Slogan Examples: 12 Brand Lines Explained
Nike’s “Just Do It” invites action. KitKat’s “Have a Break, Have a KitKat” connects a snack with a pause. BMW’s “Sheer Driving Pleasure” names an experience. These slogan examples show how a short phrase can express a different message: something to do, a moment to enjoy, or a benefit to associate with a brand.
12 slogan examples from real brands
The list includes enduring brand lines and individual campaign phrases. Each linked phrase leads to an official brand source. The explanations are readings of the wording.
| Brand | Slogan example | What the words emphasize |
|---|---|---|
| Nike | “Just Do It” | Action and the decision to begin |
| Apple | “Think Different” | An independent way of thinking |
| adidas | “Impossible Is Nothing” | Possibility and ambition |
| McDonald’s | “I’m Lovin’ It” | Enjoyment expressed in the first person |
| L’Oréal Paris | “Because You’re Worth It” | Personal worth and self-confidence |
| BMW, United States | “The Ultimate Driving Machine” | The car and its driving credentials |
| BMW, United Kingdom | “Sheer Driving Pleasure” | The experience of driving |
| KitKat | “Have a Break, Have a KitKat” | A consumption occasion connected to the brand name |
| KFC | “It’s Finger Lickin’ Good” | Taste described through a physical response |
| De Beers | “A Diamond Is Forever” | Permanence and commitment |
| Red Bull | “Red Bull Gives You Wiiings” | Energy expressed through a metaphor of flight |
| Nike, 2025 campaign | “Why Do It?” | The motivation behind participating in sport |
What is the difference between a slogan and a tagline?
In Shopify’s guide to taglines, a slogan typically promotes a particular campaign, product feature, or message; a tagline communicates the brand’s longer-term identity. This article uses slogan examples to cover both kinds of short advertising phrase.
What each slogan communicates
1. Nike: “Just Do It”
In Nike’s account of the line’s history, the company dates its launch to 1988 and describes it as an invitation to start and persist in sport.
The phrase begins with a verb and leaves the activity open. Read as copy, its emphasis is the decision to act. The athletic setting supplies the meaning of “it,” allowing the instruction to sit beside different sports.
2. Apple: “Think Different”
Apple identifies the phrase as an earlier advertising campaign in its 2002 announcement of the Real People campaign.
The wording puts a way of thinking at the center of the message. Its two words can be read as an invitation to independence and originality, leaving the product and imagery to connect that attitude with Apple.
3. adidas: “Impossible Is Nothing”
The adidas 2021 annual report records the campaign’s introduction in 2004 and its relaunch in 2021. It describes the campaign as an expression of optimism and possibility.
The line reverses the familiar construction “nothing is impossible.” That reversal gives the phrase its particular shape. Its subject is a perceived limit, and the wording dismisses that limit: an attitude that the campaign’s athlete stories can illustrate.
4. McDonald’s: “I’m Lovin’ It”
In its Cannes Lions announcement, McDonald’s describes the line as an umbrella for advertising that gives the brand a consistent voice across markets.
The first-person sentence expresses enjoyment from the speaker’s perspective. The informal contraction also gives it a conversational tone. As a writing pattern, it places the feeling associated with the purchase at the center, with the food and occasion supplied by the surrounding advertisement.
5. L’Oréal Paris: “Because You’re Worth It”
L’Oréal Paris connects the phrase with self-confidence and personal worth on its official page about the tagline.
“Because” introduces a reason, while “you” directs that reason toward the reader. The line frames the choice to buy around a sense of deserving something. Its emotional appeal comes from the person addressed; product descriptions still have their own work to do in explaining the cosmetics.
6. BMW: “The Ultimate Driving Machine”
BMW Group’s advertising history identifies this as the North American tagline and credits its creation in 1975 to Martin Puris.
The noun “machine” centers the vehicle, and “driving” specifies the activity through which it should be judged. “Ultimate” adds a strong claim of excellence. In the wording, the car’s identity is organized around driving rather than another possible attribute, such as interior space or price.
7. BMW: “Sheer Driving Pleasure”
The same BMW Group history identifies this as the British tagline derived from the German expression about the joy of driving.
Here, “pleasure” centers the driver’s experience. The two BMW lines therefore offer a useful comparison: one emphasizes the machine; the other emphasizes the feeling of using it. Their documented market differences also make the local wording part of the example’s context.
8. KitKat: “Have a Break, Have a KitKat”
KitKat’s history page connects the slogan with taking a break and documents the line’s use on packaging.
The repeated “have a” gives the sentence two parallel parts. The first names an occasion; the second places the product within it. Including the brand name makes the link explicit. This is an example of building the message around a moment of use, with the product named inside the slogan itself.
9. KFC: “It’s Finger Lickin’ Good”
KFC’s 2023 Canadian campaign announcement identifies the phrase as a tagline and describes an advertising execution built around food eaten without utensils.
The line conveys taste through an action: licking fingers after eating. That gives “good” a physical image, making the description more specific than a general statement about quality. The wording also offers a visible action for the advertising to depict.
10. De Beers: “A Diamond Is Forever”
De Beers Group’s relaunch announcement credits Frances Gerety with creating the line in 1947 and connects its meaning with lasting love and commitment.
“Diamond” names the product category, and “forever” supplies the central idea. Read as advertising language, the sentence joins an object with the permanence of the relationship it symbolizes. It expresses an emotional meaning attached to the purchase, without listing qualities of a particular stone.
11. Red Bull: “Red Bull Gives You Wiiings”
Red Bull uses this stylized spelling on its official energy drink page.
The image of wings suggests lift, movement, and momentum. The stretched spelling adds a playful sound to the phrase. As a writing device, this is metaphor: the line turns an energy-drink message into a visual idea. The brand name appears within the sentence, so the promise and its speaker stay together.
12. Nike: “Why Do It?”
Nike’s September 2025 announcement presents this campaign as a way to reconnect young athletes with its established message about beginning and continuing in sport.
The question changes the emphasis from action to motivation. Its meaning develops through the campaign’s answer about choosing to participate. This example shows how a campaign phrase can explore a particular aspect of a lasting brand idea.
How to use these examples when writing a slogan
Shopify’s writing guidance recommends understanding the audience, defining the brand, balancing creativity with clarity, and keeping the phrase brief. Apply those principles to the message and placement:
- Choose the job. Write for the brand’s lasting identity or a particular campaign.
- Choose one emphasis. Focus on one action, feeling, benefit, occasion, or image.
- Draft the meaning first. Write the message plainly before experimenting with rhythm or wordplay.
- Keep enough context. Place the draft beside the brand name, product description, and image.
- Check the implied promise. Identify what the wording asks people to expect from the offer.
- Check comprehension. Ask readers to explain the message; revise where their interpretations differ.