50th Anniversary of L'Oreal's "You're Worth It"

“You’re Worth It” is one of the most famous taglines in marketing history. But it’s more than marketing hype, it’s a deep emotional benefit from a brand that has shaped popular culture and attitudes for decades. That famous line is 50 years old this year.

In the class that I teach at NYU, I spend almost the entire semester practicing writing emotional benefits with the students, trying to get deeper and deeper and deeper with each session. “You’re Worth It” is a benchmark in emotional benefits from a brand and is about as deeply emotional as it gets.

The staying power of the line is magical, but that’s not all. It’s the deep meaning beyond outward beauty that brings inspiration and individual motivation and such a strong set of, shall we say, human characteristics and, dare I say, human requirements.

That’s a lot in a tagline. Which is why a definitive tagline is so much more than a collection of words. It’s a way of being that can both inspire and reflect its target audience. Like the humans who ascribe to the L’Oreal brand.

Happy Anniversary!

Powerful. What’s your experience? JIM