Grand Strand men in commercial jingle contest finals

TV commercials score their own touchdowns of sorts, especially in the weeklong runup to and during the Super Bowl. The bonanza of ads also might spur new jingles that could become earworms for the rest of the year.

Two area men -- Arnie Borowsky, from the Andrews area, and Shawn Valentine, a Georgetown native moving to Columbia -- have made the top 20 finalists in SafeAuto’s fourth annual “Do the Jingle” contest.

The insurer, based in Columbus, Ohio, drew more than 300 uploaded entries for this video contest, for which the second- through fifth-place finishers also each take home a cash prize, all in a quest to re-create, reinterpret or reinvent the SafeAuto jingle.

Borowsky strummed a guitar when singing his take, and Valentine let his voice alone drive his submission. SafeAuto officials made both men available to discuss the experience and their respective creativity to contribute to this contest.

Question | How long have you paid attention to commercial jingles, and do any favorite ditties come to mind?

Borowsky | I do construction, and I am now selling insurance. I have done construction and stuff for years, and I have an active agent. She got me a commercial with Tums. I try out for ads all the time. I was in Tums commercials this past year. ... Nothing that I could say, though, “That’s my favorite commercial.”

Valentine | You can’t avoid it. If you have a radio or TV or are on the Internet, they’ll be on in some form. They’ve been around my whole life. ... The Sunkist one with Snoop Dogg, with the girl dancing all through the video; it has the little jingle to it.

Q. | How did your variation of the SafeAuto theme come together?

Borowsky | I wrote it five minutes, and I went in and video recorded it three times. ... I had the day off, no work, and the time, two of my sisters-in-law were visiting. They were wanting to go to the beach that day. I said ‘I’ll go record it and meet you back at the beach.’ It was just kind of laid back. I just sat down and did it.

Valentine | I used the model for the tempo of one of my other songs called “Supermodel.” It’s a very universal tempo throughout the song. If I really sat there and did the whole studio thing, I could have used the melody of one of my other songs. ... With SafeAuto, though, this is how I felt about it. I did it in one take and recorded it in one shot. ... It’s my musical side, and I will try anything.

Q. | How big a channel has music carved in your own life, whether for a pastime or ultimately, a dream career?

Borowsky | I grew up with my mom singing lead music in church, and I was in the boys’ choir at First Baptist Church in Charleston. We had to dress up every week and go sing together. ... I’ve been involved with music my whole life. ... We were in choir from third grade to seventh grade, and right before your voice changes, your voice is at its best. ...

For years, I dreamed of doing music full time; that was my ultimate goal. ... Now I have a band again. ... It’s always been something that I’ve wanted to do. My grandmother: She could play any instrument she could get her hand on. My mom: She had a chance to record, but she wanted to be married and happy -- that’s all she wanted. ... it must be in my background. My dad: He played for Ernest Tubb on and off.

Valentine | Music has always been a big thing for me, in traveling and going to different states to perform, and meeting people of all different ethnicities. People all enjoy one big thing: music. ... If you know what good music is, no matter what genre it is, you know what good music is. ...

My whole family is around it. ... I felt so comfortable once I started singing. ... My whole heart and passion is music, from how I carry myself to how I perform music for parents, family and friends. It’s mentally made me what I am today. It has had a big impact on me.

Q. | How is this SafeAuto venture a different direction for your own music writing?

Borowsky | I did it as a spoof; I didn’t think anything about it. .. Then when I was No. 1 for a while last week in the voting at safeauto.com, I thought, “Oh, man, this is getting serious.” … I’m just kind of laid back. Whatever comes my way, I try to be as relaxed as possible. ... I’ve really been surprised with all this attention that has happened in all of this. I wasn’t expecting this when I tried out for it. It was during the summer ... . I went there and two other guys were the only guys who tried out.

Valentine | It’s definitely something new to me, but I have been musically inclined my whole life. I started singing lessons when I was 17 ... and the sky was the limit. I ended up doing shows at the Apollo Theater, old-school R&B concerts here in Myrtle Beach, and I have been on local TV shows and college and radio shows.

I did “American Idol” and made it past a couple of rounds; I can still look at its result and say I did a whole lot more than other people did. ... It’s definitely a blessing from God, something from inside of me, and I know I have the talent and I want to show it.

Q. | For you, is watching the Super Bowl more than just the supreme professional football game, but also a gallery for the art of advertising? Will you look at ads differently from this point on?

Borowsky | Definitely. ... I’ve been doing the acting thing for a while. ... There’s several commercials I tried out for that I didn’t get. I look at all this with SafeAuto differently. ... To me, knowing that video is on the computer -- that just blows me away. ... I really have enjoyed it. What’s crazy is that is I started a new job in December, I started a new band, and my wife and I have four girls and another baby on the way.

Valentine | I love the football game, and I always want to see the Super Bowl commercials. To a certain extent, everybody wants to make sure they tune in to a great game, but you also want to know the history behind the commercials. It’s like someone will have a funny, great type of commercial, and that becomes what’s happenin’ and what’s going down.