entry for advertising slogan hall of fame

Thanks to Scamp, I've just been enlightened as to the existence of the Advertising Slogan Hall of Fame which has its own tagline, of dubious distinction: Where the endline comes first. Check out old mantras in this compilation, some of which are still ticking after almost a century. (Morton's When It Rains It Pours was launched in 1911.) Perhaps they'll consider this winning slogan from North Korea, wildly successful in promoting the last vestige of a Socialist regime: Let's Extensively Raise Goats in All Families!


 More winning Mao-era style slogans can be found here and here.

sourced from The New York Times

on making a contribution

I've been thinking about El Joker's kind response to a post about the comparative social worth of our line of work versus that of, say, doctors.

On one part it's frustrating to not make a difference in the world and on the other, well at least I'm not being depended on to save a limb.

And what I'm thinking is: we DO make a difference, though it's easy to forget in the melee of dealing with deadlines and crazy clients. For better or worse we are the world's Culture Mongers, dispensing values and ways of life to aspire to, impacting boggling numbers of people around the globe, even in places where our campaign isn't running. (Like in rural China where Wilson tennis racket cases are coveted shoulder bags.)

Sure, one measly coupon insert or banner ad won't change the world, but we shouldn't forget that what we produce in the aggregate has a huge subliminal (and liminal) impact. Which is why stuff like Dove's Real Beauty campaign and Italian Vogue featuring non-white faces wields power beyond what research charts show, the power to (slowly but surely) right a wrong situation.

Of course, most of us don't get the opportunity to disseminate our own admirable values in a broadscale campaign that's ostensibly to push product. But we can make a difference, I believe, in seemingly small choices regarding casting or artwork or word choice in copy.

Now back to our regularly scheduled soapbox.