McDonald’s Not Using the Tagline That Everyone Hated

By Patrick Coffee 

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…because they’re using different taglines that everyone will still hate. Maybe.

Seems that one of our commenters was right and that the company did NOT want its revised sort-of-tagline leaked last week. “Lovin’ Beats Hatin'” won’t be McD’s official slogan.

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In fact — according to Businessweek — the company has “no plans to use the phrase even informally on social media,” so it may never invade your brain again.

Still, McDonald’s has definitely filed trademark claims for two phrases that are…not too different.

They are:

  • Lovin’ > Hatin’
  • Lovin’ Is Greater Than Hatin’

So while “Lovin’ Beats Hatin'” will not be the bold, quoted line for the brand’s next Super Bowl spot, it certainly looks like McD’s will shame someone for being such a hater (though, of course, there’s no guarantee that these phrases will appear in the campaign, either).

We ask: why drop the hatin’ into the equation anyway? Feeling defensive, McDonald’s? And who were the “people familiar with the matter” who leaked that original phrase to The Wall Street Journal?

Unlike certain AgencySpy readers, we’re pretty sure they don’t work at Leo Burnett…

UPDATE: a reader now claims that someone involved in the agency review leaked the phrase, which was a corporate idea in the first place. We can believe that.

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