1-800-ROCK-JEM
Jem Truly Outrageous Audition Contest
1,151 Winners out of over 375,000 entries.

To add extra layer of excitement around the launch of the JEM doll line and JEM animated series, Hasbro had an Audition Contest created. To enter you had to call 1-800-ROCK-JEM on Saturdays between May 17, 1986 and June 14, 1986, 9am to 3 pm EST. The in-packaging “game card” said May 17, 1986, but the TV commercial said April 12, 1986. The contest entry period must have been expanded after the “game card” brochure was printed. I’m sure the Saturdays only was to get the cheapest rate, because Saturday was a non-peak time for the landline phone companies.

There was a recording with JEM answering, and you were given 50 seconds to give your name, address, and sing the JEM Theme Song. I’m thinking that was to keep the phone call under 1 minute, so they would cut the phone call short before additional charge for “each additional minute.” You could also record your entry on cassette and send it in to a PO Box in St. Louis, MO. If you need the sheet music you could send an envelope to a different PO Box in St. Louis, MO. I guess you would receive the “game card” brochure from the doll boxes. Your envelope had to postmarked by June 1, 1986 to receive the sheet music, which only gave you two weeks to call. The request for sheet music might have taken a week for the Waylon Company to receive your envelope and a week for you to get the sheet music delivered to your mailbox. So you might not have received the sheet music in time.

I saw the commercial for the contest on TV, but did not enter it. The commercial did not say it, but I under the impression I had to “get your parents permissions” to make the phone call. I also remember thinking the contest was exclusively for girls and thinking I was not a good enough singer. Of course, they probably never listened to the singing, or not much of it. They basically only listened to the recording to get the contact information for the contest, because they were only putting the contact information into a random drawing. The amount of time and work that took was crazy, for someone to listen to each message and write down the information or type it into a spreadsheet.

A concert jacket for your JEM doll and a JEM poster.
Value: $10

An article about the Grand Prize Winner …

One of the youngest attendees at the glittery MTV Music Video Awards tonight will be six-year-old Keri King from Seymour, Tenn. She and her parents will be seated in New York’s trendy Palladium amidst music industry executives, celebrity presenters and award nominees like Whitney Houston and Don Johnson. But Keri’s favorite rock star will be right beside her. Phil Collins? No. Tina Turner? Not exactly. Rather, Keri’s companion for the evening will be her favorite doll JEM. JEM, a fashion doll and star of the top-rated animated T.V. series for girls which airs Sunday mornings has become the biggest heart throb of millions of little girls like Keri. Like all the best heroes, JEM has a dual identity: she’s a music executive by day and rock star by night. She’s also got a social conscience; JEM’s rock star earnings go to support a home for homeless girls. Keri won a Hasbro Toy-sponsored promotional sweepstakes whose first prize was a trip to New York City to attend the MTV Awards. Keri and more than 375,000 other girls and boys from all 50 states entered the sweepstakes by calling a toll-free number and singing the JEM theme song to a sophisticated answering system. Keri’s entry was selected at random. In addition to the other prizes, she won a JEM outfit to wear to the awards broadcast. JEM’s influence and popularity among girls Keri’s age is due, in part, to the ripple effects of music video on fashion and music. ‘’Children today have a fascination with music videos because they portray the world larger than life, often with magical images,’’ says Al Carosi, corporate vice president, marketing services, Hasbro Inc. ‘’That’s the same approach we took in creating the world of JEM and its fantasy, fashion and music-oriented playsets.’’ Part of the story is that JEM’s alter ego, Jerrica Benton, is a record company executive and her boyfriend is the road manager for JEM’s group, the Holograms. A ‘’battle of the bands’’ takes place with another all-girl group, The Misfits, who are jealous of JEM and her success and constantly make mischief. Keri’s day in New York City, which will be her first trip outside her hometown area of Knoxville, Tenn., includes touring the United Nations/Statue of Liberty/Empire State Building, shopping at Macy’s and F.A.O. Schwartz stores and lunch at Tavern-on-the-Green. Keri’s mother, Norma Jean King, was very supportive of Keri’s entry into the contest. ‘Keri’s just loves to pretend and sing, so when she told me she wanted to sing the JEM song and try to win, I told her to go right ahead. Toys that expand a child’s imagination and still provide good role models are toys that I want her to have.’’
JEM, her boyfriend Rio, The Holograms and The Misfits are all trademark products of Hasbro Inc.
PR Newswire - New York - Friday, September 5, 1986.

Cafe Article - July 27, 2023 
‘Truly Outrageous’: The 1980s War Between Jem and the Holograms
and Barbie and the Rockers
By David Kurlander