What McDonald's slogan launched in 1971 became famous for the line “You deserve a break today”?

McDonald's launched the slogan “You Deserve a Break Today” in 1971.

The campaign presented a McDonald's visit as a welcome pause from everyday work and household responsibilities. Its wording turned a restaurant purchase into a small reward, helping the brand connect convenience with emotional comfort rather than advertising only food or price. The associated jingle became especially memorable and was widely used in McDonald's advertising during the 1970s.

This slogan is sometimes mixed up with “I'm Lovin' It,” which McDonald's introduced globally in 2003. The two lines belong to very different periods of the company's branding history. “You Deserve a Break Today” helped define McDonald's advertising during the chain's rapid American expansion, while the later slogan was designed as a worldwide platform. The 1971 line remains one of the best-known examples of a jingle-led fast-food campaign.