
Oh no! Shades of the creepy burger king!
The company (or whoever it is they hire to come up with these creative gems) claims the new tagline is more “hip” and will remind would-be customers how “they can and should live how they want anytime. It’s ok to not be perfect,” they note. “Self-expression is most important and it’s our differences that make us individuals instead of robots.”
Ick. Sounds like a forced paean to individualism, as if we have any trouble acting out our personal dramas here in the US of A anyway (and broadcasting them to the rest of the world on TV). So maybe they should get one of those vacuous young blonde baubles like Paris Hilton to be their on-camera spokes-star. The new tagline is not very memorable, either, whereas Have it Your Way rolls easily through the mind. I had to keep looking back at the article to recall what the new one was.
Be Your Way. Oh, yeah!
“We want to evolve from just being the functional side of things to having a much stronger emotional appeal,” says Fernando Machado, Burger King’s senior vice president of brand management. Since he’s relatively new on the job, I can imagine this guy driving by the local Burger King every day on the way to his old job with steam venting from his ears.
“I absolutely abhor that Burger King tagline!” he fumes to himself. “And one day I’m going to do something about it! Besides, that tagline may be older than I am …”
I forever wonder why some marketers change their taglines at all – G.E. for example. We Bring Good Things to Life is one of the best taglines ever invented. So is When It Absolutely, Positively Has to Be There Overnight – I think FedEx’s current tagline is Relax. It’s FedEx. Ugh.
So Why Bother With a New Tagline AT ALL?
I think what bothers me most about the new Burger King tagline, however, is its artificial cool, its slithery attempt to fit into today’s social schema. Did the execs that finally signed off on the thing dance down the hallway in creative bliss when the Aha! moment hit them? Or did they slump in their chairs and sigh in collective relief that some decision -- any decision -- finally had been reached?
You decide.
TakeAway: If it ain’t broke, don’t bust a gut trying to fix it. And puleeze! Don’t try to be cool if you’re not.
Tags: tagline, taglines, Burger King, Have It Your Way, Be Your Way, G.E., FedEx
Content © by Brian Faulkner
About Brian Faulkner:
Brian also is a three-time Emmy award winning Public Television writer and narrator of UNC-TV’s popular Our State magazine series, on the air since 2003.