Complete these advertising slogans (the answer guide is below):

1. Bounty. The quicker ________ ________.

2. Takes a licking ________ ________ ________ ________.

3. Pork. The other ________ ________.

4. Pardon me. Do you have any ________ ________.

5. Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________.

6. Let your fingers ________ ________ _________.

7. The mind is a terrible ________ ________ ________.

8. Friends don’t let ________ ________ ________.

9. I’ve fallen ________ ________ ________ ________ ________.

10. It takes a tough man ________ ________ ________ ________ ________.

11. Tastes great, ________ ________.

12. Don’t leave home ________ ________.

13. Where’s the ________?

14. You’re in good hands with ________.

15. Melts in your mouth, ________ ________ ________ ________.

16. Reach out and ________ ________.

17. Never let ‘em see ________ ________.

18. Maxwell House Coffee. Good ________ ________ ________ ________.

19. All the news ________ ________ ________ ________.

20. My bologna has a first name, ________ ________.

I’m guessing most of you answered more than half of these and that some of you completed all 20. Your ability to instantly recall so many of those slogans is a testament to two things:

1. Message consistency. Effective messages don’t change that often. Sure, they can be tweaked, modified and updated over time, but the heart of your messages will likely remain the same for years. It’s noteworthy that the youngest of the 20 slogans above is Bounty, at 21-years-old; the oldest is The New York Times, at an ancient 116-years-old.

2. Message repetition. The more often you repeat your messages, the more likely they will be remembered. Exactly how many times you should repeat your messages is a subject of great debate: too many times and you’ll alienate the audience; too few and they’ll forget you. An earlier article highlighted two views about the appropriate number of times you should repeat your messages.

Here’s the bottom line: If you want to share the same messaging success as the 20 advertisers above, make sure your messages benefit from consistency and repetition over time.

Answer Guide:

1. “picker-upper,” Bounty, 1991

2. “and keeps on ticking,” Timex, 1956

3. “white meat,” National Pork Board, 1986

4. “Grey Poupon,” Grey Poupon, 1980

5. “oh what a relief it is,” Alka-Seltzer, 1970s

6. “do the walking,” Yellow Pages, 1964

7. “thing to waste,” United Negro College Fund, 1972

8. “friends drive drunk,” U.S. Department of Transportation, 1992

9. “and I can’t get up,” LifeCall, 1990

10. “to make a tender chicken,” Perdue, 1972

11. “less filling,” Miller Lite, 1974

12. “without it,” American Express, 1975

13. “beef,” Wendy’s, 1984 14. “Allstate,” Allstate Insurance, 1956

15. “not in your hands,” M&M’s, 1954

16. “touch someone,” AT&T, 1979

17. “you sweat,” Gillette, 1980s

18. “to the last drop,” Maxwell House Coffee, 1926

19. “that’s fit to print,” New York Times, 1896

20. “it’s O-S-C-A-R,” Oscar Meyer, 1960s

A big hat tip to Tagline Guru, a California-based consultancy whose excellent website lists many more of the most memorable taglines of the broadcast media age.

Visit the Mr. Media Training Blog to see the 21 Most Essential Media Training Links. Brad Phillips is the author of the Mr. Media Training Blog and president of Phillips Media Relations, which specializes in media and presentation training.

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