Corporate Anthems
There was a time when it was not only common to work for a single company for your entire working life, it was expected. Employees and employers had a different relationship in the 50s than they do today. The only real examples of employment for life tend to be in the automotive industry, but even that has become less and less common with the changing of the economy.
My father-in-law was an example of a lifer when it came to his job. Company functions were mandatory attendance, his sons both worked for the company growing up, he even got me a job there for a year (I hated it by the way - I'm not a fan of unions or sweating for a living). To show just how dedicated he was, and how much people associated him with his work, his nickname was Pepsi.
Why Anthems?
First we need to understand that Anthems are not jingles. Jingles are the plop plop fizz fizzes of the world. They are short little memorable tunes designed to stick in a customer's head and get them to buy more stuff. Anthems are an entirely different animal. They tend to be full songs with a message for the people at the company itself. Sort of an internal marketing tool.
In the "old days" these anthems were taken quite seriously and were used as a tool to help boost morale and create a sense of unity for everyone involved in the company. One of the most well known songs from that period is Ever Onward 
from the great minds at IBM. Somewhere along the way the idea of a the corporate anthems lost their way. In the 1950s it was innocent, a team building exercise, and somewhat useful. In the 80s 90s and beyond they have become something else.
Somewhere along the way corporate anthems become a point of ego for the marketing staff or even the CEOs of these companies. I'm not sure why these people thought that they were a good idea, it's possible that they are the result of a me too philosophy or, just as likely, the result of a 7 martini lunch. Whatever fueled these songs, I'm sure that they were never intended to become the source of ridicule that they have become. The only purpose they seem to have these days is to stroke the ego of the person responsible for them, and serve as an examlpe of what not to do with your company.
But maybe they can be forgiven. Look at how many of these anthems come from companies with two, three, and four letter domain names. Can you say old school?
A few random notes as I sort these out:
- Three of the "Big Four" Auditing companies, KPMB, PriceWaterhouse, and Ernst and Young, are on this list
- Three and Four letter domain names read old domains, hold 8 of the 19 slots here.
Corporate Anthem Collection
Here is most of my collection. If you know of one that I don't have, please send it to me or let me know about it so I can get it added.
Latest Additions- Drupa - Drupa International Printing and Paper Fair Not wanting to be left out by the tech world, the Germans decided that their international printing and paper fair, all 14 days of it, needed it's own theme song. And it proves the no matter where in the world you are, you are surrounded by country music. Drupa
- IBM - Rational We are Rational and we love making software that rocks! Too bad the song has that awful early 90s hair band sound to it, not like the cool 80s hair bands. IBM
- KPMG - Our Vision of Global Strategy KPMG Wow, now that is a mellow tune in an after school special sort of way. KPGM
- While not a "Corporate Anthem" I just can't see this collection as complete without this cool video of Richard Stallman Singing about free software.
- Asera - Asera Everywhere Are you ready to party? Are you ready to get funky? Some sort of strange pop / rap fusion thing.
- Asera - Asera Leads The Way Livin large from the supercharge of the working day Is it really to do a jazzy synth tune?
- CheckPoint - We Secure the Internet It's the point, your mind is free A nice little duet worthy of Patrick Swazey and Jennifer Grey. Check Point
- IBM - Ever Onward The grandaddy of all corporate anthems, IBM's Ever Onward. IBM
- Infogrames There's Nascar Heat, Tonka Town And a list of a ton of games I'm almost ashamed to say I've played. Infogrames
- McKinsey Knowledge Center There is a dream that has a latin beat but it's not much fun to dance to. McKinsey
- MediaApps Back to the Net I really have no clue Maybe this is a cuban beat?
- Novell - Novell Days Hey.. Hey.. These are the brainshare days wow this sounds a lot like Sheryl Crow. Novell
- Price Waterhouse Cooper - Downright Global How can you mix a cheap synthsizer with rap? Or maybe we should ask why?!?! Price Waterhouse Cooper
- Price Waterhouse Cooper - Your World Let's change it up and slow it down. Grab your lady and dance real slow. Price Waterhouse Cooper
- SGI - I Have A Dream I have a dream and it's two CPUs. Uh, I have a dream too, but it's not about CPUs. SGI
- SGI - Octane Swing Octane, We're gonna rocktane! Oh yeah, that's smoooooooooooooooth SGI
- Symantec - Revolution Symantec is in the house But not mine, that stuff is slow, sort of like the start to this song. Symantec
- Texas Instruments - Fast Forward Fast Forward ... Fast Forward ... When did these guys stop making calculators and start making this stuff? Texas Instruments
Not to be outdone, we've even got a few corporate anthem videos.
PaqRap From about 1990, the board of directors at Compaq thought that a rap about their jobs would be a cool thing. I blame the Chicago Bears and the Superbowl Shuffle.It doesn't stop here. CompaqVet has gathered together a rather impressive collection of cool Compaq videos on Youtube.
The Dev Life from Salesforce.Com (2007). I got the dev life going mama, I'm like the coding dalai lama. WTF?!?! Now you can join me in our own little special torment with this song stuck in our heads for life, the dev life.
Maybe they thought the shout out to Kevin Rose would help? Be sure to keep an eye out for the dancers in the background.