Thirty years in the writing, this collection of Chairman Jimmy’s pithiest thoughts is sure to

cost $15.00. A book this unique appears once in a

while.

According to the back cover blurb:

“THERE’S NEVER BEEN A BOOK QUITE LIKE THIS. A LITERARY FOOD COURT STOCKED WITH TICKLISH APHORISMS, ESSAYS, CARTOONS, POEMS, LYRICS, LETTERS TO THE EDITOR AND OTHER PERVERSITIES, ALL AUTHORED BY CHAIRMAN JIMMY, THE MYTHIC ENIGMATIST WHO RESIDES JUST BEYOND THE MARGINS OF TIME, SPACE, LOGIC AND TASTE. THIS BEVY OF BRAIN LOZENGES WILL HAVE YOU GRINDING YOUR TEETH AND SCRATCHING YOUR SCALP TILL IT BLEEDS. BUY IT, BUY IT, BUY IT, BUY IT, BUY IT, BUY IT, BUY IT. SERIOUSLY. BUY IT.”

Do me a personal favor and just check it out, but not in the library sense.

Way back in the mid 90’s, I worked on advertising for a sophisticated computerized dating service, for which the algorithms and such were designed by some big-brained Northwestern University professor. The idea was to encourage radio stations to subscribe to this service, which could be branded with the radio station’s brand. It could be called, for example, Q101 Dateline, or something similar. Among the other things I wrote for this client was the tagline—well, actually, three taglines—for the service, regardless of which radio station stamped their brand on the service.

Because people generally view dating services through a jaundiced, skeptical lens, I felt the tagline should address this as a way of differentiating this particular service. So I wrote a trio of taglines, designed to be used separately, or sequentially, whichever way the radio station chose. The tagline trio consisted of these:

It’s Doesn’t Suck.

It Doesn’t Bite.

It Doesn’t Blow.

I thought this language would resonate with the target audience. But, of course, they did so little advertising that it didn’t really matter what the tagline was.

Anyway, I mention all this in light of an email I received this week, an ebirthday card. The card was the product of Rattlebox. Their tagline is

FREE ecards that don’t suck.

They didn’t steal my idea. Because they would’ve had to have seen the tagline I wrote in order to steal it, and the odds of that border on zero.

It’s just one more example of parallel thought, or more evidence that there are only so many ideas out there.

But it highlights one reason why, if you’re in the business, it behooves you to pay close attention to the messages, images and language that are out there. A tagline, for example, that is fresh, original and effective today may not be five years from now simply because the environment is constantly changing. Whatever makes the line fresh, original and effective may be picked up on by others and used for their brand. The more that happens—the more exampled a piece of language becomes—the less power it will have.

So pay attention.

I gather that Cramer-Krasselt Chicago is the agency responsible for the new Sealy ad campaign. It would make sense. C-K is one of the few agencies in Chicago that continues to produce strong ad campaigns as they have consistently for at least two decades.

It has been awhile since I’ve seen a campaign this satisfying and smart. And it all starts with (drum roll) the tagline.

Sealy’s new tagline is an indication that someone besides me thinks a tagline can be a powerful tool. Here it is.

Whatever you do in bed, Sealy supports it.

This is a simple, brilliant marriage of product benefit and higher level lifestyle benefit. The line begs for a campaign that explores what people do in bed. The TV spots do this job stunningly. Perhaps most impressive is the spot called “Afterglow” that actually recognizes that people have sex in bed. The spot is neither coy nor lascivious. It is a very attractive spot that celebrates sex unapologetically with no hint of sleaze. This kind of honesty from a brand engenders allegiance far beyond the product.

What’s more, it’s hard to miss the barely subtextual embrace of sexual freedom within the tagline. The courage of this aspect of the line is sure to resonate with all sorts of audiences, and probably risks offending others. Bravo to the client for demonstrating this kind of courage.

Kudos to everyone involved in the creation of this tagline and the campaign it inspires.