When good taglines go bad
Call me old fashioned, but I adore superbly executed spots, print ads or any other advertising forms signed off with a carefully crafted tag. The modern-day equivalent of a wax seal: a mark of completion and standing.
Today though, I’m unfortunately finding myself, more often than not, shrugging with indifference at the end of otherwise perfectly enjoyable advertising.
A while back, I came across an ad that forced me to pay it some attention. I’m talking about a Royal Mail spot that shows real postmen and women delivering parcels up and down the country. It was accompanied by a choral rendition of The Beatles’ track, ‘All You Need Is Love’, and was, quite simply, beautifully shot — filling me with a sense of British pride…
That was until the tagline limped its way on to the screen in the closing frames. ‘We love parcels’. That’s what appeared in front of me, and much less than love it, my heart sank.
This wonderful advert, featuring grin-inducing scenes of a young entrepreneur receiving a business parcel; a small girl waiting expectantly at the door for her birthday card (I mean, I doubt she was hoping for the gas bill); and a woman opening the door in her rubber gloves covered in suds was crudely bludgeoned to a forgettable end by this timid, lacklustre sign-off.
It may seem as though I’m singling the Royal Mail out here so I’d like to make it very clear that this spot is far from the only offender out there.
Best Buy, the American electronics company, unleashed the tagline — 18 months in development — of, ‘Making technology work for you’, on an innocent public. That’s one-and-a-half years of discussion and deliberation and that’s what came out of it? I can’t be the only one appalled by this behaviour.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop there.
Let’s take a look at some other calamitous calls from brands that really should know better, shall we?
Blockbuster once upon a time went with, ‘No more late fees. The start of more.’ Now, whatever that was supposed to mean completely passed me by, but Ford weren’t risking any confusion with their to the point, yet equally dreadful, offering of ‘Drive One.’ Very subtle.
Mobil, producer of engine oils opted for a far more humanistic — and slightly unnerving— approach with, ‘We want you to live’.
And if you’re ever booking a trans-Atlantic flight, make sure it’s with Delta Airlines as their momentous trumpet-blowing proposition states: ‘We get you there’.
I should bloody well hope so.
Finally, if you’re of the sceptical inclination, Exxon (now partnered with fellow culprit, Mobil) left no room for misunderstanding or suspicion with their now-defunct tag of, ‘We’re Exxon’.
Well, I’m glad they cleared that up.
Thankfully, there are still many fine examples where a tagline hasn’t just polished off a spot, it’s more or less made it. One of my all-time favourites came out of BBDO New York for Guinness.
In the ad, we see a group of (on the looks of it) disabled friends enjoying a game of basketball. The spot turns when the match finishes and all but one of them stands up to exit their chair.
The next scene sees the friends all reunited, enjoying a pint of the black stuff.
Now, this would be a touching spot if it were simply to end here, but the tag line, ‘Made of more’, is enough to bring a tear to a sand dune. Made of more: a characteristic we all admire in a good friend.
That spot was one of the early examples of Guinness using ‘Made of More’ in their advertising. Years later, they’re still running with it; such is the emotive strength of those words and the way they complement Guinness’s brand positioning.
Look, I’m not pointing the finger of blame squarely at the creative team behind the shockers in this list. Some wonderful tags have no doubt been cast aside in favour of a tired, clichéd, cautious alternative — likely to have been born via committee.
What I am saying though, is that a tagline is not simply there to be tacked on at the end of an ad — they clearly have more potential than that.
Everyone in advertising should keep in mind the impact a succinct, thought-provoking tagline can have on the success of their efforts, and dismiss any ill-advised notion they serve little purpose other than to bring a base level of consistency to a campaign.
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