle is designed to be both educational and entertaining, making it easier for children to remember essential steps to take during a heatwave,” she says.

It is much needed. Heatwaves and prolonged excess heat conditions are increasing in frequency, duration, intensity and magnitude because of climate change, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
It says the number of people exposed to extreme heat is growing exponentially because of climate change in all regions of the world.
In 2023, Hong Kong recorded its hottest summer ever, with the city recording an average temperature of 29.7 degrees Celsius (85.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in August last year, the highest since records began almost 140 years ago.
This past weekend, temperatures in some parts of Hong Kong soared beyond 37 degrees Celsius.
Across Southeast Asia other countries are also experiencing scorching temperatures, and experts say the climate crisis will cause more frequent and longer heatwaves in the future.
“With heatwaves impacting many parts of the world, we believe the timing is perfect to promote our new heatwaves jingle.
“It is crucial to ensure children are aware of how to stay cool and hydrated during these extreme weather events,” says Keswick.

The idea for the Cope jingles, she says, stems from The Teng Company, a not-for-profit Singaporean arts company that uses Chinese music to enrich the lives of the vulnerable.
“Working with [the] Teng group, the plan was to produce a 45-second animated jingle for each Cope disaster title, starting with heatwaves, to teach children the important steps of staying cool and hydrated,” she says.
Next up are jingles for coping with floods, landslides and earthquakes.
“Jingles are a powerful, educational way to engage both children and adults, simplifying such complex topics and making them memorable and even enjoyable.
“I must admit that I sometimes find myself humming, ‘It’s a heatwave, heatwave. Gotta stay cool and hydrate!’ as I’m walking around Central (district in Hong Kong) on a seriously hot summer’s day!” she adds.












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A post shared by COPE Disaster Champions (@copedisasterchampions)



“We are thrilled with the jingles’ output, as they provide additional content to Cope’s free content, and will hopefully succeed in spreading the word about disaster risk reduction even faster, via TV, radio or internet.”
Cope’s mission is to empower children worldwide in disaster risk reduction, equipping them with the right tools so they know what to do should a disaster occur.
“Jingles make these crucial messages entertaining and simple to remember, not only for the slow-onset disasters such as heatwaves or droughts but also for the sudden-onset disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis or volcanic eruptions, which may one day save their lives,” Keswick says.
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A boy keeps cool on a hot day. A Hong Kong author is using jingles to educate children and remind them to take precautions during heatwaves, and will be creating jingles to remind them how to act in other natural disasters. Photo: Reuters

Cope has released a jingle with the message “Let’s stay cool and hydrate” to help kids do just that during heatwaves. Photo: Cope

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Health & Wellness

Health

Most jingles are used as advertising hooks, but Hong Kong author Martha Keswick is using one to teach children to stay safe during heatwaves


A Hong Kong author is using a jingle to educate children about taking precautions during heatwaves, and will be creating jingles to help them in other natural disasters. Experts explain the jingle’s power.


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