15 Genius Slogans And Jingles From The '60s and '70s
By | September 7, 2022
Bell's 'Reach Out And Touch Someone' campaign, circa 1979. Source: Reddit
Many advertising slogans and jingles of the 1960s and '70s are still with us today, for better or worse. Even if the companies that used them have moved on to other verbiage, we'll never forget what they used to tell us. "Slinky -- fun for a girl and a boy," "Reach out and touch someone," "How many licks?," and "Mikey likes it." In fact, a famous line about gentle dishwashing liquid describes advertising's effect on our vulnerable brains -- as Madge the manicurist said, "you're soaking in it." Slogans and jingles of the '60s and '70s became so familiar that we can't imagine life without them -- even if we wish we could. Blame it on the Mad Men of Madison Avenue, those deviously clever folks who developed catchy phrase after catchy phrase to push their clients' goods, services and ideas upon us.
By the '60s and '70s nearly every home in the country had a television set, complete with rabbit ears. Televisions of this era got about 3, maybe 4 channels on a clear day and had to be operated manually, i.e. getting up and walking across the room to turn it on/off and change channels. If the reception was bad, dad went to the kitchen to retrieve a piece of aluminum foil to wrap around the antenna in hope of clearing up the “snow” on the set.
During the groovy era, people didn’t watch the amount of television we watch today. Kids spent their free time during the days and evenings playing outside and only came indoors when they were hungry, or it got dark out. Television was not what it is today.
These days, thanks to cable television and satellite dishes, we have the world at our fingertips with hundreds of channels of everything from sports, high fashion, game shows and the list literally goes on and on.
Remember when television commercials were short and sweet? There were maybe 2 or 3 in a row, and that was a lot. Commercials weren't always seen as necessary evils and kids always had their favorites.
Palmolive's Madge Knows Best
Palmolive Dish Soap: Remember Madge, the manicurist? She gave manicures to all of the women with “dishpan hands.” Madge would be singing the praises of Palmolive Dish Soap to her customer while she gave a manicure. When she was done building up the product, she would say, and I quote…. “You know, you're soaking in it now.” After hearing this, the unsuspecting customer would always take her hand out of the dish, in great surprise. Dish soap was often known for being harsh on the skin.
Mikey The Unpleasable
Life Cereal produced a series of commercials with a little boy named, Mikey. The ad showed three brothers sitting at the table with the “new” cereal, not wanting to try it. The two older boys convince little Mikey to try the cereal. Mikey didn’t like anything so when he liked Life Cereal, you knew it had to be great! Their catchphrase was, “He likes it! Hey Mikey…” Then, of course, they wanted it then too!
You Sunk My Battleship
“You sank my battleship!” That was the famous line in a commercial for the iconic board game of Battleship. This was before the electronic version came out. A kid of the '60s and '70s will choose the original version, every time.
Slinking Into History
The jingle for the popular Slinky toy is epic! It became the longest-running jingle in advertising history.
It’s Slinky; it’s Slinky.
For fun it’s a wonderful toy.
What walks down stairs, alone or in pairs
And makes a slinkety sound?
A spring, a spring, a marvelous thing!
Everyone knows it’s Slinky.
It’s Slinky; it’s Slinky.
For fun it’s a wonderful toy.
It’s fun for a girl and a boy.
Bell Telephone Wanted Us To Touch Each Other
1979 Bell System long distance advertisement. Source: eBay
Way back when the collective minds of the general population wasn’t in the toilet, AT&T used the catchphrase "Reach out and touch someone" to sell long-distance phone service. Sorry folks -- "touching" has a lot more meanings now than it did back then. That slogan might not fly today.
The Owl That Counted Licks
Remember the wise, Mr. Owl on Tootsie Pop’s commercials? The line was “How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?” Mr. Owl would take 3 licks and then bite it, claiming it took only 3 licks. Just so you know, Purdue University conducted a study with a licking machine modeled to mimic the human tongue. The machine reportedly averaged 364 licks to get to the center of the Tootsie Pop. There you have it… the answer to an age-old question about classic candy.
The Candy That Wanted To Be Part Of Living
There was a time that advertisers would have us believe that all the answers to life could be found in a roll of Lifesavers. Their slogan at the time was, “Lifesavers… A part of living.” Lifesavers were just a part of living. Life in the '60s and '70s… that was living!
Your Way Or The Fry Way
1976 Burger King print advertisement. Source: Reddit
The Burger King fast-food chain hit it big with this jingle:
Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce,
Special orders don’t upset us,
All we ask is that you
Let us serve it your way
This Is Your Brain? Looks Like An Egg...
Here's one more -- from the '80s but it feels older, doesn't it?
Following the counterculture generation and all of the free-flowing, mind-altering drug usage, the Feds started a campaign called, Partnership for a Drug-Free America. The campaign’s famous catchphrase was, “This is your brain. This is drugs. This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?”
Bounty was the Quicker Picker Upper
Bounty started a 30 year love affair with the nation in 1960 when they brought on actress Nancy Walker to play Rosie, a diner waitress who uses Bounty paper towels to clean up all manner of spills and messes made by her restaurant's most sloppy patrons. Initially, the tagline for Bounty was "the quick picker-upper" but it was soon changed to "the quicker picker-upper."
I Can't Believe I Ate The Whole Thing
As great as the catchphrase is, it wouldn’t have become as ubiquitous without help from a comedian named Milt Moss. Moss built a reputation on the New York comedy scene as an MC who was able to throw out killer one-liners and impersonations while tricking audiences into thinking he was just a regular speaker and not a performer. According to the New York Times, Moss’ performances would grow more and more absurd until audiences were unsure about what they were watching.
While speaking about the commercial in 2011 Moss said, “That commercial changed my whole life.”
Double Your Fun
Wrigley's began their play on "double" in the 1930s, but it wasn't until 1959 that they introduced the "Doublemint Twins," a pair of 21-year-old models who appeared in the gum's ads until 1963. Wrigley continued to "double their pleasure" with a variety of twins into the '90s. Now that's a jingle that lasts.
Have it your way!
In 1973, Burger King went to battle with McDonald's when they introduced customers to the concept of customization with their jingle that told diners to "Have it your way." The jingle lasted through the '70s and was only briefly modified din the '80s to add "at Burger King" to the end. It's honestly kind of wild that the jingle didn't already include that but what do we know? We're not in the burger business.
McDonalds offered more bang for your buck
Introduced in 1974, McDonald's jingle requesting that you purchase “Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame-seed bun" led customers to turn up to the fast food restaurant in droves. Not only does the jingle tell customers an easy way to order, but it lets them know that they can get a lot of food for a small amount of money - and isn't that really what's important?
Maytag wanted you to know that their repairmen would always be there
While a slogan like, "Our repairmen are the loneliest in town" doesn't exactly make us want to jump for joy, it does bring to mind visions of Maytag workers who are obsessed about doing their jobs. It's the kind of insane jingle that popped up in the '60s and '70s to elucidate on the concept that these companies were there for their employees rain, sleet, or snow and with Maytag it totally worked.
