Ubiquitous 80s and 90s Advertising Slogans

An effective and memorable advertising campaign can be both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, a phrase associated with your product will be forever embedded in your consumers’ minds. On the other, they will probably find this mentally inextricable campaign to fall somewhere between mildly irritating and hair-tearingly unbearable. So to review, yes, they’ll remember it, but they’ll also grow to hate it. Sort of a mixed bag if I ever saw one.

Adhering to the age-old adage of “all publicity is good publicity”, these advertising agencies pushed forward with these catchy campaigns that with repeated viewing came to resemble nails on a chalkboard. Regardless, if we’re still remembering them a decade later, it must be a testament to their effectiveness. Here are just a few of the ads that populated our favorite TV blocks and haunted our dreams throughout the 80s and 90s:

Where’s the Beef? (Wendy’s)

There must be something to be said for repetition. By my count, the old broad on the right croaks, “Where’s the beef?” three times in a thirty second spot. No wonder we all remember it so well: they were essentially drilling it into our consciousness with these ads.

The ad served to showcase the perceived poor ratio of bun-to-burger we find at most fast food restaurants. Not at Wendy’s, though, according to our elderly spokesfriend Clara Peller. She’s not sold on that all bun/mini burger combo and is quick to question the relative location of her cow byproducts, and with good reason. Nice going, Clara. You tell it like it is.

“Where’s the Beef?” became such a popular slogan that 1984 presidential candidate Walter Mondale actually adopted it for his campaign, accusing fellow Democrat-in-the-running Gary Hart of being all show and little substance. Admittedly, Mondale didn’t ascend to the presidency either, but you have to admire his cajones for adopting a fast food slogan as a debate point.

Got Milk? (Milk)

Okay, okay. I admit it. This one is such an easy target. It just oozes a corniness and poor reenactment quality that rivals any grainy black and white fake footage I’ve seen in those Discovery documentaries about unknowing pregnancies. And let me tell you, that’s no easy feat.

Despite the fact that our narrator informs us that she was allegedly “deathly ill”, she still summoned the mental wherewithal to press her LifeAlert button. Now that’s a powerful system. Death doesn’t stand a chance against it. Whether it’s Mr. Miller’s poorly acted chest pains or Mrs. Fletcher’s trademark falling/inability to get up, this commercial was really asking to be mocked. If you’re trying to convince children to respect the elderly, I’d advise never showing them this commercial. Even after the laughter eventually dies down, they’re doomed to forever think of the old as both helpless and in desperate need of acting classes. Not exactly the respectable combination they may have hoped for.

To read the full post on the I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Get Up! campaign, click here

Whether or not you’d like to admit it at this juncture in your life, most of us shamelessly repeated these refrains as if we’d discovered the golden ticket to comedic exceptionality. At one point or another, you probably pretended to be a Rolls Royce patron in desperate need of spiced mustard or a Chihuahua seeking his favored cheesy sour cream chalupas. It’s time to embrace your embarrassing youthful slogan parroting and remember these campaigns for what they were: brilliant forays into the realm of eternal memory. Someday we may be old and senile, but we will probably still quip from our adjustable hospital beds about the addictive qualities of Pringles or the basketball skill-affirming powers of Gatorade. Now that’s good advertising.