I'd Rather Have it My Way

Can we talk about the new Burger King slogan for a moment? BK recently announced / debuted its new advertising slogan. Drumroll, please... curtain up... and voila! Introducing:

"Be Your Way"

Excuse, me... what's that again?

According to a BK press release, the new tagline "reminds people that no matter who they are, they can order how they want to in Burger King restaurants and that they can and should live how they want anytime. It's OK to not be perfect. Self-expression is most important and it's our differences that make us individuals instead of robots."

How is this new tagline better than "Have It Your Way," the restaurant's classic old slogan (which hasn't been used much in the past decade but, remarkably, remains as memorable and identifiable today as ever)? That line essentially gave me a pretty solid selling proposition: at BK, I can customize my sandwich. Sure, it may be fast food, but BK will still make it to order for me, just the way I would like to have it. Plain, simple, boom. I get it.

But "Be Your Way"? A company spokesperson attempted to explain the decision, saying, "We're trying to elevate 'Have it Your Way' to a state that's much more emotional and centered around around self-expression."

OK, enough. "Be Your Way" is just plain awkward language, for starters, and a bad attempt at pop psychology beyond that. From a fast-food restaurant chain. Burger King, please just give me my Whopper the way I want it and let's not try to make it a statement of personal individuality or self-expressionism. It's a sandwich, for crying out loud. May I just have it my way and be on with it?

Bad Grammar and the Bottom Line

Now this just makes me happy. 

Adweek reports there's "evidence that slovenly prose affects the bottom line." 

Really? People actually care about correct English in advertising? Apparently, a few different studies now indicate that consumers really DO care about errors in copy – grammar mistakes, typos – to the point of it possibly swaying their decision to do business with the offending company. I guess it's not just writers, editors, proofreaders and English teachers who feel that way...

Read the article here, and rejoice.