What slogan did McDonald’s launch in 1971 in its famous “You deserve...” campaign?

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

The campaign presented a McDonald’s visit as a welcome pause in a busy day. Its wording linked the restaurant with convenience, relaxation, and an affordable treat rather than focusing only on speed or product features. The slogan became one of the company’s most memorable advertising lines of the twentieth century.

The campaign was created by Needham Harper Steers, the advertising agency that handled McDonald’s account at the time. Its television advertising helped establish a consistent emotional tone for the brand and showed how McDonald’s could sell an experience as well as a meal.

This slogan is sometimes mixed up with later McDonald’s lines such as “I’m Lovin’ It,” introduced in 2003. “You Deserve a Break Today” belongs to the early 1970s and is especially associated with the company’s classic television advertising. It also appeared during a period when McDonald’s was expanding its family-oriented national identity.