In the late 1950s, this was the slogan for what is now recognised as one of the most influential adverts of all time. Coined by Fay Weldon and starring Tony Hancock, the campaign by the Egg Marketing Board encouraged post-war Britain to start the day with a healthy, protein-packed, nutritious breakfast. Eggs were removed from the rationing list in 1953 and the first adverts appeared four years later: by 1960 average consumption in the UK was five a week per person.
In 2007, to mark the 50th anniversary of the campaign – and in the face of rising obesity levels – the British Egg Information Service planned to rebroadcast the famous series of commercials. That plan was pulled after the advertising watchdog ruled that the classic ads breached rules on promoting a varied diet and that the slogan “Go to work on an egg” did not encourage healthy eating.
Adverts for alcohol, chocolate and McDonald’s remain.
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This is the age of the slogan, the soundbite, the snappy phrase in place of considered argument. Thought is dying; reason’s gone critical. In bookshops and magazine racks we’re told only what we want to hear: we’re told it in neat, bullet-pointed affirmations of our own worth.
No more. This is the fightback. The resuscitation. This is the slogan as explainer of the world. One a day for a year. Three hundred and sixty five phrases, soundbites and bullet points with which to make sense of the way things are now and point to how things could be tomorrow. Read them and weep.
Defining the age through a slogan a day
This is the age of the slogan, the soundbite, the snappy phrase in place of considered argument. Thought is dying; reason’s gone critical. In bookshops and magazine racks we’re told only what we want to hear: we’re told it in neat, bullet-pointed affirmations of our own worth.
No more. This is the fightback. The resuscitation. This is the slogan as explainer of the world. One a day for a year. Three hundred and sixty five phrases, soundbites and bullet points with which to make sense of the way things are now and point to how things could be tomorrow. Read them and weep.
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