Enjoy These Taglines…I Command You
25 Jun
Taglines come in all shapes and sizes. There are funny taglines and serious ones, effective taglines and…well…just plain dumb ones.
A colleague recently criticized some of my tagline candidates because they used the imperative verb form. I suppose she had a point. Instead of creating a sense of urgency, you could casually invite the customer to try your product…if it’s not a hassle.
Some taglines ask questions. Some describe a product or service. Good ones focus on the benefits of the product, or differentiate it from competitors, or if you’re lucky, both. And, yes, some command.
How would advertising be different if famous slogans used less forceful language? Let’s take a look:
| Imperative Tagline | The Alternative, "Don’t Be So Commanding " Headline | Brand |
| Just Do It | You’re welcome to do it…I mean, if you wanna. | Nike |
| Have It Your Way | Choices? Ha ha ha…oh, you were serious? | Burger King |
| Don’t Leave Home Without It | You don’t have to take your American Express card, but we’d appreciate it if you did. | American Express |
| Reach Out and Touch Someone | AT&T: Just in case you want to call anyone | AT&T |
| Leave the Driving to Us | It’s safer if we drive, but we don’t mind riding shotgun if you wanna drive. | Greyhound |
| Think Different | No, you’re right. Windows probably won’t survive. I mean, It’s not like they’ll establish a totalitarian empire and install an operating system on every computer that crashes every time you sneeze, right? (Okay…a little long for a tagline) | Apple |
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