Beanz Meanz Heinz. Enduring Slogans (4)

And so we continue with my series on enduring slogans. 

Perhaps  one of the most famous advertising slogans of all time, “Beanz Meanz Heinz” was written in by Maurice Drake, then Deputy Director of Young and Rubican.  

He was in a pub at the time - the Victoria Pub in Mornington Crescent apparently - and it’s said it was penned over two pints of beer.

It was 1967, and the entire jingle went “A million housewives every day, pick up a tin of beanz and say Beanz Meanz Heinz” I would say that I vividly remember the tune and could still sing it today  but OBVIOUSLY it was before I was born...

However, for those of you who'd  like a trip down memory lane, here’s one of those lovely black and white ads from the sixties where everyone spoke so beautifully!

The slogan survived until 1995 until it was replaced by “Heinz Buildz Britz” – something which actually did not catch on.

Recent readers of my slogans blog posts will see a pattern emerging here…

In 2008 Heinz Baked Beanz were re-named Heinz Beanz and the slogan was reintroduced for a campaign in February 2009 when an ad used a series of clips from classic advertisements showing how children down the years enjoyed Heinz Beanz. Here you go.

The slogan has been dubbed  ‘a piece of pure commercial poetry,’ with it’s enduring success being credited to the fact that it was so very difficult for rivals to copy. The correct terminology for this type of phrase is a “neologism”  - a made up word which has novelty impact.

An amazing 99% of us can complete the slogan without prompting. Now THAT'S a slogan. 

Thanks to Tony Spencer on Flickr for the pic (and to his kitten Bravo)