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February 16, 2016 / 021616
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When Taglines Don't Work
By Shirley Corder
Two months ago we looked at what taglines are, and what they're meant to
achieve. I also encouraged you to try your hand at creating your own.
Last month we looked at some author taglines that work well. This month,
I want to round off this theme by looking at a few taglines that don't
work, and why.
AT&T had a catchy tagline: Reach Out and Touch Someone.
As an inspirational writer who has a lot of contact with people going
through cancer treatment, I often encourage people to touch their
friends and family if it is appropriate. By touch, I mean to reach out
and hold a hand, or give a hug, to show them some love and care. So that
seemed a good tagline.
That's before I looked up AT&T and discovered they are a mobile
network company. Hmm. Where I understand what they're trying to say (I
think) the idea of someone reaching out and touching me from my cell
phone kind of gives me the creeps! This doesn't say what it's meant to
say.
Electrolux marketed vacuum cleaners in the United Kingdom with the tagline, Nothing sucks like an Electrolux.
That is a great recommendation for a vacuum cleaner or course, but it
sure sucks as a promotion. Incidentally, although this was regarded by
many as a huge blunder, the company claims this was a deliberate effort
to gain attention. It worked! So, is this a good tagline or a bad one?
If you know Electrolux is a vacuum cleaner, it's a clever line. But if
you don't? I know Electrolux is a well-known brand, but it is just
possible there are some people out there in our global village who don't
know. And that sucks! This tagline has a double meaning.
Kentucky Fried Chicken's finger-lickin' good is a
well-known tagline, but they need to be careful if they translate it
into Chinese. It then becomes "We'll Eat Your Fingers Off!" So it works
well for its American market, but if it's used globally, and of course
KFC is pretty world-wide now, it could cause some concern.
A well-known author uses the term HEA in her tagline.
I read a comment by her on a blog recently where she says, "People
would have to know what HEA stands for of course, but I’d assume most
romance writers do."
Well, as a matter of fact I didn't. But then, I'm not a romance writer. So I Googled the term. I found it could mean:
- Higher Education Act
- Higher Education Authority
- Hypospadias and Epispadias Association
- Household Economy Assessment
- High Energy Astrophysics
- Happily Ever After
- and another 40-odd possibilities.
Ahh
wait! She assumes most romance writers know what HEA stands for, so I'm
guessing it's Happily Ever After. It's not her fault I didn't know
that's what she meant, but then surely she wants her tagline to reach
out and appeal to more than just romance writers? Maybe not.
Then we have . . .
To read the rest of this article (and share it), please go to:
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