Slogans and Jingles

In the junk food and fast food world, slogans are usually short, striking phrases intended to encourage consumers to purchase products. Typically, slogans are used repeatedly in advertising. Soda manufacturers have used slogans since the late nineteenth century. Dr Pepper used “King of Beverages” and, more recently, “Be a Pepper!” Mountain Dew used the slogan “Get That Barefoot Feelin’ Drinkin’ Mountain Dew.” Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola have had some of the most memorable slogans. Coca-Cola’s slogans include “The Pause that Refreshes,” “It’s the Real Thing,” “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke,” “Coke Is It,” and “Things Go Better with Coke.” Pepsi has countered with just as memorable slogans, such as “Come Alive! You’re In the Pepsi Generation,” and “Pepsi-Cola Hits the Spot,” which Advertising Age rated as one of the most successful advertising campaigns of the twentieth century.

The golden arches.
Snack food manufacturers have regularly used slogans in the advertising. M&M’s has “The milk chocolate that melts in your mouth, not in your hand.” The Mounds and Almond Joy jingle, “Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut, Sometimes You Don’t,” remains a classic. The National Confectioners Association slogan, “Eat Candy, the Energy Food,” implies that anyone who needs energy should buy their members’ products. Fritos popularized the slogan “Munch a Bunch of Fritos Corn Chips.” Ruffles potato chips were popularized with the slogan “R-R-Ruffles Have R-Ridges” and Lay’s potato chips with “Bet You Can’t Just Eat One.” Dunkin’ Donuts’s commercial with “Fred the Baker,” played by Michael Vale, first aired in 1983. His line, “Time to Make the Donuts,” popularized Dunkin’ Donuts.
Fast food chains have used slogans from the earliest days. White Castle’s slogan, “Buy ‘em by the Sack,” was copied by White Tower: “Take Home a Bagful.” Chicken Delight’s slogan, “Don’t Cook Tonight, Call Chicken Delight,” was a popular refrain. Kentucky Fried Chicken’s “Finger-lickin’ Good” has been used for decades. Taco Bell’s commercials starred a talking Chihuahua, who squealed “Yo Quiero Taco Bell!” Burger King jumped from one slogan to another, but their more popular ones include “Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce, special orders don’t upset us, all we ask is that you let us serve it your way. Have it your way, have it your way at Burger King,” “Battle of the Burgers” and “Aren’t you Hungry for a Burger King Now?” McDonald’s has also been extremely successful in their slogans, such as “Billions and Billions Served.” Their most recent slogan, “I’m Lovin’ It,” was the company’s first global advertising campaign. It was launched in Germany in 2003, using the slogan “Ich liebe dich” and then it was extended to other languages. Other McDonald’s jingles, such as “Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun” have been particularly popular. The company’s “You Deserve a Break Today” jingle has been identified by Advertising Age as the most successful jingle of the twentieth century.
Perhaps the most famous fast food slogan was Wendy’s “Where’s the Beef?” which aired in 1984. It captured America’s attention and was picked up by Democratic presidential candidate, Walter Mondale, as a criticism of Ronald Reagan’s tenure as president. Recently, Advertising Age rated “Where’s the Beef?” as one of the top ten slogans of the twentieth century.
Slogans have occasionally backfired. The McDonald’s company penchant for prefixing its products with Mc, such as McNuggets, has encouraged others to use the Mc abbreviation for a range of less-enticing themes, such as McDollars, McGreedy, McCancer, McMurder, McProfits, McGarbage, and McCrap. The McSpotlight Web site is focused on anti-McDonald’s issues.