How Well Do You Know These Classic Ad Slogans?

When Ivory Soap appeared in 1878, it was sold under the simple name White Soap. The current name arrived in 1879, and ads came out in 1882 with two company slogans that remain in use today: “99 and 44/100% pure,” and, “It floats.” The buoyancy occurred accidentally when a worker mixed too much air into the formula, but customers were happy to have a soap bar that didn’t sink and get lost at the bottom of the bathtub.

HeadOn is a topical product designed to relieve headaches; it achieved fame in 2006 with ads that repeatedly instructed viewers, “HeadOn: Apply directly to the forehead!” The campaign was considered annoying but effective, even though the Better Business Bureau noted that no published studies support the claim that HeadOn relieves headaches.

King C. Gillette patented his “safety razor” in 1904. By selling affordable razors and making a profit on blades, Gillette came to dominate the market. Over the years, Gillette faced competition from Schick, leading to the development of a three-blade razor in the 1970s. In 1989, a Super Bowl ad first proclaimed Gillette as “the best a man can get.”

Lucky Strike was introduced as a chewing tobacco in 1871, and debuted its cigarettes in 1916. The following year, ads began to declare, “It’s toasted” — a slogan meant to distinguish Lucky Strike’s method from the sun-curing method used by other tobacco brands such as Camel. While the brand claimed this could “sterilize” the tobacco to remove toxins, the process did not actually differ greatly from that of other brands on the market.

“Fine Corinthian leather” had no real connection to the Greek city of Corinth. Rather, it was a marketing phrase invented by the Omaha-based Bozell ad agency, designed to convey richness and luxury. The leather itself was made in New Jersey, and was a premium option of the Chrysler Cordoba luxury coupe starting in 1975. Actor Ricardo Montalbán sang its praises as a Chrysler TV spokesman for 15 years.

Future IBM CEO Thomas J. Watson Sr. was still a sales manager at National Cash Register when he introduced the motto “THINK” in 1914, encouraging his employees to use critical thinking and problem-solving skills. When Watson moved to IBM (then known as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company), the slogan became ubiquitous, appearing in every company office and on employee notebooks. It even inspired the name of the IBM ThinkPad laptop (now made by Lenovo).

Dunkin' — which officially dropped the "Donuts" from its name in 2018 — has been marketing itself with "America Runs on Dunkin'" since 2006. According to the company's original press release, the campaign focuses on "how Dunkin' keeps busy Americans fueled and on the go." As the second-biggest coffee chain in the U.S., there is some truth to the caffeinated claim.

Since the 1960s, McDonald's has tested and launched a variety of advertising slogans, including "Did somebody say McDonald's?," "We do it all for you," and the company's present slogan, "I'm Lovin' It." However, the fast-food chain has never been advertised with the claim that they offer "more than just a burger."

Meow Mix was launched in 1974, along with its memorable slogan claiming that it "tastes so good, cats ask for it by name." Along with the tagline, the brand released a now-legendary commercial featuring a cat meowing in tune to a piano with Meow Mix-themed lyrics pictured underneath. That jingle aired for the next 20 years, helping make Meow Mix one of the country's most popular cat food brands.

In the late 1960s, in an attempt to compete with Coca-Cola's iron grip on the American soft drink market, 7Up began to advertise itself as the "uncola." The anti-corporate marketing helped boost sales of the lemon-lime beverage significantly, and the brand continued to revisit the uncola theme well into the 1970s.

One late night in 1947, Frances Gerety, a copywriter for a Philadelphia ad agency, came up with a quick slogan for her latest campaign. Fifty-two years later, her enduring line "A Diamond Is Forever" was named the slogan of the century by Ad Age. The tagline, which promotes the De Beers diamond company, references the age and endurance of diamonds and elevates the simple chunks of carbon to symbols of eternal love.

In the 1970s, BMW launched an ad campaign targeting postwar baby boomers that described each of their cars as the “ultimate driving machine." The slogan's use has ebbed and flowed in the years since, but in 2014, BMW reinforced its commitment to the slogan with an ad that stated, "We don't make sports cars. We don't make SUVs. We don't make hybrids. We don't make luxury sedans. We only make one thing. The ultimate driving machine."

It was actually Duracell that originally used a pink bunny to advertise its batteries’ long lives; the long-running ad first aired in 1973. Energizer introduced its own bunny who could run circles around Duracell’s in a 1989 parody ad. A trademark dispute was resolved in 1992, and Energizer’s drumming bunny kept “going and going and going,” appearing in many commercials over the years.

Bounty paper towels first introduced the "quicker picker-upper" description with a series of advertisements in the 1970s. In the TV spots, the character Rosie the waitress, played by actress Nancy Walker, demonstrated the brand's absorbency, strength, and value. In 2012, Rosie was named one of the top 10 female ad icons of all time by Ad Age.

In the 1860s, German immigrant Adolphus Busch arrived in the United States and began working at his father-in-law's brewery. Eventually, the company grew to launch Budweiser, the first nationally distributed beer, which was primarily sold bottled. That led to the brand's advertising tagline, "King of Bottled Beer." As its offerings grew and other draft and canned competitors rose up, it shortened the slogan to "King of Beers," which remains today.

In 1947, the U.K.-born candy brand Skittles introduced its slogan, "Taste the rainbow of fruit colours." Nearly 50 years later, in 1994, the line was shortened to "Taste the Rainbow," highlighting the candy's multiple fruit flavors and brightly colored exterior.

In the 1990s, the cosmetics brand Maybelline introduced its most famous and enduring tagline, "Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline." The century-old company began with an eyelash and eyebrow product and grew to become a makeup behemoth that was acquired by L'Oréal for $660 million in 1996. In 2013, a CBS slogan game dubbed Maybelline's tagline the most recognizable of the past 150 years.

Chef Hector Boyardee was born Ettore Boiardi in Piacenza, Italy, in 1897, and emigrated to the United States in 1914. He opened a restaurant in Cleveland in 1924, and soon began canning and selling his popular pasta sauce. The company eventually adopted the iconic ad slogan, “Thank goodness for Chef Boyardee!”

Maxwell House coffee is named for the Nashville hotel where it was first served in 1902. In the 1920s, ads for the beverage claimed that President Theodore Roosevelt drank a cup at the hotel, asked for another, and proclaimed it, “Good to the last drop!” There’s no evidence that the story is true, but the slogan is still associated with Maxwell House.

Through its long history, Coca-Cola has been an advertising giant behind some of the most memorable slogans in America, from “It’s the Real Thing” to “Always Coca-Cola.” However, in 1886, the company started simple, with “Drink Coca-Cola.”

M&Ms were first produced in 1941 as a snack sent overseas during World War II. The chocolate morsels traveled well and could keep in different climates, making them a calorie-dense military favorite. In 1954, the Mars candy company trademarked the treat's famous advertising slogan, promising a mouthwatering chocolate flavor with no messy hands.

Various celebrities have delivered the famous American Express slogan, from writer Stephen King to comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Even Olympians have claimed they “don’t leave home without it.”

Actor Paul Marcarelli first appeared in Verizon ads in a 2002 campaign called “Test Man.” Carrying his cellphone to a variety of locales, he repeatedly asked, “Can you hear me now? Good!” to demonstrate Verizon’s high signal quality. Verizon retired the slogan in 2010, predicting that calls would no longer be the main use of cellphones. But in 2016, Marcarelli reprised the character for Sprint.

L’Oreal’s memorable slogan was created by a frustrated female copywriter annoyed that ads directed at women were written by men. She came up with “Because You’re Worth It,” a slogan aimed at women’s internal worth — and it worked.

The iconic 1970s commercial for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups shows two people running into each other, one holding chocolate, the other holding peanut butter. Everything turns out just fine, though, since the two flavors “go great together.”

In the 1960s, Lays potato chips expressed doubt that consumers could stop at one chip. Turns out, there was some science behind the claim: Researchers say that the perfect ratio of salt to sugar to fat makes it hard for anyone to resist grabbing another chip.

In 1967, a London-based ad agency came up with the now-legendary ad slogan "Beanz Meanz Heinz," which promoted the ketchup company's fabaceous offerings. The rhyme of the first two words, combined with a “Z” at each ending, helped the simple line endure in ads for more than 40 years. Some posters didn't even mention the word Heinz, which is when the ad team had a breakthrough about how successful their campaign would become.

An iconic Wendy’s commercial portrayed three women examining a giant bun. One asked, “Where’s the beef?” — implying that Wendy’s patties had more meat than its competitors. Funnily, an early version of the commercial saw a bald man delivering the line, but it didn’t catch on.

Since the slogan's introduction in 1933, Wheaties has been the breakfast of champions. In 1934, the cereal began putting photos of America's greatest athletes on its boxes, associating sporting achievement with the humble bowl of bran flakes. Wheaties began with Lou Gehrig on its box, and has continued to feature other iconic athletes including Mary Lou Retton, Tiger Woods, and Simone Biles, among hundreds of other champions.

Since the 1930s, consumers have heard the phrase “M’m! M’m! Good!” to describe Campbell’s Soup. While the company has occasionally played with the phrase, once upgrading it to “M’m! M’m! Better!,” it’s hard to compete with the classic.