The best advertising slogans of all time! (Part 1)

Posted by James, 5 February 2021 (5 minute read)

In this week’s JW’s Thoughts of a Copywriter, I take a look at some of the best advertising slogans of all time.

We all know advertising slogans – those short, pithy phrases at the end of adverts or plastered across billboards. But what makes a great slogan? One that’s remembered by consumers without them even realising? Or simply one that becomes completely synonymous with the brand it represents?

The general consensus is that great advertising slogans should be short, punchy and instantly memorable. But is it really that straightforward? Is that all it takes?

To find out, here’s the first part of my journey through the best advertising slogans of all time! You probably know them all, even if you aren’t the company’s target audience.

Finger Lickin’ Good - KFC (1950s)

First heard in the 1950s, KFC’s iconic slogan has been with us for nearly 70 years. Even more impressive, the line was spontaneously invented – not the brainchild of advertising creatives, as is so often the case.

As the story goes, KFC franchisee Dave Harman voiced TV commercials for his restaurant (in Phoenix, Arizona). But he had a stroke and was unable to speak clearly, so his restaurant manager – Ken Harbough – had to step in. At the TV station, Harbough was accompanied by Harman, who took a plate of chicken to eat during the filming. At the end of one of the takes, a woman at the TV station complained that Harman was ‘licking his fingers’ after eating – to which Harbough replied ‘Well, it’s finger lickin’ good!’

And the rest, as they say, is history… In 2011, KFC in fact changed their famous slogan to ‘So good’. But that hasn’t stopped the original staying very much associated with the fast-food giant!

Because I’m worth it! - L’Oréal (1971)

Another superb advertising slogan. And one with an equally interesting history.

‘Because I’m worth it’ was first coined by Ilon Specht – a New York copywriter – who wanted to use it to ensure L’Oréal’s advertising reflected the growing womens’ rights movement of the 1970s.

These days, we might find it strange that a phrase so strongly linked with cosmetics was born out of feminism. But the ads created to market the slogan in the 1970s were actually ahead of their time. For example, they featured women speaking for themselves, an act far from common.

The grammatical change to the much better known ‘Because You’re Worth It’ began to appear as early as the 1990s. This makes sense, with the change from possessive first-person to a more direct, second-person voice being a superbly manipulative device. The meaning here was simple: we should buy things to make ourselves happy. Something that shirks the political ideas attached to its previous iteration.

More recently, the slogan has been changed again – this time, to ‘Because We’re Worth It’! No surprise again really, as the more inclusive ‘we’ places collectivity and group identity at the heart of the brand, rather than explicit consumerism and individual greed.

Vorsprung durch Technik - Audi (1971)

It’s pretty amazing that an advertising slogan written in German could have such a long-reaching, powerful influence on English-speaking consumers. Yet Audi totally cracked it with this one! Roughly translated to ‘Advancement through technology’, it’s been their main slogan since 1971 and used virtually everywhere to sell their cars.

But this slogan has more than just profit behind its creation. It has even been argued that it changed the way Britain saw Germany. In the 1970s, the popular perception of Germany was one of losing a war and keeping quiet about it. Remember how Basil Fawlty so famously kept telling himself to ‘not mention it’…

In other words, Audi’s ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ became a huge step towards Britain viewing Germany as a country of quality, progress, technology, the future and efficiency. And let’s be honest, it’s a perception that’s stuck: even to this day!

Just Do It - Nike (1987)

Maybe the most famous advertising slogan of all time, ‘Just Do It’ can be found on bags, trainers, tops, trousers, shorts, skirts, hats and billboards across the world.

Produced by advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy, it was first seen in Nike’s big television campaign of 1987. But those 3 words so synonymous with the sports brand actually came from some very odd sources…

Dan Wieden, the agency’s founder, has been quoted saying that they were looking for a ‘tagline to give unity to the work, one that spoke to the hardest hardcore athletes as well as those talking up a morning walk’.

And with that, ‘Just Do It’ was born. But its original inspiration is one Nike probably doesn’t want you to know too much about – convicted murderer Gary Gilmore. Just before being executed by a firing squad, Gilmore is alleged to have said ‘Let’s Do It’, with Wieden taking the phrase and adjusting it into the one we all know today.

Even if its beginnings are somewhat bizarre, that doesn’t detract from its status as a perfect advertising slogan. As Creative Review rightly suggests, it’s ‘competitive, forceful, direct, [and] as lean and powerful as the athletes that appear alongside it in Nike’s ads’.

Does exactly what it says on the tin - Ronseal (1994)

Perhaps my favourite advertising slogan of all time, Ronseal’s superb tagline was created by Dave Shelton and Liz Whiston at HHCL & Partners. Like the product it describes, the slogan is functional, straightforward and simple.

The phrase has been part of British idiomatic language ever since. And it’s been used to describe much more than quick drying woodstain! In 2004, future Prime Minister David Cameron claimed on Radio 4 that people were ‘crying out for a kind of Ronseal politics. They want it to do what it says on the tin’.

Ronseal probably couldn’t have asked for better publicity at the time. And this is exactly what makes a great slogan… It hides in plain sight and makes sure to find all kinds of ways to be constantly repeated.