What was the name of McDonald's 1971 advertising campaign built around the slogan “You Deserve a Break Today”?

“You Deserve a Break Today” was McDonald’s major 1971 advertising campaign and its central slogan.

The line presented a McDonald’s visit as a deserved pause from work and routine. Its appeal was broader than a product claim: it connected the restaurant with convenience, relief, and a small everyday reward. The campaign became one of the best-known examples of McDonald’s brand advertising in the twentieth century.

The slogan is frequently remembered as a jingle because television and radio versions repeated the words musically. It was not the name of a menu item, a restaurant program, or a mascot campaign. It was a consumer-facing advertising line.

McDonald’s later replaced it with other slogans, including “I’m Lovin’ It” in 2003. Those changes reflect shifts in advertising strategy, but the 1971 line remains especially associated with the company’s classic mass-media branding.