What McDonald's slogan was introduced in 1971 and began, “You deserve…”?

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

The slogan positioned a McDonald's visit as a small reward or rest during a busy day. Its wording helped move advertising beyond product description and toward an emotional promise about convenience, relief, and personal enjoyment.

The campaign became one of the company's most recognizable advertising themes in the 1970s. It is associated with a period when fast-food chains increasingly used memorable musical phrases and lifestyle-oriented messaging to build brand familiarity.

This slogan is sometimes confused with “I'm Lovin' It,” which McDonald's introduced decades later. “You Deserve a Break Today” belongs to the early 1970s, while “I'm Lovin' It” became the global tagline in 2003.