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Banned slogans: from the obscene to the ridiculous (Excerpt)

Source: NewsTalk

April 20, 2016

From iconic, long-lasting lines from the likes of Cadbury and Guinness to occasionally offensive tags and ridiculous puns, here’s a short trip through five of the most notable slogans now residing solely on the Great Billboard In The Sky…

Guinness – “Guinness Is Good For You”

Adopted back in the 1930s (at a time when even cigarette companies were advertising the health benefits of their products), the “Guinness Is Good For You” slogan had a run of around half a century before alcohol advertising restrictions tightened in the ’80s.

Its longevity and relative innocence (as opposed to one of the beers below) mean it’s still a line associated with the Black Stuff today.

Every time some medical experts come out suggesting there could be health benefits to a moderate amount of the stout, media outlets will invariably run with the line. Such as last year, when Wisconsin scientists fed Guinness to dogs and found it may work as well as aspirin in preventing heart attacks.

Diageo makes no health claims for the drink, which is probably more sensible than giving a tipple to canines.

Bud Light – “The Perfect Beer For Removing ‘No’ From Your Vocabulary For The Night”

About as ill-judged as it gets, this was the advertising equivalent of Brian McFadden’s anthem ‘Just The Way You Are (Drunk At The Bar)’ – sample lyric “I can’t wait to get you home so I can do some damage” – which quickly caused outrage online.

While Bud Lightwas probably thinking of “a friendly chat with close friends” or “karaoke” with the accompanying campaign hashtag of #UpForWhatever, it should really have known it would go down as well as… well, a bottle of Bud Light.

The campaign was quickly ended in April 2015 with Vice President Alexander Lambrecht apologising through Buzzfeed News, saying:

“It’s clear that this message missed the mark, and we regret it. We would never condone disrespectful or irresponsible behavior”.

A year later, Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning was bigging up the beer to an audience of millions following his Super Bowl win. Safer publicity for sure.