Companies get our attention in many ways. They put billboards along the highway, run commercials during the Super Bowl, or print their logo on pens or stress balls. The best brands, though, know that good slogans may be all it takes to really make an impact.
What are some of the best slogans in advertising history? Why are they effective? Let's dive into the most influential and recognized taglines of all time!
A slogan, by its simplest definition, is a catchy tagline or phrase that's used by a company for advertising. It's a short and sweet reminder of the value a brand offers their customers.
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The most famous slogans stand the test of time and can be used outside of the brand. For example, Nike's "Just Do It" can be said by anyone – whether it's a coach encouraging their athlete to do another rep at the gym or the head honcho of a company asking their accounting team to calculate a new sales tax law.
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A slogan can also be thought of as a promise a company stands behind – like you'll "open happiness" every time you drink a Coca-Cola or Fed-Ex will "absolutely, positively" have your items overnight if needed. The idea is to make the public think about what your brand offers and not just about the brand itself.
Advertising can seem like its own language! Slogans can also be referred to as:
The best slogans ever created are not only popular, but also marked by a timeless appeal that's hard to replicate. Some are serious in tone, while others are more lighthearted and fun.
The top advertising slogans of all time are:
Year: 1988
History: "Just Do It" has a dark history that starts in Utah State Prison, where 36-year-old Gary Gilmore was on death row. Nike's ad exec at the time, Dan Wieden, thought the brand needed a tagline for their next campaign and remembered Gilmore's final words: "Let's do it." He fused the phrase with Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign, and the rest is part of advertising history.
Impact: Colin Kaepernick, the football star behind the "take a knee" controversy, became the face of Nike's campaign in 2018. This elevated the slogan from just a selling point for the brand to a bona fide political statement.
Year: 1997
History: Steven Spielberg, Sting, and many other creative people were using Apple products when the brand was in need of a new slogan. This prompted ad agency TBWA/Chiat/Day to come up with a phrase that marketed to individuals who had bold visions and daring thoughts.
Impact: Steve Jobs mentioned "Think Different" in his presentation at an expo called Macworld. His words had a huge impact on the audience, causing Apple to become one of the bestselling brands of all time.
Year: 1984
History: Clare Peller is the famous old lady who critically asked, "Where's the beef?" in the original ad, which was created by New York agency Kaplan Thaler Group. The slogan has gone on to become a popular idiom that's used when anything, not just hamburgers, is lacking substance.
Impact: "Where's the beef?" was such a hit that Wendy's made mugs, t-shirts, and beach towels featuring the signature phrase. It also led to a record $76.2 million in sales the following year.
Year: 2009
History: Coca-Cola is a brand of many slogans, but "Open Happiness" is the one that best represents the digital age of marketing. The campaign debuted during Super Bowl XLIII and quickly went viral, showing a series of vending machine hacks in a variety of locations, from a college campus in New York to a mall In Pakistan.
Impact: In a world consumed by social media, "Open Happiness" had a significant impact. The campaign's Facebook page ended up getting over 50 million likes before the slogan was replaced with "Taste the Feeling."
Year: 1973
History: Joanne Dusseau was the first model to use "Because you're worth it" in a L'Oreal ad, and since then, it has become a strong feminist statement. The tagline was written by 23-year-old copywriter Ilon Specht of a marketing agency called Third Avenue in New York City.
Impact: In 2012, L'Oreal Paris USA released a mini documentary about the history of their slogan. The company's CEO, the original spokesmodel, and even Beyoncé Knowles talk about the empowerment behind the campaign.
Year: 1954
History: Ted Bates & Co., an advertising firm in Chicago, came up with this trademark slogan. The first commercial to use the phrase showed a man hiding M&Ms in his hands and then uttering the famous words. At that point, the milk chocolate candies had already been on the market for over 10 years!
Impact: "Melts in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hands" was voted America's favorite slogan in 2014. The phrase highlights a unique factor of M&M's - their colorful protective shell.
Year: 1938
History: Frances Gerety, a copywriter with N.W. Ayer, wrote "A Diamond is Forever" to highlight the emotional impact of receiving a ring. At the time, women were hired to write ads for only products that were "designed for women."
Impact: The Great Depression caused sales to be down for diamonds in the early 1930's. This campaign completely turned things around, and by 1951, 80% of brides in the United States wore a diamond created by De Beers.
Year: 1934
History: Knox Reeves, an ad exec from Minnesota, coined the phrase "Breakfast of Champions" to go along with the cereal's sponsorship of a minor league team in Minnesota. From there, athletes like Lou Gehrig, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson made an appearance on the box.
Impact: The Wheaties brand was praised for featuring strong role models on their packaging and encouraging kids to be active. It's no wonder collectors are willing to pay as high as $100 for an original box!
Year: 2006
History: Hill Holliday, a creative agency in Boston, came up with "American Runs on Dunkin'" to reflect the working population's need for a caffeine fix. The campaign was all over the place in 2006, showing up in 16 commercials, 9 radio spots, and in print advertising.
Impact: Dunkin' may have changed their slogan to "Keep On" in 2016, but their original slogan is what catapulted them to stardom. In fact, 6 months after the campaign's debut, Dunkin' was selling about 2.7 million cups of coffee per day!
Year: 2002
History: Paul Macarelli became famous for uttering 5 words for Verizon – "Can you hear me now?"" The slogan was created by a New York ad agency called Bozell, and was such a success, that Verizon invested about $400 million the next year on more commercials and ads featuring the slogan.
Impact: In a strange twist, Marcarelli went on to be the spokesperson for Sprint. Still, consumers will forever remember the solid cell service you get working with Verizon because of his impactful words.
Slogans are a common way to advertise, especially for major brands like Apple and McDonald's. Their taglines are catchy and help customers know what they're all about, usually in eight words or less.
Do you recognize famous slogans? Take a look at this list of the 100 most popular of all time!:
The marketing slogans featured here are extremely popular and can be recalled by customers with little thought. Some are better than others, but no matter what, they are the slogans that people know.
While some companies have multiple slogans, or change theirs over time, these are the ones that are forever cemented in popular culture.
For every great company slogan, there's one that doesn't quite land. The public either has backlash against these failed slogans, or turns them into a joke or hilarious meme.
The worst slogans of all time include:
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There are many good food slogans out there, but White Castle should not consider itself a royal member of that list. Luckily, these days White Castle is marketing with a new, more refined product motto: "The Crave is a Powerful Thing."
Why it doesn't work: Brand slogans should elicit some kind of feeling. "Buy 'Em By the Sack," which is targeting White Castle's sliders, takes a step in the wrong direction as it's directed more toward the restaurant making money than making you feel hungry.
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Following backlash from their "Perfect Body" campaign, Victoria's Secret changed up their slogan to "A Body for Every Body." However, they completely misread the point of the public's reaction by using the same photography.
Why it doesn't work: The perfect body is an unachievable standard, and people rightfully pushed back against this harmful mentality. Still, the imagery is here, so "A Body for Every Body" doesn't do much to squash that negative messaging.
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While Dr. Pepper has been a delicious drink for over 100 years, they really fell flat with this sexist slogan. The ad launched in 2011 and featured a macho man telling women to "keep the romantic comedies and lady drinks." This is a diet soda for the men.
Why it doesn't work: There's obviously a lot wrong with this slogan. First, it's assuming that only women want or need diet drinks. Second, it suggests they can't buy Dr. Pepper Ten. Finally, it's strongly implied that men don't drink diet drinks at all, but now they can. Both demographics, men and women, are typecast and put into boxes by this one awful slogan.
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This slogan was created in 1979 by ad agency N.W. Ayer. The idea was to communicate a feeling of connection, although that might have come across in a way that was creepier than intended.
Why it doesn't work: "Touch" is a word that has a double meaning - both physically and emotionally touch. Unfortunately, the emotional aspect isn't immediately clear at first glance.
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There's a lot of competition in the world of athletic apparel, and Under Armour's solution was the "I Will" slogan which launched in 2013.
Why it doesn't work: Under Armour's slogan lacks any kind of definitive conclusion. I will… do what? Run an extra mile? Stop exercising? Buy products from Nike? There's too much room for interpretation and no jolting call to action.
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The American Express motto, "Don't Live Life Without It," implies you have no life if you're not using their credit card. While that's not what American Express meant to communicate, the real motivation behind their slogan isn't much better. They're trying to target the 57% of U.S. adults whose personal and professional lives are merged together.
Why it doesn't work: Those people whose work and play time are blurring are likely not all too thrilled about it. With that in mind, American Express is aligning itself with a stressed out population that has no free time.
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Carlsberg's slogan was first used in 1973 in a series of innovative ads. It's meant to read the way you might think of Ron Burgundy saying something's "kind of a big deal" in the movie Anchorman.
Why it doesn't work: You really need the context for this slogan to land. If not, it ends up reading as being unsure or maybe a little hesitant. Almost like "it's probably the best beer in the world" with a little shrug.
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Simon "Si" Lam is a well-known advertising guru, but he took a weird turn with the "Relieves Gas Pains" campaign for Volkswagen. It just doesn't quite vibe with the brand, though it is a fun way to highlight the awesome mileage you can expect behind the wheel.
Why it doesn't work: Clearly, there's a sense of humor here and a play on words, which Volkswagen has used before in their adverts. The only trouble here is that this one might be a bit too lowbrow for the target audience.
The original "Smell Better Than Yourself" ad came out in 2011 and was used to promote Old Spice's deodorant, sprays, and body wash. It showed a sea captain and jet pilot smelling fresh, despite the rough waters and skies.
Why it doesn't work: This slogan is a real head-scratcher to say the least. How can you possibly smell better than yourself? As a whole, it's way too tough to wrap your head around this strange-sounding motto.
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The original commercial featuring this slogan made its debut in 1956. Some of the vacuums even came with the motto engraved right on the back of the cleaner.
Why it doesn't work: It's pretty difficult to pinpoint what exactly a Hoover is all about. There might be one verb too many in the slogan, and to top it all, it's not exactly catchy.
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It's worth noting that major companies, like Dr. Pepper and Victoria's Secret, aren't the only ones who sometimes fumble on creating quality slogans.
You might see toy drive slogans in your local community with an odd message. Maybe there's a non-profit who has something weird to say in their slogan. Overall, there's a whole world out there that needs to choose their words carefully!
The main difference between a jingle and a slogan is music. Jingles are in the form of a song or have some kind of instruments playing behind them. Slogans, on the other hand, are printed or spoken in voiceover on commercials without any musical inflection.
According to The Journal of Business Research, the best company slogans have a clear message, are creative, and elicit familiarity with the brand. Not to mention, they should be hitting on these major points:
Highlights a benefit your company has to offer
Short, sweet, and to the point (max of 10 words)
Rhythmic enough to become a jingle
Evokes an emotion
Can be reused time and time again
A slogan should express a million things in only 4 to 10 words, while at the same time being catchy enough to be turned into a jingle and memorable enough to make an impact. It's a tricky formula to crack, but you can make it happen with some time, effort, and a really awesome marketing team!
If you want to trademark your company slogan, you need to work directly with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
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Follow these steps to trademark a slogan:
1. Go to the USPTO website.
2. Check the Trademark Electronic Search System to make sure the slogan isn't already registered.
3. Pay the filing fee.
4. Submit your trademark application.
According to the USPTO, the process takes between 12 to 18 months before your slogan is trademarked. Once it's approved, your trademark will be published in their database, and you'll receive a paper certificate of your registration. You must continue to use your slogan in order to maintain your trademark.
Great slogans sum up what your business is all about in a short, catchy way. Sure, you already have a logo and company name, but this is one other message you can send about your brand.
The best marketing taglines show your creativity, and above all, communicate your value to customers. In this competitive world, that edge can be all it takes to make a difference.
There are a million companies out there, so you need to do whatever it takes to create a lasting impression. Your value as a business can be summed up in a few catchy words, so just listen to Frosted Flakes when it comes to slogans - "They're grrrreat!"
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