Driving the other day, I noticed a billboard for Krakus Polish Ham. As ham goes, the Krakus folks have real story to tell regarding the heritage and authenticity of their ham. I know this because, back when I was CCO at Maddock Douglas, we pitched Krakus. I really liked the client, and the pitch seemed to go extremely well. Then, nothing. For several years.

Now, for some reason, Krakus has decided to step up to the advertising plate. I was pleased to see that the billboard was very clean, simple, easy to process, unlike 95 percent of today’s billboards. Five words and the logo. But I was disheartened by that  line, functioning as a headline, but also, likely, their new tagline.

This line conveys the same message that they were committed to at the time of the pitch. However, the line they finally went with is unremarkable.

Presented in script, the line is

Krakus. The True Imported Polish Ham.

More of a descriptor than a tagline. The fact it articulates is differentiating, probably the strongest story they can tell. But the tagline is so dang straightforward, and so lacking in personality, beyond, I suppose, earnestness.

I will always believe that, had they gone with the tagline we recommended, that billboard would have been not just significantly more visible and engaging, it would have had the potential to generate a little buzz, which is saying something, considering we’re talking about ham here.

The line I speak of, delievering the same message with a little personality, was:

Krakus Polish Ham.  The Real McKoyski.

If you smiled, even a little, even just in your head, you’ve proven my point.

Have you seen the GE commercial with the animated elephant prancing around the jungle happily because GE does such eco-friendly stuff? That’s okay. Even if you haven’t seen it, you’ve seen it, ever since the era of Fantasia (the cartoon, not the singer). This GE elephant is a wincingly cutesy lift from (or is it an homage to) 70 years of Disney’s animated creatures, dancing and prancing and creepily perpetuating Walt’s notorious tushy fixation.

Whether it’s a ripoff or a tribute, one thing it certainly ISN’T is imaginative. Apparently, GE’s tagline doesn’t extend as far as their own advertising. If I had a tagline like that, I think I’d make extra sure that everything about the way I presented myself to the world was clearly and entertainingly imaginative. Cloning tired old Disney crap ain’t it.

That Chrysler ad with Eminem turns out to have generated the most online buzz, according to NM Incite, a division of Nielsen/McKinsey. And here’s the key thing. Consumers, according to NM Incite, repeatedly referred to the Imported From Detroit slogan.

So, just in case you think I’m just making all this stuff up about the power of a succinct, evocative set of words, just think about this. 111 million people watched the Superbowl. That’s four hours of language all you people out there were exposed to. And what’s the most talked about language, one of the few phrases that’s being cited verbatim, and in a positive way?

An interesting tagline. That’s what.

By the way, according to my sources, the runner up was “Hit ‘em with the Kenny G.”, which was one of the few attempts at humor that didn’t involve subjecting a dog or a baby or Roseanne to violence.

Pathetic. Embarrassing. We are clearly at the nadir, tagline wise. This ostensible showcase of the best advertising we can come up with has become a farce. The commercials ranged from one or two okay spots, on down to a half dozen new lows, thanks to Doritos and Pepsi Max. One of the few former bright lights, the Etrade campaign, is bankrupt. The list of misses and mediocrity is almost as long as the the complete list of advertising that aired during this annual exercise in excess.

But, as terrible as the showing was for the ads, the tagline showing was even worse. By my count, there was one, count ‘em, one interesting tagline out of the whole shebang: Chrysler. Imported From Detroit. And I’m guessing that will only be a short term line for Chrysler.

Honestly, it borders on humiliating to be part of the advertising industry tonight.

Anyone who has tried to secure a good domain name for their website for the last few years knows how hard it can be to find one that works for their brand. It seems that pretty much every English word, spelled every which way, is taken. As a result, many companies attach a descriptor or other appendage to their brand name in order to find an available domain name.

It is interesting that we’re beginning to see some brands using their tagline as their domain name. For example, while SC Johnson has its own corporate umbrella website, the website dedicated to it bug spray, Raid, has this domain name:

www.killsbugsdead.com

Of course, it helps if you happen to possess a decades-old, iconic tagline that is every bit as familiar as the brand name itself. But even if that’s not the case, this domain name strategy makes good sense, since your tagline SHOULD be the next most recongnizable bit of verbiage to your brand name. If this trend continues, it will be good news and bad news for taglines. The good news is that the importance of the tagline in this new role will mean more attention will be paid to the memorability of the line. The bad news is that shorter taglines will become more desirable. These two factors work at counterpurposes to some extent, since it’s generally harder to come up with a truly memorable short tagline.

Perhaps the most important lesson to be learned from this trend is that, regardless of which strategies, tactics, media or devices a brand may include in its communications mix, there remains a fundamental need for that concise, compact, engaging articulation of the brand. Assigning the tagline the job of being the domain name is just one more way in which a good tagline is indispensable to your brand.