Build back _ _ _ _ _ _
Yes, _ _ _ _ _
Make _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Just _ _ _ _
The _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ driving _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ lovin’ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ law requires _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
We bet you figured out most of those. Except for the last one, and the reason is that the last one wasn’t a slogan at all… just a common, everyday phrase: “state law requires a seatbelt.”
Slogans sway us because they are repeatable and memorable. The repeatability and memorability play on two of our cognitive biases: the illusory truth effect, which makes us think that the things we hear often are true, and the availability bias, which makes us think that the things we remember quickly are true.
And, because slogans stand for something beyond themselves, they create leverage (just like symbols).
With a short, three-word phrase, you can signal affiliation to a complex and deep system of beliefs. For what they are, slogans pull a lot of weight.
Recently, the US Federal Highway Administration announced that it will be banning puns, jokes, and slogan-like language from electric highway signs.
Their reasoning is that clever, slogan-esque messages are distracting, detract from the respect of the sign, and go over some people’s heads.
So, signs like the one in New Jersey that reads “We’ll be blunt, don’t drive high” and the one in Ohio that reads “Visiting in laws? Drive slow, get there late” will be replaced by language like “No hand-held phone by driver” or “State law fasten seat belts”and other phrases that are “simple, direct, brief, legible, clear.”
The thing is that the best slogans are in fact “simple, direct, brief, legible, and clear.” The difference? They aren’t terribly dull. They don’t present facts, they make you FEEL something and in doing so get remembered.
What good is an authoritative and commanding sign if it gets outright ignored?
Here, as in all great communication, the key is balance. Clear enough to get the message across, direct enough to get respect, and unique enough to be remembered.
Or else why bother?
Answer key
Build Back Better. Yes, We Can. Make America Great Again. Just Do It. The Ultimate Driving Machine. I’m Lovin’ It. State law requires a seatbelt.
