Thanks to an “overwhelming response” from our IP Whiteboard editorial committee (and we’re serious, almost everyone responded) we can reveal a true diversity of personal slogan highlights. Before discussing themes arising from these, consider the work needed to create a great slogan.
David Ogilvy, the founder of iconic agency Ogilvy & Mather, in a 1955 letter provided insights into the creative process. Some of these tips might work well for legal writing, the first lesson being that there are too many interruptions to write in the office. He also said: “…I try to write 20 alternative headlines for every advertisement”. He asked people’s opinions, and relied heavily on research, concluding: “If all else fails, I drink half a bottle of rum and play a Handel oratorio on the gramophone. This generally produces an uncontrollable gush of copy”. For the full letter, please visit “Letters of Note”.
So, following Ogilvy’s instruction to canvass opinion, what did our informal survey reveal? We’ve grouped the responses into themes.
Common favourites of our Gen Y lawyers were heavily technology specific including: “LG – Life’s Good” (LG), “Think different.” (Apple), “make.believe” (Sony), “For everything else there’s – Mastercard”, and “Connecting people” (Nokia).
Another Gen Y favourite was “The man your man could smell like” (Old Spice), the successful, primarily online, campaign which we blogged about in 2010.
There was a gender bias, with guys heavily focussed on slogans related to food and beer, such as: “Once you pop, you can’t stop” (Pringles), “Nibble nobby’s nuts” (Nobby’s), “Hit me with a Samboy chip” (Samboy), “From a place purer than yours” (Pure Blonde), “Australians wouldn’t give a XXXX for anything else” (Castlemaine XXXX beer), and “Pure Genius” (Guiness).
An honorary mention goes to Solo for multiple slogans mentioned by committee members such as “The Thirst Crusher” and “Light on fizz so you can slam it down fast”.
And for “inter-generational” slogan’s, Nine’s “Still the One” and Kelloggs’ “Snap, Crackle, Pop” for Rice Bubbles, had traction across age-groups.
A few people were clearly hungry when responding to the survey, with nods to “The burgers are better at Hungry Jacks” and “I’m lovin’ it!” (McDonalds). [Ed: The McDonalds slogan is clearly Gen Y. Who could ever forget: “Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed BUN!”]
A hat tip also goes to the member of our committee with an historical bent, who noted that L’Oreal’s “Because you’re worth it” slogan is interesting because it subtly changed over time, from “Because I’m worth it”. Apparently, so the story goes, the change was to make it less confrontational – the original slogan being part of the feminist movement.
And on the question of gender bias, in addition to L’Oreal’s slogan, which featured prominently in the responses of our female committee members, suggested slogans indicated that we have some fashionistas: “Maybe she’s born with it, maybe its Maybelline”, and “A diamond is forever” (De Beers). Indeed, in 2000 the De Beers slogan was apparently named the best advertising slogan of the twentieth century by Advertising Age magazine (see Wikipedia for further intel). This only highlights the subjective nature of these decisions, although we agree it’s a great slogan.
An interesting commendation goes to “Trust British Paints. Sure can!”. Were it not for the recent Rolf Harris incarnation, would it feature on the list?
And applause for the suggestion of “You canna hand a man a grander spanner” (Sidchrome tools). It just evokes that uber ocker voice over!
We’ve also received some great suggestions in our comments section such as: “Which bank?” (Commonwealth Bank of Australia), “You’ll love every little piece of Victoria” (Tourism Victoria) and the “Don’t be a tosser…” litter prevention campaign. Keep these coming through! We’d love to hear what your favourite slogans are!
