I'm trying to track down the origin of the quip: "...so you don't have
to." I think the use I'm remembering was something like "We work hard
so you don't have to," but it might be something different but
similar. I think it was a TV ad slogan, in the 1980s or 1990s - I want
to say it was an insurance company or a bank. A quick troll through
Google yields plenty of sarcastic re-uses of the phrase ("We watch
Fox, so you don't have to," etc.). It seems like everyone is very
familiar with the phrase, but the only sincere advertising use is for
Scrubbing Bubbles. I was positive it was an insurance company or a
bank. Was I wrong? I'd really like to trace this slogan back to its
original source. |
Request for Question Clarification by
pafalafa-ga
on
13 Apr 2005 19:19 PDT
I took a quick look through newspaper archives, and found several uses
of "...so you don't have to" in advertising. The earliest one I found
was a Kentucky Fried Chicken ad from 1970 which was (more or less) "we
do the cookin', so you don't have to."
There are probably other, earlier uses, but I stopped at 1970.
Do newspaper ads count, or did you want only info on TV ads? And if
newspapers are OK, what sort of answer would you like, given that this
usage might be quite old?
Let us know.
pafalafa-ga
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Clarification of Question by
jamesontv-ga
on
13 Apr 2005 21:38 PDT
Newspaper ads are OK. The reason for my question is that on the end of
ABC's "Eyes" the vanity card for show creator John McNamara's
production company reads "McNamara Paper Products - we write scripts,
so you don't have to" and I became curious about the original
advertising use of the phrase since it is parodied so often these
days. Is it one of those things we all use, but none of us remembers
why? (That's a rhetorical question, not a clarification of my original
question. :-)
I thought it came from an advertising slogan, and I wondered who
originated it because I wondered if it bothered them that the slogan
was being watered down by the constant parody use - and also whether
there was a difference between parody use in blogs (e.g., "We suck, so
you don't have to") and McNamara's more commercial use of it.
Again, all of the above is just the internal pondering that led me to
try to research the question. I tried some Google research of my own,
but it's such a common phrase that I got nowhere fast. My clarified
question is:
What's the earliest usage we can find of "we (blah blah) so you don't
have to" in any advertising/slogan context?
Hope this helps! Thanks a million!
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Request for Question Clarification by
pafalafa-ga
on
14 Apr 2005 05:33 PDT
What about this one from 1934:
https://s43.yousendit.com/e.aspx?id=06VQ33JWHL9I036YWHV3J7MZZI
Not quite the same rhythym as the modern version, but definitely related.
paf
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Clarification of Question by
jamesontv-ga
on
14 Apr 2005 08:48 PDT
I'm not so sure. I think "so you don't have to [do something]" is a
common enough phrase that it can be found almost anywhere. If the
current uses share an ancestor, it's more likely something with the
same "rhythm": "We [do something] so you don't have to." Like the KFC
or the Scrubbing Bubbles, it's a short phrase so the resulting slogan
sounds quippy. "So you don't have to drive hot, weary miles to get it"
doesn't roll off the tongue the same way. The way I read this ad,
"Made to order weather" and "The coolness of the country...the
convenience of town" are the slogans; the "so you don't have to" is
just part of the supporting text.
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Request for Question Clarification by
pafalafa-ga
on
14 Apr 2005 10:57 PDT
Actually, the 1970 language was:
"Let us cook, so you don't have to"
which may not be close enough to mark either.
I'll let you know if anything else turns up.
paf
|
Clarification of Question by
jamesontv-ga
on
06 May 2005 10:59 PDT
:-) Thanks.
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