Creative Briefs

Déjà Vu: Always and Forever

Retailers Kmart and Wal-Mart have more in common than cheap shampoo and plastic lawn furniture. Both are touting their “always” low prices.

GSD&M, Austin, created the Wal-Mart tag “Always” in the late ’80s, says Jeff Bremser, chief creative officer at Bernstein-Rein, Kansas City, another Wal-Mart agency, whose spots with the “Always” tag show a happy face slashing prices. “Before Coca-Cola had [the ‘Always’ tag line], Wal-Mart had it,” he says, “but that didn’t stop Coca-Cola.”